Smiley Bungalows

To echo other reviews, this is NOT for the pampered basics out there. This is for those looking to experience the wild lakes and have a perfectly acceptable level of accommodation throughout. The staff/guides are very friendly & helpful. The food is great for simple mass catering. The jungle trekking combined with caving (you don’t have to do the latter) is also not for the feint of heart - expect the odd leech (easily removed) and a few spiders in the caves (harmless and keep their distance). If you have larger feet be sure to bring some grippy water shoes (small sizes available from camp). Highly recommend booking with Smiley!

Simply amazing experience! We had some doubts because not all tours seem to provide a good experience. However, smiley did very well and exceeded all our expectations! We had a warm welcome in Khao Sok. The drivers where good, they drive not too fast as some drivers do in Thailand. The boat ride starting from the pier towards the bungalows is AMAZING! So very beautiful. The food was great. The tours (boat, jungle hike towards cave) were very nice. The bungalow is basic but has all you need: an OK thick matrass, private toilet and shower for every room and also a fan is available.

A special thank you to Kitkat (he calls his self like that). He is a very funny guy with a great positive energy. He made our 2D1N even better.

One big thank you to Smile tours.

A really nice place, you have to walk a bit from the bus stop but otherwise it's in a good location, the staff is very nice and you can also do various tours on the first day. We did the elephant tour which I can only recommend.

The location is TOP, very beautiful and relaxing.
The rooms are terrible. The ceiling is moldy and there is a musty smell. The bathroom has no window, which allows a lot of moisture to enter.
They sell a "safari" but this is really just a boat tour in the hope that you see animals. (It wasn't worth getting up early)
The food was buffet style with multiple options, but all the vegetarian options were quite tasty.
Good thing the tour was so short.

Had no chargers that plugged in, only usb, says safari tour but they take you to the same tree 3 times to look at the same 3 monkeys. Worth 1 day stay at the water not worth the 2900 bht for activities

We did the 2 night tour to the lake and stayed in the bungalows before and afterwards.
It’s a really well run tour, they pick you up in the morning, stop for supplies on the way and at the lake pier help you get on the right boat. All very slick.
Boat trips were brilliant, the guides were very knowledgeable.
Stayed the night back at the bungalows afterwards and the manager couldn’t be more helpful making sure we got to the right pier in Krabi the next day to catch the speedboat to Phi Phi.
Thank you Smiley

We really enjoyed our stay here, 1 night at Smiley Bungalows and 1 night at the Smiley Lake House.

The rooms at the Smiley Bungalows are nice and simple and there is the AC. The town is nice and if you want to eat something good go to the bar/restaurant called Black Stone.

The highlight however is the Smiley Lake House Resort. Beautiful floating houses with the view of the lake and the mountains in front of resort.

We went from the hotel to the lake by minivan, then 1,5 hour to the floating houses by boat.

We did the night safari and we saw few animals. The lake during the sunset is beautiful.

We woke up early to see the sunrise, which was also very nice.

We didn’t go for the morning safari and the cave, instead we decided to chill at the floating resort.

Almost everyone was gone so it felt like we rented the entire place just for us.

We also managed to see monkeys doing their stuff while we were at the resort.

What about food? Well, come here with no expectations and you may be surprised by it bring some snacks with you as well.

Vegetarian options are also available.

We got the last floating bungalow on the right and it was just amazing.

The pictures will tell the rest of the story

We were so impressed with our trip with smiley! The workers are so so kind and helpful! The food was great, activities were good fun and we loved it! The bungalows are just basic bed and fan and it does get really hot in there but we slept fine and all you needed really! Our experience will be one of our top memories for sure! When we got back we collected our bags they got a van to take us back to smiley dome which was next to our next accommodation and this was so nice not having to walk with our big backpacks!
Thanks smiley!

Booked an overnight lake tour with Smiley. The staff was incredibly friendly and they organized everything for us, even possible to get transport to the next destination. The food was tasty, in buffet style, even vegetarian options available. We got picked up near Khao Sok headquarters and taken to the floating bungalows. The views and the nature there were amazing, just like the pictures you see online and even better. Kayaking, swimming, jungle trekking and visiting the Nam Talu cave were definitely one of the highlights of our Thailand trip.
When entering the cave they handed out headlamps and offered to put your phones in their waterproof bag. Could also borrow hiking shoes from their lake house. Definitely recommend.

Bungalow needs update or at least good cleaning. Food was ok, nothing fancy, but plenty. Place itself is amazing and worth it for sure!
The hike to the cave is also cool thing to do. However, the organization of the hike itself is somewhat poor. We took some time to watch monkeys and take some photos, but in general we were not too slow. The first part of the group moved really fast (some people from that group agreed on this as well) and we lost them. It would be nice if guides would manage the group better, as all group was still on schedule even with the families with small children, and there was no need for such rush. Actually, it seemed that no one would notice if we were lost and not back to the boat on time.

Really nice bungalows, good view, good hot shower and aircon. Only 700 baht which was nice, but no breakfast.

An incredible experience going to Kao Sok Lake! Smiley took care of everything and the staff were generous kind and helpful. Would absolutely recommend going on this adventure with Smiley to experience the beauty of Thailand!

Didi and her family have a great basic accommodation here. Clean AC"d rooms with a great host. The view to the cliff's amazing in the morning with the mist clearing.

Such a memorable and unique experience. Highly recommend (for *most* travelers). The 2 day 1 night lake tour was a great value.

TOUR EXPECTATIONS -
On the first day it’ll take ~3-4 hours to arrive to the bungalows from the Smiley dome in the village. You’ll stop at the market (20-30mins), have a 1-1.5 hour minibus ride, then have a 1-1.5 hour very gorgeous boat ride with a photo stop included. Bring cash for the entry fees (200 baht park fee & 20 baht pier fee). For the rest of the afternoon, expect several hours of chill time where you’ll have lunch then swim, kayak, hammock and relax. Recommend bringing cards or a book as most people cannot swim/kayak for so many hours in a row. The sunset boat ride is time to enjoy the scenery & you’ll primarily be on the lookout for monkeys and birds, but we also saw otters and bulls from a distance.

The next day was the highlight for me, starting early with a 6: 30 boat ride (hit or miss whether you’ll see animals). In the dry season (usually mid December thro May) you’ll likely go to the Nam Taloo Cave part of the trip is very cool. So fun! Bring water because it took around 4 hours out - starting with a boat ride, hike through the jungle then 30mins-1hr in cave. Bring a headlight because there might not be enough for everyone. Your shoes will get wet even before the cave in the jungle trekking section. I opted to wear the loaner rubber shoes, which have great traction (and saved me from carrying around wet shoes after) but I did get pretty rough blisters so maybe wear socks if you borrow their shoes. The cave had all the fun stuff - hundreds of bats, frogs, fish and deep short sections to swim thro.

ROOM - clean and simple with awesome, tranquil views. We didn’t have AC in our bungalow but this was quite clear in advance for the room we booked. Overnight temps were fine and the fan / windows made it comfortable. Bathrooms attached to each room.

FOOD - The included breakfast, lunch and dinner were all tasty with vegetarian options available. If you have a sweet tooth beyond watermelon and pineapple, bring your own chocolates. Coffee and tea available. Recommend bringing your own alcohol if you’ll want it

SERVICE - no wifi. Spotty service with a AIS SIM card but not all providers have service

THE GROUP - There were ~50-60 people staying at the bungalows when we were there but it never felt too crowded. There were several boats running to accommodate the whole group. Everything was quite organized and efficient- the staff work so hard to make the trip a great one for everyone. There was a mix of ages and group types (couples, young families, solo travelers & friend groups).

You might want to just opt for a one-day tour if (a) you’re only looking to party - this is more of a ‘kick back a few beers’ type of place (b) if you’re not good with chill time and need something faster paced because the first day will be a more relaxing one

Awesome bungalows, clean and comfortable. Didi who manages it is amazong, so helpful, everything about here was great. Important to know that there is an ant problem everywhere in Khao Sok, not only here. I would also highly recommend their overnight lake trip.

For 9000B we did (2 persons) :
DAY1
- night safari (was ok, about 1km of walking, our guide mostly followed the other groups, i did not have the feeling he knew a lot about the animals. It was not as adventurous as it sounds. We did see some cool animals: a viper, scorpions, a tarantula, kameleon and lots of spiders)
- sleep at smiley bungalows (was ok and clean, like the pictures)
DAY2
- leave Luggage in the bungalow
- transfer to kao sok lake, boat trip to the lake houses. We stopped a few times so everybody could take pictures. Was kind of boring, it took some time before all the instagram kings and queens got their picture perfect)
- We arrived at 1pm, lunched (food was ok, not great) and got free time untill 7pm. We swam and cayaked. Be quick because there aren’t enough kayaks for everybody. For me it was a bit to much free time. I would have prefered doing a hike.
- at 7PM night safari on the boat. We saw no animals. The boat is very loud so it makes sense that no animals show up
- dinner (the food is ok, not super)
- sleep at our lake house. They are ok, big, basic, no lights, no airco. You can charge your phone. There was a toilet and a shower.
DAY 3
- 6: 30 AM morning safari, again no animals
- 7: 30 AM breakfast (ok, not great)
- 9AM waterfall trek. Finally Some action! Highlight of the trip, but very short. 0.5km of climbing through a waterfall. You’re shoes will be soaked but its a lot of fun
- 12: 30 pm lunch
- 13: 30 return to smiley bungalows and sleep at bungalow (no fresh towels)
DAY 4
- 6am transfer to koh Samui (3 van transfers + Ferry)

Overall experience: the organisation was good. For me the experience was ok, but not great. The park has incredible scenery and the water is amazing for swimming. But if you like adventure I would not recommend this trip. Its a bit boring at times and the quality of the activities is not great. Looking back at it I would have prefered doing a 2 or 3 day hike through the park. But this depends on what you’re looking for. Its great if you like chilling, relaxing, sitting down and to enjoy some great views.

Amazing experience sleeping on a bungalow.you definitely feel it moving so be aware you may feel nausea easily!

What sets Smileys apart are the wonderful, incredibly helpful staff who look after you and can’t do enough to make sure your stay and onward journey are comfortable.

We did two nights in the bungalows and one on the lake house in January 2022, and it was an incredible experience.

The bungalows looks brand new, they are clean and well presented. Breakfast was brilliant and catered to dietary needs.

The lake house stay was in an adorable little floating room, with plentiful activities and so much food!

The bungalows weren't that clean as we had expected, there were a lots of mold on the walls. The bathroom was looking gros and with a lot of insects. But the staff was very friendly and helpful.

Staying in bungalows was new experience. Smiley Lake tour is must have! Well organized, helpful, friendly people.