Last updated on March 14th, 2018 at 08:45 pm

A Cozy 3 Star Hotel on Chao Lao Beach in Chanthaburi, Thailand

If you’re looking for a beach getaway side trip from Bangkok, look no further than Chanthaburi (จันทบุรี, pronounced Jantaburee) province. By car you’ll find one of the nicest and cleanest beaches southeast of Bangkok called Chao Lao(หาดเจ้าหลาว), about 250km away, past Pattaya and Rayong.

Chao Lao Beach may not be as famous as the other well known beaches in Thailand, but I really do believe that one day it will be another popular sought after beach destination in Thailand. And to date there are not a lot of hotels and resort on Chao Lao Beach in Chanthaburi.

Finding a quiet spot on Chao Lao Beach wouldn’t be difficult at all.

Here’s the beach right behind Maldive Beach Resort…

But I’ve got just the right place to stay right on the beach in Chanthaburi called Maldive Beach Resort. This 3 star hotel right on Chao Lao beach is just a 3 hours and 30 minute drive from central Bangkok via tollway. Which is not too shabby for some clean water along a nice quiet stretch of beach on the Gulf of Thailand.

Maldive Beach Resort – Nice Side Trip from Bangkok

I highly recommend Maldive Beach Resort for families looking to spend time on a beautiful quiet beach. Because the rooms at this resort are very spacious. So if you’re traveling with an extended family and looking for a nice hotel with spacious rooms around Chanthaburi then Maldive Beach Resort should be considered.

Lobby of Maldive Beach Resort in Chanthaburi, Thailand…

The Maldive Beach Resort has 42 Rooms With 6 Different Room Categories:

Standard: 35 m² / 2 Adults and 2 Kids 0-4 age
Family Standard: 35 m² / 4 Adults and 2 Kids 0-4 age
Superior Sea View with Balcony: 58 m² / 2 Adults and 2 Kids 0-4 age
Family Sea View: 60 m² / 4 Adults and 2 Kids 0-4 age
Garden Villa: 39 m² / 2 Adults and 2 Kids 0-4 age
Beach Front Villa: 39 m² / 2 Adults and 2 Kids 0-4 age

Family standard room I booked had a queen sized bed and a twin bed...
A decent amount of space to sit and lounge...
Lots of space to stretch out...
But I think the bathroom needs some renovation...

During this trip I booked 2 room types at the Maldive Beach Resort: 1) Standard and 2) Family Standard.

Photos of the room you see above are of the standard rooms and the only difference between standard and the family standard rooms are the extra beds of course for more guests.

The beds in our room were comfortable and the air conditioners looked new and kept our rooms nice and frosty. Don’t expect much television channels. But you have a terrific view of the beach at least.

So all of the rooms we stayed in had a balcony. However, as of writing Maldive Beach Resort is going through some cosmetic renovations. So the balcony view below is not too impressive as of date. I expect that once they are finished there will be some sort of garden view below.

Not much of a view out of the standard and family room balcony but should be better after renovation…

I had a glimpse of the beach front villa and it looked really nice. If I ever plan on staying at Maldive Beach Resort again I’ll probably book the beach front villa.

Chao Lao Beach at Maldive Beach Resort

The main reason why you’d want to stay at Maldive Beach Resort is… well for the beach, right? The beach is called Chao Lao. The waters are far away enough from Bangkok so it’s clean and clear. The sand is white and soft on the feet.

While I was out on a morning swim I saw resort staff clearing the beach of debris. Which is a good sign that they care about their property and environment.

Chao Lao Beach is one of the nicest beaches in Southeast Thailand…

It’s not a private beach but due to the lack of resorts on the beach it certainly seems like it. There are not a lot of people, particularly tourists in the area and that’s probably due to the lack of direct transportation from Bangkok and other cities.

At the beach right on Maldive Beach Resort. My water quality test…

So you’re going to need your own set of wheels either self drive or hired driver. But the beach is worth it plus the fact that Maldive Beach Resort’s room rates are not expensive. Sure, you’re in the middle of nowhere. Which is why you’ll need a car to get around Chanthaburi on your own because the location around the hotel is beautiful like we discovered on our own.

Water quality is seasonal of course. And according to the staff at Maldive Beach Resort, the beach water is at its best from late May through late March.

I went there late January and the water was beautiful and clear with no jellyfish whatsoever.

One of the Most Family and Most Definitely Kid Friendly Hotel in Chanthaburi

I would recommend Maldive Beach Resort if you’re traveling with kids mainly for the kiddie pool. It’s got this awesome spiral pool slide connected. As a fully grown man I can say I probably had more fun sliding down it than kids.

There’s also nice little pool for adults as well with nice chairs to lounge on nearby. But to be honest we spent most of our pool time at the kiddie pool.

There’s no fitness center with cardio and weights but I suppose you can always run on the beach or swim laps for exercise.

An awesome swimming pool for the kids at Maldive Beach Resort…

Breakfast and Dinner at the Maldive Beach Resort

As I mentioned the area around Maldive Beach is a quiet. There are a few other resorts nearby but not much. There’s a 7-Eleven about a kilometer walk away. There’s a little hotel café on premise with a cozy space to hang out.

It seemed like this hotel includes breakfast in every room category. And breakfast is served at Maldive Beach Resort’s fresh and newly renovated restaurant from 7am to 10:30am.

They don’t have a huge variety of choices. But that’s to be expected for a hotel property in the outskirts of Bangkok. You’ll have the usual Thai fare like rice soup, fried rice and some sort of noodle dish. And for Western fare there’s eggs cooked to order, ham and sausage. Plus a choice of breakfast cereal and breads to toast.

A delicious lime and chili fish dish at Maldive Beach Resort...
Quite a romantic place to have dinner...

If you’re on a beach then you better have seafood. And they do have that on the menu. All of their seafoods are cooked the traditional Thai way. There’s no real Western menu at Maldive Beach Resort except for some steaks. But the seafood dinner we had was tasty and very delicious with reasonable prices.

The Takeaway

I’ve been in Thailand for nearly a decade and as much as I’ve traveled around the country I am still impressed after all these years to find such incredible beaches and beautiful scenery. And, it’s quite fun to come across simple yet nice hotels such as the Maldive Beach Resort.

A nice little area in front of the adult pool to enjoy a cocktail or two…

It’s not a fancy hotel by all means. There are no elevators but the hotel complex is only 3 floors. There’s no concierge but there’s daily room cleaning of course. It’s not easy to get to. You’ll need to hire a driver or just self drive.