Lengthy review of hotels I stayed at in Phuket

[Lucky7]

Thanks to all the opinions and nuggets of useful information I have gotten on this site. I guess I paying it forward and I'm posting my impression of hotels my girlfriend and I stayed at in Phuket to future members who might find this useful. Here's the lengthy rundown:

Kata Poolside, Kata Beach - Deluxe Mountainview accommodations @ 2250 Baht per night. Nice affordable 3 story walk-up boutique hotel. It looks exactly like it does on the website and brochures. It was a long-term residence a year or 2 ago before it was converted to a hotel. The hotel staff is very friendly and attentive. I can't remember a time when I passed by hotel staff and not be greated by a warm friendly smile and good morning or good afternoon. The staff is knowledgeable, communicate in English quite well and really makes you feel welcome. The accomodations about right for a 3 to 4 star hotel. The rooms are decorated in modern Thai style each room has its own couch, safety deposit box and a bathroom that opens up into your room which is nice for watching your girlfriend lathering herself in the bath. As a suggestion ask to be placed in a 2nd or 3rd floor room other wise you'll get a nice view of the wall dividing the property. The view of the mtns itself is okay, however the property next to them is under construction. Despite the construction, we never had a problem with the noise as the room is well insulated. It was actually quite nice looking out of the balcony and smiling and waving hi to the workers. As far as amenities it is pretty basic. They have a nice free form pool with a children's section and a swim up bar built alongside. The swim up bar itself is not being used. That's really my only gripe. It would be nice to sit around the pool bar and be served by a bartender. There is a free breakfast buffet with your accommodation and the food compared to the other hotels I stayed at is quite good. Internet access is also available at 100 baht an hour. They have 4 internet workstations in an air-conditioned little room that sits in a middle of a pond that's filled with carp and lilies and it's a nice private place. I have seen hotels where they have the workstations in the lobbies or near a bar and it hard to get privacy with people around you. The location in Kata beach is quite good. It's central to everything in and is only a walk across the street to the beach. Its right next to the nightlife but you needn't worry about the noise as the nightlife in Kata Beach is much more subdued when compared to Patong. I'm not sure if this place is girlfriendly however and the have a policy of charging you if you stain the sheet's right after you get tattooed. This was never a problem for me. I highly recommend this place and if I ever get back to Phuket this is where I would stay. It feels like home. If you are booking theough the internet I have found the best rates are on this site: http://www.hotelthailand.com/phuket/...dex.html#rates


Patong Villa, Patong Beach - Absolutely a horrid experience staying here. It is located right off on Beach road in Patong and around the corner from Bangla Road. In practice it was more hassle than convenient since it was too busy for our tastes. To get to the hotel we had to go through some aggressive shopkeepers. It's okay for the first 100 times but it gets old really quick. I can't tell you how many times I was called over in Japanese and I'm not even Japanese. The hotel staff was neither rude nor welcoming. They were a bit indifferent and were quite hard to communicate to. There is internet access available at 2 workstations in the lobby which I got for 150 baht an hour but after struggling with connectivity and freezing computers for 20 minutes, I decided to just kiss the rest of the internet time goodbye. They do also have a spa on the premises but I never got a chance to use their services. For our accomodations, we opted for the bungalows hoping that for the extra the rooms would be much better decorated and be more spacious. They are a little more spacious but that's about it. It looks exactly like the other rooms in the hotel. You were just closer to the pool. There's really no incentive in getting the bungalow. The "king-size" bed itself is two double-sized mattresses pushed together in a king bed platform. This is nice if you and the bargirl you bring home sleep on the opposing sides of the bed, never to touch. But if you are like me you would prefer to sleep in the middle of the bed and cuddle with your significant other. Not really possible as this is right smack where the two mattresses meet and it is very uncomfortable. If you prefer to have sex in the middle of the bed then you are sh1t out of luck. Don't even try it. Ask me how I know. We were also greeted with ton of mosquitoes in our room. There were more mosquitoes in this room than there were in our jungle hut in Khao Sok Park. This again was another inconvenience as we had to go buy bugspray and fumigate the room just to get through the night. What really killed it for me was their water. The water to the shower, toilet, and sink had a tinge of brown in it. We were scheduled to stay in Patong Villa for a total of six days but after 2 days we got fed up with the place and cancelled our accomodations. They charged me an extra night for an early cancellation but it seem like a bargain to get out of there. For a lesser rate at Kata Poolside you get far better accomodations and service. It's very hard to recommend Patong Villa at the price they were asking. For the website and rates check here: http://www.patongvilla.com/booking.htm


Sugar Palm Resort, Kata Beach - After checking out of Patong Villa and not having any luck in securing accomodations in Kata Poolside we decided to check www.latestays.com for last minute accomodations. We found a room in our price range at the Sugar Palm Resort. They had deluxe rooms with free breakfast vouchers available for 2700 baht at latestays. The Sugar Palm Resort is a boutique 4 star hotel and has some very nice amenities it has a nice U shaped pool with a jacuzzi set in the middle. They also had a sauna and steam room at the end of the pool. I got a chance to use these facilites daily and they were always keep clean.They also had an exercise room with a treadmill, a bike, a situp bench, home-gym machine. They were all in good condition with the exception of the home gym. The home gym was a a little small and is more suited to traditional Asian or ladies bodies and needed more much more weight to have an effective workout. What's nice is they had some heated spa oils permeating through the room to make it smell nice all through your workout. It smells a bit of mint and eucalyptus. The hotel room was decorated similar to Kata Poolside in modern Thai style and each room has its own couch, safety deposit box and a bathroom that opens up into your room. All rooms have a balcony facing the pool but also give you a great view of the mountainside and a bit of Kata beach. There is also a spa in the hotel which my girlfriend enjoyed. At the time we were staying there, they were running a 25% discount on all their spa services so my girlfriend got went all out and got the 5 hour treament for something like 3250 baht. It is located only 2 resorts down from Kata Poolside so we were already quite familiar with the area. Actually we were even closer to the beach this time. On check out ithey give you a small pouch made out of Thai silk with an elephant design on it. Makes for a nice little souvenir from the resort. As far as their service. It was quite similar to Kata Poolside with the hotel staff being very knowlegeable and quite attentive although not as good as Kata Poolsides's. From what another hotel guest tells me, it is also girl-friendly. I did recoomend this hotel to a bunch of friends that are staying there this coming week. For the best internet rates check here: http://www.latestays.com/sugar-palm-resort

[marc26]

lucky

great job by a relative newbie. coming back and posting this. this a great contribution and believe me, appreciated, werewolf will love this

[Werwolf]

Hi Lucky7
..very good. I will add your comments to my list.
And Marc --- you are right - I love this.....

[mikemyers]

I've been writing about visiting Phuket ever since my first trip there about ten years ago. I wrote a much too long article about one hotel I liked a lot, and a little less about other places I stayed - you can find it all at http://www.sgrid.com/travel/thailand.

A real short comment - I stayed first at the Sand Inn Hotel on Soi Sansabai. Good rooms at a reasonable price, and a nice convenient place to all the action. After a couple of years of that, my friends switched me to the Yorkshire Inn which I liked even more. That's the place I wrote about the most. Again, good rooms, reasonable prices, and good security. Oh, and wireless internet. Yumm. I've also stayed at the Angel Guesthouse, which I also liked. There were some "for rent" signs there on my last visit, so I'm not sure if it's still available.

I also stayed with a friend for a few days. These are some buildings just outside of town, where some of the local people stay. The rate is 1000 to 2000 baht a month, and all you get is four plywood walls, with a bare floor and an electric outlet. Naw, I don't think I'd recommend this to tourists, but it was an interesting place to stay!

[joydivision101]

Hi all

just came back from patong today after staying 16 days at patong villa....have got to say that i enjoyed the holiday as i hadn't had one in 3 years but had a few problems with the hotel
the market traders are a BIG pain always making stilly comments to try and intice you to buy....believe me after 16 days i was well p*ssed off

i found the foom to be quite good ...didn't go for bungalow as i didn't think it nessesary...it was clean..the bed was big enough for me and bg. but yes the brown water was VERY offputting...been as it is my first time in patong i thought all the water was like that

as for the staff.. .a bunch of gits i lost my key and the charged me 2k baht to get the lock done saying that they didn't have copies....then i got robbed by a bg (i was very drunk) and is it wasn't much (6k)i didnt get the police invollved but she took my key again, another 2k baht....in total to settle my bill it was an extra 7K which i paid without a fuss...then as i go to check out they send a girl to check the mini bar and try and bill me an extra 80b for two cokes...they now know the engish term CHEAKY F*C*ERS

anyway to complete, the day before i checked out i was thinking of next holiday and checked out the yorkshire inn (seemes good would you lot recomennd)...thats how pi*sed off i was

would i stay again?.....NO

[Oasis]

Thanks Mate, I was thinking of staying at patong villa for my next visit in 2 months but now I wont.

I'm sure you had a great time even though the hotel was crappy.

Cheers

[Oasis]

I was in Puket for only 6 days a few weeks ago. Stayed at Le Meridian at relax bay, next beach south of Patong. Nice hotel but not guest friendly they charge 2000 baht and give you a bit of attitude. This hotel has everything you would expect from a 4.5 star hotel including a private beach. I would suggest this hotel to families and couples.


I didnt get ripped off by a bg and I was with one everynight. Is there something wrong with me?

[joydivision101]

Hi Orisis

It was my first time in los....the first 4 days were hectic, hassle from market traders and all that...if they think your new they take the piss...can get annoying

i loved my stay in patong...the people were fine, the bars were great...as for being ripped off by bg, i got drinking with a brit and was STAGGERING back to hotel...she took me by the arm back to hotel (I think just to rob me) i was a sitting duck

as for hotel, the reception staff are a true pain,,,they smile but you just get the feeling they are thinking of ways to rip you off between themselves...the one girl spoke excellent english one day to me then another could hardly speak a word?? for me trust in the staff is all part of the deal....the are paid by the owners, if they want a tip they go the wrong way about it

anyway I would deffinatly not advise a stay...i love patong and the girls are great, just watch your cash

regards jd

[alibaba]

Originally Posted by joydivision101

Hi Orisis

It was my first time in los....the first 4 days were hectic, hassle from market traders and all that...if they think your new they take the piss...can get annoying

i loved my stay in patong...the people were fine, the bars were great...as for being ripped off by bg, i got drinking with a brit and was STAGGERING back to hotel...she took me by the arm back to hotel (I think just to rob me) i was a sitting duck

as for hotel, the reception staff are a true pain,,,they smile but you just get the feeling they are thinking of ways to rip you off between themselves...the one girl spoke excellent english one day to me then another could hardly speak a word?? for me trust in the staff is all part of the deal....the are paid by the owners, if they want a tip they go the wrong way about it

anyway I would deffinatly not advise a stay...i love patong and the girls are great, just watch your cash

regards jd

jd,
I think your description "sitting duck" explains it all.
No problem, you learnt a lesson and maybe next trip you will be a little wiser.

[joydivision101]

Originally Posted by alibaba

jd,
I think your description "sitting duck" explains it all.
No problem, you learnt a lesson and maybe next trip you will be a little wiser.

Sure thing alibaba and it wont happen again...this trip was just a reccy to see what thailand and asia in general was all about....hadn't had a holiday in 3 years and needed a big blow out...thats what i did
I had an absolute scream and really love the place...the people in general were superb

have been thinking of where next...maybe back in patong maybe elsewhere in thailand, maybe philippians

one question to you more experianced bm's...are people in asia always this friendly and good to be around or is it just a buddist religion thing?????

jd

[andy50]

their friendly as long as you pay up jd-- if you don,t ,you may experience the "other side of the coin"

[joydivision101]

Originally Posted by andy50

their friendly as long as you pay up jd-- if you don,t ,you may experience the "other side of the coin"

cheers andy..just as i thought...just a walking atm

[Crunch]

Originally Posted by joydivision101

cheers andy..just as i thought...just a walking atm

Could be worse.
Handing over 10x the amount to a sulky teenager with a face like a slapped trout in <insert any UK shop> who doesnt say a word