Private pool villas are not difficult to find in Kanchanaburi, but Tara Villa has one particular advantage: each villa opens directly towards the River Kwai, putting the pool, room, and river within the same view.
For this stay, we chose the One Bedroom Pool Villa, a 120-square-metre villa with its own 3 × 7-metre pool. It is a relatively simple stay in terms of what you need to do once you arrive—there is a restaurant on the property, breakfast can be served in your room, and much of the reason for staying here is simply to spend time in the villa itself.
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At A Glance
Tara Villa River Kwai
- Access: By personal/rental car (Grab is available in Kanchanaburi, as well as other car hire options)
- Room type: One Bedroom Pool Villa
- Price: ~6000 Baht
- Location: Kaeng Sian, Mueang Kanchanaburi
- Style: Riverside / Private Pool Villa
- Check-in/out: 15:00/12:00
- Our recommendation: Preferred Stay
Facilities/Restaurants:
- Din Cafe’
First Impression
Dear Readers,
Let us take you through our experience staying at Tara Villa River Kwai Kanchanaburi, and whom we would recommend this hotel to.
Upon arrival, a staff member will guide you into the lobby and waiting area, where a welcome drink is served while you go through the check-in process.
There are also small snacks, bites, and drinks available here throughout the day. It is a nice addition because the area does not become irrelevant once check-in is over; you can still come back later to pick up a drink or something small to take back to your villa.
The check-in itself did not take long.
Depending on which villa you are assigned, you may actually be able to see the villas closest to the lobby and restaurant from this area. Despite that proximity, we did not find privacy to be much of an issue. Landscaping helps separate the spaces, while each villa sits behind its own large entrance door.
It gives Tara Villa an interesting balance: everything is relatively close together, but once you pass through the entrance to your villa, the space becomes much more private.
The Room
Opening the villa’s main entrance brings you into a long, narrow outdoor passage running alongside the room.
Follow it towards the river, and the first thing that really opens up in front of you is the private pool, followed by the River Kwai beyond it. From here, a large sliding glass door leads into the bedroom.
The One Bedroom Pool Villa is 120 square metres, with a 3×7-metre private swimming pool. We found the size quite generous for two people, with a king-size bed, sofa area and enough open space for the room to feel comfortable without feeling unnecessarily large.
From inside, the glass frontage keeps much of the River Kwai within view. The room itself is kept relatively minimal, with warm lighting and fairly restrained decoration instead of filling the space with too many details.
There is also a Marshall speaker in the room, which we appreciated as a small addition when spending an afternoon around the pool.
Most importantly, this is a room that makes sense when you use all of it. Opening the curtains, sitting by the pool or leaving the sliding doors open for a while changes the experience considerably compared with treating it as only a bedroom.
Bathroom
From the bedroom, you walk through the wardrobe and dressing area before reaching the bathroom.
The bathroom is generously sized, with a Jacuzzi bathtub and a separate shower area. The toilet can still be seen from parts of the shower area, so it does not offer complete visual separation. Although we personally did not find this to be much of an issue when staying as a couple, it may not be the most convenient for families.
One detail we found interesting was the bathroom amenities. Tara Villa uses a Charcoalogy detoxifying range made with bamboo charcoal, which is different from the more conventional hotel amenities we usually come across.
Combined with the bathtub and amount of space available, the bathroom feels like a proper extension of the villa for us. If a spacious bathroom is what you look for, this place is one that will check that mark.
The Surroundings
Tara Villa sits directly along the Kwai Yai River, with its accommodation arranged so that the villas face towards the water.
Unlike resorts deeper into Sai Yok, this is not a stay surrounded by dense forest or mountains. You are still relatively close to Kanchanaburi town, but the riverside layout gives the property enough separation for it to feel removed once you are inside.
The villas themselves do much of the work in creating that privacy. High walls divide each unit, while trees and planting soften the areas between the rooms, lobby and Din Cafe’.
There are not extensive resort grounds to explore, and we would not necessarily stay here for activities around the property. Instead, Tara Villa feels centred around the individual villa: the pool, the room and the river view in front of you.
Din Cafe’ occupies a larger communal riverside area and gives you somewhere to move beyond the privacy of your room without leaving the property. There are both indoor and outdoor seats facing the Kwai Yai River.
The Breakfast
Options: In-room/Restaurant
For breakfast, we chose the floating breakfast option and had it delivered to the villa so we could spend the morning in the pool.
There are several breakfast sets available, including Western and Thai options. Tara Villa currently lists American breakfast, salad, steak, rice porridge, and Thai food sets among the choices.
We found the Western breakfast relatively normal in terms of taste. The Thai choices were more interesting for us, particularly the ข้าวต้ม (porridge) and ปลาพะแนง (panang curry), and are worth considering if you do not mind beginning the morning with something slightly heavier.
There is also a good variety of drinks to choose from, rather than limiting breakfast to the usual coffee or tea, which we appreciated.
If you would like to have the floating breakfast in your villa, arrange it with the hotel the evening before so the staff can prepare your selected items and serving time.
The floating tray itself is admittedly part of the appeal, but we found the bigger advantage was simply being able to have breakfast without leaving the villa. You can stay in the pool, take your time, and make more use of the private space you are paying for.
The Dinner
Additional Charge
For dinner, we decided to stay within the hotel and eat at Din Cafe’.
The restaurant sits directly beside the river and offers both indoor and outdoor seating. Its architecture takes inspiration from din, or soil/clay, connecting the restaurant to the materials and landscape around the property.
Since Tara Villa is considerably closer to Kanchanaburi town than many of the resorts further into Sai Yok, you are not isolated if you want to eat elsewhere. Still, having Din Cafe’ within the property makes staying in for dinner the easiest choice, particularly if you have already spent most of the afternoon around the villa.
The Activities
For a half-day outing, you can also drive towards เมืองมัลลิกา ร.ศ.124 (Mallika City) before returning to Tara Villa in the afternoon. For those who are interested, you can read more about it in our Kanchanaburi itinerary.
We would probably avoid filling the day with too many activities when staying here, though. The private pool and river-facing villa are a large part of what you are paying for, so Tara Villa makes the most sense when there is enough time left in the itinerary to actually enjoy the room.
A main pool beside the river is also available with a nice view, and below that is a floating platform you can walk on in the river.
The Service
The service is professional and polite; what impressed us the most, however, is the amount of free food and drinks you get as complimentary.
From the time you check in, along with the welcome drink will also a mini bar-style setup where small finger food is served; not as extensive, but it reminded us of a stay at some major hotel chain with the additional club lounge add-on. An afternoon tea set is provided for those who booked directly with the hotel. For those who are wondering about the hotel with the club lounge we mentioned, we are referring to InterContinental Chiang Mai.
In the same area is also a free drink bar, filled with homemade drinks, like chrysanthemum tea, Honey lemon, and longan juice, which you can freely take and enjoy in your room later.
In the room, the mini bar is also free; instead of the usual snack bags, there are homemade snacks, like small brownies in the fridge.
Before bed, the hotel also gives you a choice of goodnight drinks; we chose hot milk and hot cacao.
This aspect of service carries on to the small parting gifts we received when we checked out.
Our Score & Summary
Review Summary:
Style of review: Getaway/ Town Center
Do note that under this criterion, our evaluation will assume a personal (rental) car as the default form of transportation, considering the location. The criteria will also be set for a quiet rural area, which will not mark the lack of a convenience store or nighttime activity as a minus (subject to the unique nature of each place).
Our scoring has also taken into account the price point: ~6,000 THB per night (One Bedroom Pool Villa type, lower season, with breakfast included)
* Prices are subject to change according to the season, the number of guests, room type, etc.
Our recommendation: Preferred Stay
Tara Villa is a hotel we would consider staying at again when looking for a private pool villa around Kanchanaburi town. What works particularly well for us is the combination of privacy and location. You have your own pool and a direct view towards the River Kwai, while still being close enough to Kanchanaburi town that leaving the resort for restaurants or sightseeing does not become an inconvenience.
At around the price we paid, we find it a good choice for travellers who plan to spend a significant amount of time in their room and make use of the private pool. It is less about having a long list of resort activities and more about having a comfortable space of your own by the river here.
*Hand-Picked → 1, Preferred Choice → 2, Selective Choice → 3, Subjective Choice → 4
The hotels that fall into these ratings are all satisfactory experiences; the categories capture how far they exceeded our satisfaction level and are not a ranking that implies which hotel is good or bad. The rating is highly reliant on our preferences and personal experience.
Tara Villa River Kwai
Overall atmosphere:
Room type: One Bedroom Pool Villa – 1 King Bed
Very Clean: 8/10
Location: 8/10
Convenience of the stay: 8/10
Ambience: 8/10
Concept: 7.5/10
Additional scoring:
Goodbye cake & brownie+
Kanchanaburi is filled with riverside hotels; one of the other we recommend is Cherlynn Resort. For other types of stays you can expect in the province, visit our Kanchanaburi hotel recommendations.
We Hope you will enjoy your stay,
Travel Tegami