In Rawai we stayed at pet friendly Selina Serenity Rawai which advertises as pet friendly but as we learnt on arrival it was not so much. Selina is a chain hotel which seems pretty popular in Mexico. On the website it states it is pet friendly (for an additional charge). However, when we got there we encountered an issue.
Check In
We chose the hotel mainly as it was pet friendly. When we arrived we were greeted warmly by the male Indian reception staff. We hadn’t booked a room yet as often you get a better deal if you are in front of them. If not, then you can always book online whilst you are there too. Myself and the humans were together and the staff was explaining all the room types and prices etc. There was another Thai staff on reception also and she was quite rude to the guy who was helping us. We decided on our room type and then the Thai lady went out back and appeared with another Thai lady. She took one look at me and said sorry we don’t allow big dogs.
Small Dogs Only
Both my humans and even the Indian staff looked at her in puzzlement. We all looked and Wylie and laughed and said haha yeah. But she was very serious. She said we only accept small dogs, under 5kg and your dog is a big dog. Humans started laughing again. Maybe I act like I’m a bit dog but I’ve never been referred to as a big dog by size! She told us that it was hotel policy and it was noted on the website. Well I looked on the website and I couldn’t see it anywhere. Even now after searching I couldn’t find anything.
We told her that we’d travelled to many countries across the world and never been classed as a big dog. Other than that what difference does it make if I am 5kg, 6kg or 7kg? What difference does that extra kg make? In my experience the smaller dogs tend to be more yappy, shed more (eg Pomeranians) and regardless of size you could have a good dog or a bad dog. So what’s with the size discrimination?
Anyway, we kind of stood our ground and they said they’d check with the general manager. They took a picture of me and sent to get approval. They came back a few minutes later with approval. Whilst this was kind of good news, it didn’t really give us a good first impression. We felt that the Thai staff were very rude to both us and the other receptionist. In hindsight we probably should have just walked out.
The Room
As there weren’t so many pet friendly hotels in the area we ended up booking the room. We paid 4,243 baht (£93) for a cabana room, which is the cheapest room, and an additional 500 baht (£11) as a pet fee. This included breakfast. The cabana rooms are set around the garden area, rather than in the main building. We felt this would be better for me. The room itself is converted from a shipping container and when the reviews say they are small they aren’t lying! The room itself is tiny. For us that wasn’t a problem as we only had a small backpack but if you had any luggage at all there is almost no space for it.
The decoration of the room is done out nicely and modern in a bohemian type style. It was also very clean. The rooms look out onto the garden and have one big blind. With the blind open it’s not very private as the whole side is made of window. But with the blind down the room feels really claustrophobic. For the price paid, I don’t feel that it’s very good value at all. Having also paid a pet fee, we didn’t get anything extra for this. So another downside for us.
Common Areas
We were determined not to let that spoil our stay so we headed down to the restaurant. Are the common areas at Selina Rawai pet friendly? The good news is that I was allowed there too. So yes, the common areas at Selina Rawai are pet friendly. I took my Scoot blanket and we grabbed some lunch. The restaurant itself is really nice and follows on from the Bohemian vibe. It had a nice Bali feel to it, which is probably why the chain is popular in Mexico also.
There were quite a few people working there as it is a co-working space too. It seems popular with nomad types and seemed a lot of single travellers. The vibe we got was that it was an upmarket backpacker/nomad place. They had various activities on during the day such as Thai lessons, bingo, yoga etc. Some were free and some paid. They were trying really hard to get people involved but we just wanted to keep ourselves to ourselves. However, we felt like we were keep being hassled to join in which we didn’t like. Hence, why we feel it is the kind of hotel suitable for backpackers who want to find new friends along their travels. Totally not for us.
Location is nice, directly on the beach so you have a lovely view over to the neighbouring islands.
The food was pretty good, although prices were on the high end. The pool area was also nice. Breakfast the next day was really good. It was a la carte selection and had lots of healthy choices like smoothie bowls etc which were huge! Humans each got a smoothie bowl along with their main breakfast dish and it was so much!
Service
After the terrible service from the Thai staff at reception we were hoping it would get better at the restaurant. Whilst the staff there were friendly the service was shocking. We sat for most of the day at the restaurant ordering food and beers but we had to go and ask to order every single time. The staff were all just hanging out at the back chatting amongst themselves. They never checked if we wanted more drinks etc even when our drinks were clearly empty.
The General Manager did also come over and say hello and confirmed he was OK with me. But he also just sat at the back on his laptop, next to the staff chatting. He didn’t seem bothered that they weren’t checking on customers orders. One couple whilst we were there got really mad at the staff as they waited for an hour for their food. Turned out the staff had forgotten to input the order. Then after that they got the order wrong. Despite asking to see the GM, the GM didn’t go to see them and address their concerns even though he was sat right there.
So from a service side, the hotel doesn’t really seem to have any guidance and happy for the staff not to be interested in the guests.
Conclusion
Overall, we started with a really sour taste in our mouths re the big dog policy. This really put a big downer on the stay as we felt like we weren’t that welcome. I don’t think that Selina Rawai is pet friendly. The receptionists were rude (bar the Indian guy who was lovely and helpful) and the service staff weren’t providing much of a service. There’s a lot of room for improvement in a lot of areas for this hotel unfortunately.
Room quality : 3/5 rooms were super small
Price per night : 3/5 price was too high for the size of the rooms
Breakfast : 5/5 great choice and huge portions
Pet friendly areas : 5/5 no restrictions
Pets allowed to be left unattended in the room : 5/5
Pet fee charged : 1/5 high fee charged & bad pet policy
Total 21/30, the breakfast and the fact pets are allowed everywhere saved the day. However, for now the pet policy and their service lets them down drastically.
Don’t forget to check out my other recommended pet friendly hotels.
Woof woof, Wylie x
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