| Location and value BUT do your homework |
Guest Rating: 6.7 |
malcolm D.
|
 Australia
Solo Traveler
Date of Stay: 26 Oct 2009 |
| Value for Money: |
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8/10 |
| Location: |
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10/10 |
| Staff Performance: |
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6/10 |
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| Hotel Condition/Cleanliness: |
|
6/10 |
| Room Comfort/Standard: |
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2/10 |
| Food/Dining: |
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8/10 |
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Location
Breakfast
well priced minibar prison cell room.
built on a hill side so many steps.
poorly prepared room.
aircon noise.
poolbar prices. I was attracted to the Tropical Garden resort because of its proximity to the beach. You cross the road, walk down a lane and you are swimming in 2 minutes.
This is by far the best attribute of the TGR
and if you want a quick stay in Kata near the beach and dont intend spending much time in your hotel,the TGR is probably a good choice.
My first impressions were not good.
I was not specific when I booked a room at TGR. A standard room anywhere is usually enough to keep me happy. I was assigned a "Spa Deluxe" room and
I thought I had been lucky and received some sort of upgrade.How WRONG I was!!
Unbelievable, but true, the room did not have a window. I could not believe this was possible.
I think the room was 6401 ( behind the pool)
I think the inclusion of the spa was meant to compensate for the lack of a window
The only way in for sunlight was via the semi open air shower if you opened the shower room doors which let in the mosquitos.
The room had a wooden floor, was dark and dirty and felt more like a prison cell than a hotel room
The spa was a large tiled affair and did not look very clean.
Not happy with the room, I asked for another and was offered a superior room (with twin beds rather than 1 king bed) for an additional 500B per night. I was not prepared to pay anymore so reluctantly settled for cell 6401.
The hot water in the shower took forever to get hot so I ran some hot water into the spa to see if any hot was available. The water in the spa and sediment from previous occupants would not drain away.
At this stage I thought I would suffer just one night,cut my losses, and check out early the next day.
The final straw was the bed. It felt old and uncomfortable just to sit on. Cannot say what is was like to sleep on because when I turned down the sheets I found a blood stain and hair!!
I called for the duty manager and at my insistance was moved to a better room.
The new room was basic but OK however the air con made strange gurgling sounds.
Sightseeing/Attractions Tip : If you are keen ,reasonably fit and have sturdy sandals,its is possible to walk from Kata beach to Kata noi via the rocky headland. Be prepared to scramble over some rocks.
Food at the two restaurants on the beach is great-Kata Mamas and Kata seafoods. Also enjoy a beer at the Regae bar next door as the sun goes down
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kenneth L.
|
Australia
Couple
Date of Stay: 13 Oct 2009 |
| Value for Money: |
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10/10 |
| Location: |
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8/10 |
| Staff Performance: |
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8/10 |
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| Hotel Condition/Cleanliness: |
|
10/10 |
| Room Comfort/Standard: |
|
10/10 |
| Food/Dining: |
|
8/10 |
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Great location if you can't book directly on Kata then this is next best hotel. Views to die for. As with everyone. Stairs. When I got to my room I was not inclined to leave as easily as usual for a walk on the beach. Already did my exercise with the stairs. But!!! wonderful wonderful views and yes good exercise, lovely fresh sea air in large well appointed clean rooms with big private balconies. Good breakfasts. Walk across road to beach and beach eateries. Low season rates were excellent value for money.
Restaurant Tip : Heading towards Karon on non beach side of road and about 30 meters along from hotel. Resturant built up off road about 1.5m with open pillared rails. Fabulous food. Great curries.
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| probably used to be nice - now, not |
Guest Rating: 4 |
carl K.
|
 United States
Solo Traveler
Date of Stay: 13 Oct 2009 |
| Value for Money: |
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6/10 |
| Location: |
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6/10 |
| Staff Performance: |
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4/10 |
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| Hotel Condition/Cleanliness: |
|
2/10 |
| Room Comfort/Standard: |
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2/10 |
| Food/Dining: |
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4/10 |
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inexpensive, very convenient to Kata beach Serious mold problem, AC barely works and extremely loud. Generally maintenance not well attended. This hotel looked like it had great promise but ultimately it was very disappointing. This was a case of beautiful on the surface but less than excellent underneath. Cold water only in the shower, severe mold problems, very noisy,poorly functioning AC, uncomfortable beds etc. I've stayed in much worse, but definitely not the four stars advertised. More like a no-tell motel in the states but with a great facade.
Sightseeing/Attractions Tip : Pay attention to the weather. Phuket has great outdoor activities in good weather but limited entertainment when the weather is bad.
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| Rainy days in Phuket |
Guest Rating: 8 |
rosemary V.
|
 United Kingdom
Solo Traveler
Date of Stay: 09 Oct 2009 |
| Value for Money: |
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8/10 |
| Location: |
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8/10 |
| Staff Performance: |
|
8/10 |
|
| Hotel Condition/Cleanliness: |
|
8/10 |
| Room Comfort/Standard: |
|
8/10 |
| Food/Dining: |
|
8/10 |
|
The breakfast was very good and with a lot of choice. Staff were helpful. Location good. Swimming pool was a little cold. Internet room had no printer. Because it rained a lot the steps became a bit of a nuisance On the whole I enjoyed my stay here despite the dreadful weather. The room was comfortable and the view was great.The hotel was very well situated only a few steps from the beach, close to many restaurants and shops. The staff were helpful and friendly. Breakfast was great. There were a lot of steps but apart from when it rained this was not a problem. Kata itself was a very nice quiet place but still had plenty of restaurants and small shops. But I would never come to Phuket in the rainy season again!
Travel tip : The Tum Rub Massage Centre opposite the hotel did a fantastic massage for 300 TB as opposed to 995 at the hotel.
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| Tropical Garden Resort |
Guest Rating: 9.3 |
colin D.
|
 New Zealand
Solo Traveler
Date of Stay: 22 Sep 2009 |
| Value for Money: |
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8/10 |
| Location: |
|
10/10 |
| Staff Performance: |
|
10/10 |
|
| Hotel Condition/Cleanliness: |
|
10/10 |
| Room Comfort/Standard: |
|
10/10 |
| Food/Dining: |
|
8/10 |
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I like the situation of the hotel at the end of Kata Beach.
The view over the ocean and beach is very pleasant.
The staff are excellent and very worthy of complimenting. There was a smell of sewer gas in and around the accomodation. This I believe to be because of the rain and dont know what you can do about that. This was my second stay at Tropical Garden Resort and I enjoyed the familiar surroundings and the fact one of the staff rmembered me.
I in particular like the hotel lobby and enjoy going there after breakfast to read the paper, the Nation which i judge to be an excellently written piece of jounalism, better than my local paper here in NZ.
I also enjoy the fact there are two swimming pools, one for the younger adults and the other one better for young children and families. I used the top on in the evening when i wanted to swim lengths and bottom one before breakfast.
Sightseeing/Attractions Tip : Catching the bus to Phuket was an experience.
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| Value for Money |
Guest Rating: 7.7 |
loan P.
|
 Vietnam
Other
Date of Stay: 25 Aug 2009 |
| Value for Money: |
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10/10 |
| Location: |
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10/10 |
| Staff Performance: |
|
6/10 |
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| Hotel Condition/Cleanliness: |
|
8/10 |
| Room Comfort/Standard: |
|
6/10 |
| Food/Dining: |
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6/10 |
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close to the beach, nice sea view from room, large room and good price poor breakfast, the walk way to room is very far, too many stairs, room's facilities are dated Good location, just 5 minutes walk to the beach. Rooms have great private balcony with wonderful sea view. The swimming pool is very good. Most of the staff are kindly but not all of them. We go to the bar near receptionist for welcome drink (it's for all guest and free), a woman bring some glasses for us, put them on the table and say "tickets ?". And when we ask for some minutes later because our friend had been back to the rooms to take tickets, she took all the glasses away and say nothing (so poor behaviour !!!). The receptionist is not helpful enough,either.
Travel tip : Very good restaurant near the hotel named KATA MAMA. Cheap massage service outside the hotel.
Small gift for U: a wi-fi ticket valued to 26 September 2009 (I bought it but do not have time to use). Username: TR2753, Pass: 166318. Cheers
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| A Perfect Night's Stay |
Guest Rating: 9.3 |
robert Y.
|
United States
Solo Traveler
Date of Stay: 03 Aug 2009 |
| Value for Money: |
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10/10 |
| Location: |
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10/10 |
| Staff Performance: |
|
8/10 |
|
| Hotel Condition/Cleanliness: |
|
10/10 |
| Room Comfort/Standard: |
|
8/10 |
| Food/Dining: |
|
10/10 |
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Location, views, privacy, pools and spa. Only had 48 hours to explore the Kata Beach area of Phuket and chose to stay at the far south end of the bay. TGR is for sure the best of the secluded resorts in this area. They are across the street away from the beach road, which is a plus. Literally a 2 minute walk to the sand, but a world away from the chaos. And if you don't want to get salty, they have 2 pools (one larger, more family friendly and one smaller, more private) both overlooking the ocean, just amazing views. My suggestion to you, book the nicest, highest room they've got (deluxe searoom view, I believe). It's worth the extra few sheckles, trust me.
Sightseeing/Attractions Tip : If enough monsoon winds blow and stir up waves, rent a board and paddle out. I got lucky and scored fun head high waves while I was there!
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| Lovely place |
Guest Rating: 9.3 |
anna S.
|
United Kingdom
Other
Date of Stay: 22 Jul 2009 |
| Value for Money: |
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10/10 |
| Location: |
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10/10 |
| Staff Performance: |
|
10/10 |
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| Hotel Condition/Cleanliness: |
|
10/10 |
| Room Comfort/Standard: |
|
8/10 |
| Food/Dining: |
|
8/10 |
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Near everything but still feel a little set back. Pool was lovely with balls, hoops and goals to play with for kids (and us!). Good breakfasts. Staff friendly. Good size, clean rooms with lovely beach views. Lots of stairs to get up to room (difficult for less mobile guests), could have better balcony furniture. Odd restaurant by car park! Hard beds. This place was great. We were in a lovley ocean view room which was high up, clean and spacious. Mini bar was reasonably priced. Pool was excellent with pool bar and toys in pool. Happy hour encouraged the guests to mingle. Breakfast was good and plentiful. Location is set up from the beach up the hillside but is very close to the beach, shops, restaurants and bars. I would definitely stay here again if I go back to Kata.
Nightlife Tip : Ska Bar is only 2 minutes from the hotel on the beach front and is a very relaxed bar. Small, open place and gets busier around 9.30pm so go straight after dinner to get a spot (fire shows etc) or go early for a drink before dinner.
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| Tropical Garden , almost a tropical paradise |
Guest Rating: 8 |
martin N.
|
 Sweden
Couple
Date of Stay: 06 Jul 2009 |
| Value for Money: |
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10/10 |
| Location: |
|
10/10 |
| Staff Performance: |
|
6/10 |
|
| Hotel Condition/Cleanliness: |
|
8/10 |
| Room Comfort/Standard: |
|
8/10 |
| Food/Dining: |
|
6/10 |
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Location, facilities, price thin wall, boring breakfast the hotel is located in a very good spot of Kata beach. Just a minute walk down the hill and ta-da you're there !
Hotel staff are lovely and helpful, but they did place us in a room where it was far from everything, (partially our fault, as no specification when booking was made).
They've got two swimming pools, a relaxing one on the right wing, and a party-with-bar one one the left.
Overall, quite happy with the stay...
Restaurant Tip : There is this one cafe called Andaman cafe... Delicious waffle with coconut ice cream there..
SHould definitely check it out@
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| Tropical island resort |
Guest Rating: 6.7 |
stephen B.
|
United Kingdom
Couple
Date of Stay: 30 Jun 2009 |
| Value for Money: |
|
8/10 |
| Location: |
|
6/10 |
| Staff Performance: |
|
6/10 |
|
| Hotel Condition/Cleanliness: |
|
8/10 |
| Room Comfort/Standard: |
|
6/10 |
| Food/Dining: |
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6/10 |
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Although the hotel was good value- we had a large room overlooking the very nice pool and a view of the sea in the distance,the drawback was the number of steps and tortuous route to get to the room. We stayed out of season and the local area was rather quiet so we moved after our 3 day stay finished to Patong
Travel tip : Avoid hotel if you have difficulty with steps
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| Great Hotel in Kata |
Guest Rating: 9.7 |
darryl W.
|
Australia
Solo Traveler
Date of Stay: 06 May 2009 |
| Value for Money: |
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10/10 |
| Location: |
|
10/10 |
| Staff Performance: |
|
10/10 |
|
| Hotel Condition/Cleanliness: |
|
10/10 |
| Room Comfort/Standard: |
|
10/10 |
| Food/Dining: |
|
8/10 |
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CLose to Beach, Friendly Staff Great hotel, close to beach (1 minute walk) great sea views from room. Nice pool and friendly helpful staff. Also close to great bars and resturaunts. Beautiful setting, I can highly recommend. The breakfasts were very good and a great way to start the day, I would have liked to have stayed longer.
Restaurant Tip : Northern Most end of KAron Beach, Kia Restaurant. Great setting, friendly staff and tasty simple food.
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| Good sea view |
Guest Rating: 7.3 |
nartanong T.
|
 Thailand
Family with older children
Date of Stay: 14 Apr 2009 |
| Value for Money: |
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6/10 |
| Location: |
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6/10 |
| Staff Performance: |
|
8/10 |
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| Hotel Condition/Cleanliness: |
|
8/10 |
| Room Comfort/Standard: |
|
8/10 |
| Food/Dining: |
|
8/10 |
|
the bell boy always disappear. This is my second time to stay there. It's very good sea view room. Everything is good except the walk way to the room. It's quit far. Reasonable price and not too far to walk to the beach. There are small shops around the hotel. This hotel is good for everyone who want to take rest on holiday. There are 2 swimming pool but no guard on duty. Please check before you let your small child go there. Over all I like this hotel.
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| Wonderfull Hotel in Kata Beach |
Guest Rating: 8.3 |
henrik N.
|
 Denmark
Couple
Date of Stay: 03 Apr 2009 |
| Value for Money: |
|
10/10 |
| Location: |
|
8/10 |
| Staff Performance: |
|
10/10 |
|
| Hotel Condition/Cleanliness: |
|
8/10 |
| Room Comfort/Standard: |
|
8/10 |
| Food/Dining: |
|
6/10 |
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Nice place and a wonderful pool and Spa. Good big rooms and clean was perfect. Long distance to the city in the area. I need a fitness center and a bigger restaurant place on the top with view to see.
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| Nice hotel |
Guest Rating: 7.7 |
ronny S.
|
 Norway
Couple
Date of Stay: 30 Mar 2009 |
| Value for Money: |
|
8/10 |
| Location: |
|
8/10 |
| Staff Performance: |
|
8/10 |
|
| Hotel Condition/Cleanliness: |
|
8/10 |
| Room Comfort/Standard: |
|
8/10 |
| Food/Dining: |
|
6/10 |
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I liked alomost everything about it. To far to walk from room to reseption The hotel loked very good. Our room was very nice. Nice balkony with wiew of the ocean and the swimming pool. Bathroom was ok, the bed was ok to sleep in. But it was 2 large bed pulled together to get a king size bed. It was not "easy" to get from the reception to our room. Looooong walk. To many stairs and hallways to walk through. That was the thing I didn't like about this hotel. Otherwise the hotel was good.
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| 2 nights at Tropical Garden Resort |
Guest Rating: 7.3 |
johan A.
|
Sweden
Couple
Date of Stay: 23 Mar 2009 |
| Value for Money: |
|
8/10 |
| Location: |
|
10/10 |
| Staff Performance: |
|
4/10 |
|
| Hotel Condition/Cleanliness: |
|
8/10 |
| Room Comfort/Standard: |
|
8/10 |
| Food/Dining: |
|
6/10 |
|
Good standard on rooms, nicely situated. Bit boring breakfast buffet Had booked 2 nights, and I asked for a price for additional 12 nights...tried 3 times, noone was interested in giving me a price!!! Fantastic. I checked out after 2 nights, booked a nice room at a guesthose down the street. VERY happy with that.
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