Originally Posted by
palermo
German Adventurer - While i understand your experience was different, my review is based on my belief that a good hotel should be defined by the experience in all the room types rather than just by the club rooms/suites. The rate for standard rooms were 550 euro during the xmas/post new years period and club rooms were closer to 900. Crazy for the quality of the hotel and the location within Phuket. We are talking Kamala, Phuket not a secluded beach in an exotic island or even in Koh Samui. I am fully aware peak season prices for Phuket are high but still....
Fair enough, @
palermo. Sorry to hear your stay at the hotel was so different from mine. I tend to base my reviews on my own experience and the room category I stayed in, facilities I personally used, etc. But of course mileage will vary and you get what you pay for... speaking of that, I do indeed agree with you that in terms of VALUE, this hotel is pricier than it should fairly be. It's not an exclusive region and the small beach is not even private.
Originally Posted by
palermo
The club pool (which is not directly on the beach but on top of the Thai restaurant overlooking the sea) was overcrowded and small.
Wow. In the 6-day period that we were at the hotel we were almost always the ONLY ones at the Club Pool. Max one other couple. It was amazing and felt like we had our own private infinity pool.
Originally Posted by
palermo
I am not sure if it is your case but while they were in soft opening period, I understand they were upgrading everybody to club. This and the low occupancy explains, in my view, some of the initial positive reviews in TA. The current reviews in TA are more of a mixed bag and I side with the negative ones.
We paid for our Club room / access, but we also had the impression that they were randomly upgrading people on the mountain side to compensate for the loud construction that was underway next door.
Originally Posted by
palermo
I did not see the GM or senior management walking around the hotel at any stage. I was never asked how my stay was or if I had any feed back - not even at check out. Very odd for a new hotel. While the constant feedback requests in other properties (Danang) is a bit over the top. Not asking anything even at check out is not the right approach for a new property.
Totally agree on this one. As Ambassadors who often stay with Club access for extended stays, we almost always get a visit from the GM at least once. Sometimes they are even very attentive to us at other ICs (for example, in China), but here it seemed like the GM was hiding out...