First of all, this is probably the biggest resort I've ever seen in my life. For me that is not really a plus as I find resort of this size unattractive, confusing and somewhat messy. Being a Hilton however, I know I am not going to get bad service and that most of the staff will speak good English, that the Standard will be as high as a good Hilton in the States. While that was all true, I could not help but feel like I am still in the US! I think that this is the main problem with this place. Almost nothing about it was Thai. I have just recently moved to Bangkok from the States and felt a little let down by how American this place was. I know it's an American hotel but couldn't they at least adapt to the local theme a little?

The rooms were nice, we stayed in the new Lotus wing, but the rooms looked just like a room you would get in a big city, not on a tropical island. This whole place looks like it could be in Florida, and I didn't fly all the way here to get some sense of Deja Vu. The big tram that is the in-resort transportation made me feel like I was in Disneyland or Universal Studio in California. I'm sure that a lot of Americans would feel comfortable here, but I am not that type of traveler, as I seek something new and different than what I am used to.

We had a big birthday dinner here for my friend, and I have to say that we were not impressed with the food at all. Portion sizes were all huge, the food was not that well executed and my fish was really not fresh. I ended up with stomach problems after that meal and it could not have been anything else but the bad quality sea bass.

Service is very good here though, and every single staff I encountered were super nice polite and helpful. They also have receptionists who are from every continent so communication is never a problem.

Good location, good name, and good times have been had by others. But I don't think my overall experience here can be described using the same adjective.