A good mix of rooms at reasonable rates make Gipsy Resort a top choice for flashpackers, couples and families looking for the chilled-out vibe that Sunrise Beach is known for.

Most rooms come in two rows of clean and cheerful concrete bungalows huddled facing one another along a path draped in flowers. These have sky-blue tile floors, a couple of windows, quality mattresses with two silk blankets and soft linens, thick mosquito nets, multiple fans and/or air-con, shelves, clothes-drying racks and fully enclosed bathrooms with flush toilets, sinks and cold-water showers. Private porches come with tables and chairs in addition to hammocks, and a water sprayer for cleaning the sand off your feet.

Your hammock is waiting. Photo: David Luekens

For those on tighter budgets, Gipsy still offers its original woven bamboo bungalows stretching in a line behind the restaurant. Also with fans, mosquito nets and cold-water bathrooms, these are more rustic but certainly better than the huts at neighbouring Varin Village. If you can swing them, two wood-and-bamboo fan bungalows have prime beachfront locations -- stay in one of these and you may never want to leave your porch.

Families on a budget can grab a connecting room in a few two-room structures that are very similar to the freestanding concrete bungalows. While these get the job done, we’d splurge for a newer fan-cooled family room with a massive sea-view porch on the upper floor of a two-storey thatch-roofed wooden building near the beach, or a smart two-floor family house situated further back.

A great location on Sunrise. Photo: David Luekens

Even honeymooners should consider Gipsy thanks to its newest editions: a pair of spacious white concrete villas sporting plush beds over glossy tile floors along with fridges, desks, LCD TVs, spacious hot-water bathrooms and rooftop terraces. Security is strong thanks to padlocks on doors, elegantly designed bars over windows of cheaper bungalows and several cameras set up around the property.

The path between bungalows emerges to a stellar stretch of Sunrise Beach and Walking Street is a five-minute walk behind the resort via a lane running past a laundry shop; it does get dark back there at night. A beachfront restaurant serves good Thai food, sandwiches and espresso, but it does not stay open for dinner and the resort is kept rather dark at night -- we like this but others may not. The Spanish and Urak Lawoi managers are a pleasure to chat with and other staffers have great attitudes.

No fuss, but the rooms do the job. Photo: David Luekens

Gipsy’s rates fluctuate often throughout the busier months, including a sizeable spike around Christmas and Chinese New Year, and a drop in the shoulder months. The resort closes from May to October. If Gipsy is full you could try Gipsy 2, a much-smaller sister property with simple bungalows in a leafy inland location just off Walking Street.