HIP Seaview Resort, Koh Phi Phi - a beautiful hotel with a dream view, but we would not go back

HIP Seaview Resort @ Phi Phi is one of the most beautiful hotels we stayed at in Thailand. Wooden huts tucked into the greenery on the hillside above Long Beach, a stunning panoramic sea view, a romantic atmosphere and an excellent breakfast. The price was also a pleasant surprise for a hotel that looks like this.

But behind the impressive photos there is a significant drawback: to reach the hotel from the beach you have to climb a long, steep flight of stairs, and inside the grounds the huts sit at different heights too. Add the distance from the centre of Koh Phi Phi and the reliance on longtail boats, and you get a beautiful holiday - but not necessarily a comfortable one.

We stayed at the hotel from 27 January to 1 February 2025. Despite the view, the atmosphere and the breakfast, we would not choose to go back.

HIP Seaview Resort - pros and cons at a glance

	Our impression
The view	Stunning, from high above the sea
The atmosphere	Quiet, romantic and wrapped in greenery
Breakfast	Fresh, good quality and very tasty
The rooms	Wooden huts at different heights on the hill
Getting to the hotel	A long climb up the stairs from the beach
Location	Above Long Beach, far from the centre
Getting around	Longtail boats, depending on sea conditions
Would we go back?	No

Who is the hotel right for? Couples looking for a quiet, romantic holiday who plan to spend most of their time at the hotel and on the beach, and who are comfortable going up and down a lot of stairs.

Who is it less suited to? Anyone who wants to head into the centre of Koh Phi Phi often, travellers who find stairs difficult, and anyone who prefers a holiday where moving between the room, the beach and the restaurants takes no effort.

The booking - a hotel that looked almost too good for the price

We found HIP Seaview Resort on Agoda while looking for somewhere to stay on Koh Phi Phi.

The photos showed wooden huts on a green hillside, paths lined with plants and an open view of the sea from high up. It looked really impressive, and the price seemed low for what the hotel offered.

As far as we remember, we paid a little over 2,200 THB (about $65 / €58) per night, which felt like excellent value for a hotel of this kind.

When we arrived, we found that in this case the photos actually reflect reality well. The hotel really is beautiful, and the view is even more impressive in person.

The problem was not a gap between the photos and reality, but between what the photos highlight and what they cannot convey: the physical effort it takes to get around the hotel during your stay.

A village of wooden huts on the hillside

HIP Seaview sits on the hill above Long Beach, one of the beaches of Koh Phi Phi Don.

The hotel is not one building with rooms along a corridor. It is made up of separate wooden huts scattered across the hillside at different heights, connected by paths and stairs.

The design blends into the natural setting. Green plants surround the huts, the access paths run between them, and the whole place feels like a small village in the middle of nature.

That is one of the reasons the hotel feels so special. There is no sense of a large, standard resort here, but of an intimate property that merges into the hilly landscape.

The view - one of the most beautiful we saw in Thailand

HIP Seaview's biggest strength is, without doubt, the view.

From the rooms and various spots around the grounds, a wide view opens up over the sea, the coastline and the islands opposite. The height gives you the feeling of looking down on the scenery, not just staying beside the sea.

It was one of the most beautiful views we remember from any hotel in Thailand.

From our own room's balcony we looked out on a lovely green scene: dense vegetation and thatched-roof huts among the trees.

The surroundings of the huts add to the experience too. The wooden buildings, the plants and the paths create a tropical, romantic atmosphere that suits anyone looking for a quiet holiday.

But this is exactly where the hotel's drawback lies: the same height that gives such a beautiful view is also the reason for the long climb every time you come up from the beach.

Breakfast - one of the highlights of the hotel

One of the most enjoyable moments of our stay at HIP Seaview was breakfast.

The dining area is high up, facing an open view of the sea. Sitting there in the morning, with the view and the quiet atmosphere, was an experience in itself.

Breakfast did not offer a huge choice of dishes, but what was served was fresh, good quality and very tasty.

For us, that was a real plus. Instead of a big buffet with dozens of options, we got a very good breakfast in an exceptional setting.

The combination of the food, the view and the atmosphere was one of the things we enjoyed most at the hotel.

This is exactly the experience people often look for when they book a small resort on a tropical island: waking up, sitting in front of the sea and enjoying the quiet.

The stairs - HIP Seaview's biggest drawback

If there is one thing to understand before booking a room at HIP Seaview, it is the number of stairs.

The hotel is built high above Long Beach, and getting there from the beach involves a long, demanding climb.

This is not a few steps leading up to the entrance, but an ascent you will feel even if you are in good shape.

And more importantly: the stairs do not end when you reach reception.

Because the huts are at different heights, the way to your room may involve more climbing inside the grounds themselves.

How do the stairs affect your holiday?

The difficulty is not just the first climb when you arrive at the hotel.

It becomes part of everyday life there.

Going down to the beach means there will be a climb back up at the end. Going back to the room to shower or fetch something you forgot takes extra effort. After a day of exploring, or when you come back tired from dinner, the climb can be particularly exhausting.

Instead of moving spontaneously between the room, the beach and places to eat and drink, you start thinking twice before every outing.

For us, this was the most significant drawback.

Despite the beauty of the grounds, we felt the number of stairs took away from the freedom and comfort we wanted on holiday.

A luggage lift - a solution for bags, not for guests

To the hotel's credit, there is a system for carrying luggage up the hill.

It is very useful, especially when you arrive with large suitcases and do not want to haul them up the stairs yourself.

But it is important to understand that it is for luggage only.

Guests still have to walk up.

So even if the luggage is taken care of, the physical effort of getting between the beach and your room does not go away.

Are the stairs a reason to skip the hotel?

Not necessarily. The answer depends on the kind of holiday you want and how comfortable you are with a long climb.

If you plan to spend most of the day in your room or at the hotel, and go down to the beach only once a day, the stairs may be a reasonable price to pay for the view.

On the other hand, if you like coming and going, moving between beaches, restaurants and activities and popping back to the room during the day, they can become a real nuisance.

For us, they were reason enough not to choose this hotel again.

The location above Long Beach - beautiful, but far from the centre

HIP Seaview sits above Long Beach, in an area relatively far from the tourist centre of Koh Phi Phi.

Long Beach itself is one of the most beautiful beaches on the island, with a strip of sand and a sea view, and the distance from the centre gives the area a quieter feel.

If your holiday is all about the beach and the hotel, this location can be a big advantage.

But if you want to go out to restaurants, browse the shops and enjoy the buzz of the Koh Phi Phi centre almost every evening, the distance means you have to plan.

Longtail boats to the centre of Koh Phi Phi

Below the hotel there is a pick-up point for longtail boats, which take you to the centre of the island by sea.

It is a fairly convenient option, because it saves a long walk along the beaches.

But remember that the boats depend on sea conditions, and they are not the same as land transport you can rely on in all circumstances.

When the boats were not running - the way back became a trek

During our stay there were times when the sea conditions did not allow the boats to sail.

When that happened, we had to walk back to the hotel along the beaches and over the rocky stretches between them.

After the long walk, the climb up the stairs from the beach to the hotel was still waiting for us, and then the way up to our room.

That was one of the moments when we realised how much a location that looks so romantic in photos does not necessarily suit the way we like to travel.

The problem is not that the hotel is far from the centre in itself. Thailand has plenty of secluded hotels that work really well.

The problem is the combination of three things: the distance, the reliance on boats and the long climb waiting at the end of the journey.

What can booking sites not show you in photos?

HIP Seaview's photos rightly highlight the beautiful things about the hotel: the huts, the plants, the balconies and the view.

These are real strengths, and we never felt the hotel was visually misrepresented.

But a beautiful photo cannot convey the effort it takes to reach the spot where it was taken.

When you look at a hut with a high balcony and a panoramic view, it is easy to focus on the advantage of the height. It is much harder to grasp how many stairs you need to climb to get there.

The same goes for the Long Beach location: being close to the sea looks like a clear advantage, but only during your stay do you realise how much getting into the centre and back depends on transport conditions.

So with HIP Seaview, it is worth checking not only what the room looks like but also how the holiday works outside it.

Before booking, find out how high up the hut is, how many stairs lead to it, what the options are for getting to the centre, and how you get back to the hotel when the boats are not running.

These are details that can affect your holiday far more than the size or design of the room.

Who is HIP Seaview Resort right for - and who not?

Who should consider the hotel?

HIP Seaview can be a particularly good fit for couples looking for a quiet, romantic holiday with an exceptional view and a tropical atmosphere.

The hotel suits people who plan to spend much of their time on the beach and at the property itself, and who do not need easy access to the tourist centre throughout the day.

How comfortable you are with stairs also matters a lot. If you enjoy walking and climbing and do not mind frequent ascents, you may experience the place more positively.

Who would we suggest choose somewhere else?

If you plan to go into the centre of Koh Phi Phi almost every evening, eat at different restaurants and wander the shops, the location may be less convenient.

The same goes for travellers who find stairs hard, anyone with limited mobility, or anyone looking for an easy, relaxed beach holiday.

If it matters to you that you can leave your room, get to the beach and come back whenever you like, without thinking about the climb ahead, choose a hotel in a more accessible location.

Would we go back to HIP Seaview Resort?

No. Even though it is one of the most beautiful hotels we stayed at in Thailand.

We want to stress that this decision is not about disappointment with the way the hotel looks or its atmosphere.

Quite the opposite: the view was stunning, the huts were lovely, the grounds are surrounded by greenery and breakfast was one of the best parts of our stay.

The price we paid was also very good value for a place that looks like this.

But for us, all these strengths did not make up for the day-to-day lack of comfort.

The number of stairs and the distance from the centre shaped the way we spent our holiday. Instead of enjoying the freedom to come and go, every outing took more thought and effort than we wanted to put in.

We would rather have a slightly less impressive hotel, with a less dramatic view, but one that makes it easy to get to the beach, the restaurants and the centre of the island.

That is not a reason to rule out HIP Seaview for every traveller. If you are looking for a quiet, romantic holiday and are ready to deal with the climb, it could be a very good choice.

But for the kind of holiday we like, it simply did not fit.

The bottom line: HIP Seaview is a beautiful hotel whose biggest drawback comes from exactly its biggest strength - its high position above the sea. Before you book, ask not only how beautiful the view from the balcony is, but also how much effort it will take to reach it every day.

For the island's beaches, attractions and things to do: our complete guide to Koh Phi Phi.