Where To Stay In Krabi: Aonang Fiore Resort

Aonang Fiore Resort | Muslim friendly accommodation in Krabi

Phuket's quieter little sister, Krabi, is often a destination associated with backpackers but if you dig a little deeper, you're bound to uncover hidden gems in this lovely Thai destination that's majorly populated by Muslims. In this article, we'll share our honest thoughts on Aonang Fiore Resort — a great Muslim-friendly accommodation in Krabi.

When I first laid eyes on Aonang Fiore Resort, the first thought that came into mind was how expensive it must be to stay there for three nights. It's basically an individual cottage on your own tiny plot of land! Well, thankfully, this villa-like accommodation is super affordable and definitely worth every penny.

Where is the hotel located?

You’ll find the resort located in Krabi at the tip of Ao Nang, a short 20-minute drive from Krabi International Airport. Ao Nang Beach is one of the main tourist spots in Krabi, where you'll find lots of shops, restaurants, bars as well as the busiest pier where most of your island hopping trips would start form.

This is not a beachfront resort so it is situated away from the pubs and party scene, which we preferred. It is quiet and peaceful enough that you don't hear any loud music or vehicles from your room, but not too secluded, so there were still convenient stores and some local restaurants along the streets. When we do need to head to the beach, we either rode our rented motorbike for a few minutes or jump on the free shuttle service that Aonang Fiore Resort provides.

The exterior of Aonang Fiore Resort’s deluxe room.

What are the rooms like?

We booked the Deluxe Room, a 34sq cottage-like room and were assigned Room 2016 upon arrival. This particular gem is located on a hill, above rows and rows of similar units that are situated on their individual metal structure, overlooking the gorgeous hills of Krabi. We definitely did not expect it to be this huge and comfortable.

The total amount spent on accommodation was 2230 Thai baht per night, which is approximately SGD91 including breakfast, service charge & taxes. For the service and experience, we honestly feel that this is completely worth every penny. I'll let the pictures do the talking.

The room itself was gorgeous and it came with a double bed, balcony as well as all other expected hotel amenities like toiletries, kettle, bottled water, etc. On top of that, the resort also provided bath robes, four sets of slippers and towels for the room or pool, as well as a beach bag.

Fazwan and I spent most of our mornings and nights on this balcony, overlooking the greenery and facing the cliffs that Krabi is known for. The other rooms are about 3-5 metres away from our porch so you could hear if there were to be loud music played from their rooms but we didn't have any issues of that sort, thankfully.

What facilities does the resort have?

Located on over 70 acres of greenery, Aonang Fiore Resort actually owns one of the biggest plots of land for accommodation in Krabi. The whole resort is so big that they have their own Zipline & Adventure Park, seafood restaurant and even grow their own organic produce. How cute!

We did not have the chance to check out their Butterfly or Zipline & Adventure Park as our days were filled with activities but we did manage to spend an afternoon by the resort's infinity pool. There are tanning beds, a pool bar and a small jacuzzi by the side of the infinity pool, overlooking the resort's garden. Since half of their rooms include a private hot tub, the shared pool and jacuzzi isn't that huge as we expected but it was still quite a pretty sight and we enjoyed dipping around all afternoon.

Aonang Fiore Resort has a botanical garden with locally grown organic produce that they use for their kitchen! I found that super unique and interesting. There is also this area called the ASEAN Garden where there are structures symbolising the different countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, etc. You can easily spend an afternoon taking a stroll within the compound of the resort itself.

They also have a tour desk located right beside the hotel reception. We had already pre-booked our activities prior to the trip so we did not utilise their services but if you are looking to book a last minute island hopping tour or day trip to the jungle, you can do so directly from here.

The tour desk also provided motorbike rental service, so we didn't have to worry about renting from shady rental kiosks since the bikes are provided by the hotel itself. We rented the Click i125 for 250 Thai baht (SGD10) per day. A day before our departure, we also booked our airport shuttle here. It was a shared shuttle service and only cost us 150 Thai baht (SGD6) per person. Initially, we were planning to stick to a private driver like when we arrived, but that would have cost us 800 Thai baht (SGD33). It was really convenient as we could extend the rental contract any time and the total bill was added to the room tab, which we settled before leaving.

The resort has their own restaurant and cafe within the vicinity which is a shared space for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Pictured above is De’fish Seafood Restaurant, which operates after breakfast is over and serves fresh seafood, as well as Thai and Western dishes. Fiore Coffee (not pictured) serves your caffeine fixes and some light pastries.

Breakfast was amazing. Fazwan and I would usually sleep through breakfast whenever we are overseas because not all hotels offer Halal options but this time, we looked forward to waking up early as this is a Muslim friendly hotel. It is also included in their website that they only serve Halal food on their premises so as Muslims, this is definitely a plus point for us.

The resort's morning spread is pretty extensive, I would say. There was so much variety on the menu and we thoroughly enjoyed their live stations and buffet. Fazwan was complaining about the lack of flavour in the ham and sausages but nothing a little salt and pepper can't fix. There is a variety of food to cater to different dietary preferences and you can even order ala carte items from their menu if the buffet isn't to your liking.

How was their service?

There was only one staff who ignored me when I asked for help during arrival, but the overall experience is positive and in general. All of the staff we came across were mostly warm and genuine. One staff in particular flipped our whole experience around and stood out amongst the rest; Nita (pictured below) who helped us throughout the entire stay. She didn't even know who we were or that I was actually there to review the resort — but she was genuine with her service throughout and was extremely patient with everyone.

The most memorable incident on the morning of day two was when Fazwan and I were told by my agent that our driver will pick us up at 8.30am for our island hopping tour. We planned our morning carefully and came down at 7.45am to enjoy our breakfast.

To our surprise, the tour driver came at 7.55am, stood outside of the buffet area with his arms crossed and expecting us to get to the car immediately. When I tried asking him for 10 minutes to gobble down our breakfast, he literally stomped away and drove off from the resort saying that we're wasting his time. I was left on the driveway in shock.

I assumed that Nita saw what happened because she came up to me and said, "Don't worry ma'am. Enjoy your breakfast. I call for you." She took the paper that I held in my hand (that was my proof that I agreed on an 8.30am pick up timing) and I assumed that she went ahead to call my travel agent to explain the situation, because a few moments later she came looking for us in the breakfast area to inform that she had arranged for another driver to pick us up at 8.30am. Without even asking for help, she went the extra mile to assist her guests. She seriously deserves a pay raise, a promotion, or both.

What we like about Aonang Fiore Resort:

We have had such an amazing time at Aonang Fiore Resort and without a doubt, it has made it to our list of favourite accommodations in Southeast Asia. This resort paid so much attention to detail from the pretty tiles in the washrooms, to the service staff, to including a bag, towels and even slippers for the beach in each room. We really enjoyed the quiet location, the breakfast buffet and facilities available within the resort too.

What we didn't like:

Upon arrival, our bags were being carried by a porter who then drove us to our room, using a buggy. It felt pretty cool at first because we don't usually book accommodations with buggy services but after staying there for four days, it was quite an inconvenience having to cater extra 10-15 minutes of waiting time whenever we wanted to leave the room.

Would we stay here again?

“A BIG YESSSSS" so that's pretty self explanatory. Overall, it was an amazing experience at Aonang Fiore Resort and we would definitely stay here again. Fazwan and I loved it so much, I have a feeling that we will be comparing every other accommodation to this one in the future.