We stayed here in February this year, and were reasonably impressed.

This was my TripAdvisor review posted when we got home :- http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marri...l#post28592367

Nice hotel for our introduction to Thailand

My wife and I stayed here for two nights as one of our stops on our way back to the UK from Australia. We had a ridiculously early flight from KL, so landed at Phuket airport at 7.30am. I had read about various options for the quite long journey to the resort, but opted for the easiest one. We booked a taxi in the arrivals hall for 1000 baht, which was about £20 and were given a ticket with a car number on it - we went outside and the car was waiting - very efficient and excellent value. The drive to the resort took over an hour, thanks to the morning rush hour traffic, but was an interesting journey.

Despite the long drive, we still arrived at the resort at a silly time, but we were greeted by the Room Controller Nicolas, who was brilliant. We were given a very welcome drink and cold towels and after a few minutes, Nicolas had sorted out a wonderful swim up room 4117 for us. He escorted us to the room and explained that the hotel currently had very high occupancy, which is good news.
The room was really nice, it was ground floor, with a huge bed, nice big bath and all the usual Marriott amenities. The best feature is our own balcony with sun loungers and direct access to the pool from our door.
The resort complex itself is huge with a lovely beach, and what looks like a very inviting sea at high tide. Once the tide goes out however you can see just how many rocks are just below the surface waiting to catch the unwary. I wouldn't recommend spending too much time in the water bare foot.
This didn't really bother us though, as the pools are great. They also offer free paddle boards which my wife took advantage off, and had a great time spotting fish in the crystal clear water.
We had a an evening meal in the buffet restaurant, which was first class. The food quality and the service were faultless .The mains were wonderful - a chef grilling salmon, steaks, huge prawns, lobster and lots of other sea food to order. Another chef carving some gorgeous rare roast beef, and then lots of tureens of meat and fish dishes to suit all tastes and some nice steamed veg and other accompaniments. There was also a kids area doing pizza, chips, spring rolls and popcorn. There were also musicians playing, a duo of guitar and violin / sax, then another duo of a guitarist and a female singer. All very nice, with very attentive service, We also had breakfast in the restaurant each morning, which was also very good.
One of the most striking features of the resort is the friendliness of the staff - without exception they always have a smile as they greet you, and are wonderfully helpful.
The resort is about 5km outside the hustle and bustle of Patong but there are always taxis waiting just outside the gates. There is a flat fee listed for all journeys and to Patong itself is 300 baht. There is also a scheduled hotel shuttle, but it doesn't go that often. Getting back to the hotel is easy, as there are loads of tuk-tuks in Patong.
All in all it was a good introduction to Thailand for us made better by the wonderful staff.
To get back to the airport, we splashed out on the hotel car and had a great driver, Vee, who became a tour guide for the journey, sharing lots of interesting facts as he drove us back to catch our plane.
Well recommended.



Nick