South Sea Karon Resort, Phuket

Absolutely loved every minute of it. I didn't think 20 hours in Phuket would be long enough to relax before we headed off for Beijing and then on a trekking holiday, but it was! From the moment you enter the resort, and receive an ice-cold glass of apple juice and a cool refreshing towel, to getting to your room and discovering that it is clean, cool, spacious, with everything you could think of (as mentioned before, the minibar, robes, sandals, plus toiletries, fluffy towels, a great view, and even frangipani flowers on the bed and in the bathroom). The pool is the perfect temperature, warm enough to enter without doing the whole "do I just jump in and brave it or do I inch in and get used to it" dilemma, but cool enough that you don't feel cold when you get out or sit at the swim up bar. The cocktail menu is long enough to find something you like but not so long that you spend hours deliberating - although the bartender was happy to make up any cocktail we could think of. There's a gym on the rooftop, fairly small but with enough machines to get a workout if you are a gym junkie, although I'd recommend going across to the beach and enjoying the outdoors. Theres also a shop with clothes, and a place to book tours. The day spa was heaven, and although a bit more expensive than other places in old phuket street, the experience was fantastic, with a lovely setting and calm music and masseuses which you don't get down the street. The sunset view from the rooftop garden is well worth it, and the daybeds up on the roof were a great way to chill out and read a book for a while, as was the courtyard in the centre (with a small foreign book exchange too). The restaurant had plenty of seats and a happy hour that lasted three hours (don't get that in Australia!) but we didn't eat there - we ended up wandering just down the street to eat at one of the many smaller restaurants down the road - the view of the beach from the hotel restaurant was better.

Not much to complain about and it did correspond to our expectations based on what we had read on several web sites.

We liked the location of the hotel. We had stayed before at Karon Sea Sands Hotel next to this hotel. This hotel was a huge disappointment to us. We stayed in the older part of the hotel. Room were good size but very tired and old. Can not recommend to anybody.