The big hotel review around Patong/phuket

Michael1981 · August 30, 2012

Review of the Patong hotels I visited so far.

In alphabetical order:

Banthai Beach Resort.

A really nice place, arrival hall is very impressive to see, staff is very kind. the place itself is very quiet and yet very close to the action.

So far for the good parts, there are also some negative parts on this resort. The negative sides are the relative small rooms, outdated bathrooms and it's a bit overpriced for what you get.

I had a room without pool-entry as this costed way more, it's a cool feature, slide right from your own roombalcony in the pool (only the groundlevel rooms). These rooms are also a bit bigger. However, for the price you pay is way too much.

More info: see: http://www.banthaiphuket.com/

Duangjitt Resort.

Been to this resort 3 times, and 3 times with fun. It's a big resort, well maintained and looking very nice. The rooms are big and clean with a lot of space in them.

You have 3 types of rooms, the standard, the poolview and de luxe garden view. All have seperate layouts.

I liked the garden view most. The pools are very nice, they have 2 seperate pools, one small one, and one huge one, containing several islands in it, a big pool bar and lots of sunchairs.

The big pool is really a huge plus. As with any hotel there are several disadvantages..

The positives are:

- Big Rooms (not all, only the the deluxe

- Pool is huge

- Staff very friendly

- Clean and classy

- Prices are a little above average

The drawbacks:

- Roomsafes cannot hold a laptop

- No elevator, so if your room is at the 5th floor, you walkd the stairs.. ask for a low floor due to medical reasons, that works.

- Wi-fi in room very expensive

- Joinerfee 1000 baht for every 12 hours.

- Very big, lots of rooms, so pe prepared for crowded situations when checking-inn or during breakfast.

- A bit far from the action, walking to bangla is about 20 minutes walking or surrendering to the tuktuk mafia.

- Garden workers start early, so don't look up when you hear the grass being mowed of the trees getting trimmed at 7 AM.

More info: http://www.duangjit.com/

Patong Merlin

This hotel actually is fairly big, has a front entrance 5 mins walk to Christins massage, and the back entrance to beach road, cross the road and you walk up the beach.

This hotel is somehow older and you can see/notice that. It has been worn out and outdated a little bit. Been there once, and only kept it with one time.

The positives:

- the pools, there are 3 pools in the garden which is very nice, the hotel offers a free library where you can take books. And the hotel has a nice look (all dark wood, looks very solid and luxury).

- Budget car-rental is located in the hotel, which comes in handy

- Beach is just across the street.

There are a lot of drawback which I found:

- Outdated, if you take a closer look, you see the hotel is worn out and could use a big renovation.

- Inside hallways, the halls are inside the hotels, with doors on each side, as a result you cannot open the door without having mosquitos in your room as they all seem to wait in the halls for a sucker to open his door.

- Staff was not very friendly compared to other hotels.

- Clean is a big word, they try, but due to the aging it's get harder every time. As a result you get to see spots and marks on the walls, and I found a cochroach in my bathroom at night...

More info: http://www.patongmerlin.com/

Merlin beach resort

This is the sister hotel of the patong merlin which is review above. They have a free shuttle service from one hotel to the other.

The Merlin beach hotel is not actually in Patong, but across the hill, taking a taxi will take 10 mins and will cost extra. You cannot walk, because it's to far. That means you're sort of stuck at the resort. Which afcourse is not the plan when you want to monger around. Therefore the hotel lis excellent for you honeymoon, or for couples with children who like the silence and having a private beach, but for singles who love the action, well you get my point.

Positives:

- Really nice pools, and even a private beach just for the hotel guests named tri trang beach

- free shuttle service to patong merlin (it's sister hotel)

- If you like rest and peace, you definitely will love it there.

Drawbacks:

- Way to far from the action

- Hotel is fully struck by the tsunami back then and since then there are rooms who still suffer from this (mainly the ground level rooms).

- Expensive

- Not very well suited for youngsters and butterflies like ourselves :)

More info: http://www.merlinphuket.com/merlinbeach/index.html

Sunset Beach Resort:

This hotel is also not in Patong, but in Kamala beach. It's website states the beach is just across the road. (technically it's true)...

However, the beach is nothing more then a big collection of rocks, you can hardly lay on it. Crossing the road involves great dangers, as this is the going road to kamala. There are no crossings and running for your live in order to make it across is needed.

The rooms itselves are really big and spacious, really clean and offer much for the money. I believe this hotel offers the most tv channels of all I visited, but that can be a feeling.

In short the positives and drawbacks:

Positives:

- Big and clean rooms

- Nice pool, but a bit small

- Very cheap compared to the other hotels.

Drawbacks:

- To far from the action, you will need to walk 45 minutes to bangla road or take a tuktuk.

- Beach is a fake, it's rocks with see, maybe a little bit sand when the tide is low.

- Joinerfee is asked

- Beware, they have a waterfall which turns on at 9AM, you can forget sleeping in, when that thing starts, you cannot sleep anymore if you have a room close by.

More info: http://www.sunsetphuket.com/

And finally I have a small review about the dutch-inn guesthouse in which I stayes a couple of nights.

This restuarant/bar offers a few rooms available for bed without breakfast, they have small and a big room, with really cheap prices. The place is in a soi on bang-la road, so you walk out the doorstep and you're on bang la road.

This has several advantages and disadvantages.

The real advantages are:

- cheap

- no joiner fee

- clean

- in the middle of the action

There are some dis-advantages also

- bangla road closed for traffic after 18PM, so getting out or in with your car is a pain in the ass, motorbike also, you will have to walk with it.

- too busy, don't try to sleep before 2AM as you can't... way to much noise from the bars around you. Even after that, there are many drunks on the streets screaming, laughing, fighting and fooling around, so forget about sleeping.

More info: http://thedutchinn.thailanddesign.be/

Hope it helps you guys a bit...