After booking, i contacted the hotel to...
After booking, i contacted the hotel to confirm the booking and organise a limousine transfer from the airport. This was a very easy process and was organised quickly and from what i understand now, for a reasonable price.
Upon arriving at the phuket airport, there was a man standing at arrivals with our name on a sign, making it very hassle free for us.
Arriving at the hotel, i was a little shocked but satisfied in the fact that this hotel had its own private road with security at either end. It keeps thins very quiet and private and all the hawkers out of your way.
Check-in was easy and we had a nice man who could speak very good english and who continued to be present throughout our stay.
The room was beautiful. We stayed in the deluxe spa suite, which i think is the best room. its at ground level, opposite the main hotel. it has a spa in the front courtyard, which only has cold water and the jets didn't work well, not to mention the it takes ages to fill and the water feels dirty, so we only had a couple of these. The room is beautiful and there were fresh flowers and fruit left for us on arrival. very cute. bed was an ok size, not huge though. We had an inroom safe which we found very useful. the bathroom is huge with a sink, toilet and bath all together and then in the back courtyard is the shower, which we loved. the only downer is that if you are stressed about privacy some people in neighbouring hotels could probaby see you when you get to and from the shower. the trees aren't quite established.
The beach was a short walk down a little street, which we didn't mind. The street just outside the hotel is full of restaraunts and massage parlours, which i particuarly liked as you didn't need to walk far at night to get a good meal. however if you have a low tolerance you will quickly get sick of locals constantly hassling you to use there services. just smile and keep walking. As far as location, as a couple we loved this area. it wasn't busy like patong, but had enough to do at night, and only a short tuk tuk ride to patong when you did want something more. As for locating on karon beach, its a much larger beach than you are lead to believe. its about a five minute walk to the local bazaaar and another 5-10mins to get to the really busy area. we didn't realise until a few days into out trip that if you walk the same amount of time in the other direct there is another township which blend into kata beach with more to do. Thais dont walk much. we thought this was a nice walk, other would get a tuk tuk.
Breakfast at the hotel was nice, and others have said not enough choice, i would disagree. Cereals, fruits, bacon, ham, noodles, meats, toast and spreads, juices and eggs cooked in every way imaginable, not to mention pastries.
The pool had a view of the mountains, not really the sea. there is no public spa.
The gym wasn't really a gym so dont come in planning to work out. the equipment is rusty and is located in a hallway with room adjacent. i feel sorry for the people located in these rooms. there in about 5 pieces of equipment.
One thing i did notice about the place is that there is always someone cleaning, whether that be the pavers, the fences and pruning. something was always getting done.
I cant say as much for the rooms. even if you left a do not disturb sign or you didn't flick your 'please make up my room' sign, it still got done. often we didn't need it done. you are asked to leave towels that you want to keep on the rack, but they would change them anyway - so much for helping the environment. They rarely replaced soaps, sanitary bags and other toiletries and they never swept our floor for days so it was covered in sand.
There was also one incident where we put our beach towels into the bath for changing over. they took the towels and never replaced them. for this reason they accused us of losing them. if this happens, report it immediately or otherwise you will be accused of the same thing. It did get sorted out after a few days but it was a disapointment anyway.
We also had problems when using the internet, it crashed when we urgently needed to use it. whilst this wasn't the hotels fault, they never offered us a refund of the two prepaid cards we had just purchased, which we really didn't need anymore.
Our tv played up and after some maintenance time they ended up repalcing it.
The few little problems did leave a sour taste in our mouth, but overall it was a nice experience (we stayed 11 nights) and would recomend it to others.
