蓮花蘇特拉酒店(The Lotus Sutra Hotel)

I will start by saying the manager and assistant were super friendly and empathetic, including a room change to make it right.  But in the end, it is critical for future guest to know what to expect from their stay at this well located beach resort.  It would be best to just list the issues versus telling the story, not a happy story at that.  Seaview cottage was nothing like the pictures and description.  The cottage is way past its due date and is ragged, used, abused, and very noisy with the outdoor restaurant DJ blasting music all night.  Uggh. The manager was responsive and put me on the bottom floor of the newer units surrounding the small pool and next to the baby pool.  The unit was a vast improvement, with a better bathroom and just in better shape.  A sliding door opened to the busy pool area, so privacy is out.  The AC did not cool the room mid-day. It got hot and muggy. It froze up once, and the fan didn’t work right. Between my unit (122) and the cottage next door was a wet cesspool.  This really was an open sewer.  The smell was so poignant that I could not sit outside of my unit or have the door open at all.  There were large cockroaches in my room and bed, so open doors were not an option anyway.  The cesspool was seriously a bad thing.   The pool and surrounding area is actually like a zoo.  The rooms would have 6 to 8 people in them. They would bring out their speakers and blast Indian music so loud on a bad speaker that it really ruined any ambiance there may have been.  This went on into the night, drinking lots of alcohol and because the units are so close, it just becomes a nightmare.  The manager, more or less, did nothing on the late night noise and mess. The pool is small, cloudy, and crowded.  The kids overran the pool, lots of loud screaming like an arm was cut off, and babies with loaded diapers were placed in the pool, with no supervision or care.  It just felt really unsanitary, and I stopped trying to use it.  The units are on the pool, so you can hear everything with the door closed.  The grounds are not manicured. The place looks raggy and used, abused, and not cared for much.  It seems like it is just being worn down.  The restaurant was not worth visiting, I visited places on the beach and passed on the breakfast, not worth it.  There is a broken down, rusty old car thing sitting in the middle of the grounds, go figure.  Wi-fi was ok.  The shower did not regulate cold and hot well.  They provided bottled water every day, nice.  Staff were a bid stand-offish, but the housekeeping guy was ok, and the manager was more of a caretaker vs. manager from what I could see.   I left the Lotus Sutra early, taking a loss, and would never return.  I am not sure what the appeal is, but I certainly did not get a real feel for this place from the reviews I studied so hard nor the photos.   Hope this review helps travelers get the real scoop on a depleted and worn property that is way too noisy and sloppy.