evergrn

Oh no, that's MY favorite dish. It's my kids who have nuts/peanuts allergy.

evergrn

Oh man. I've got 4 nights booked this Nov.
Would you take Hyatt Regency at $950USD over Hilton Arcardia at $650USD? (those prices are for 4 nights, breakfast included)
That price difference doesn't even account for the fact that I still have ~$200 resort credit remaining from my AMEx card and that Hilton gets me EL access and earns me a whole lot more points per night. When you factor all that in, the total price difference may effectively be more like $700 instead of $300.

I'm a Diamond at Hilton, which means lounge access and possible upgrade. I'm nothing at Hyatt. (well, I'm Discoverer which usually just gets me 2pm checkout)

Planning to spend 1/3 of the waking hours at the beach and the rest at the resort. We want pure r&r, so not doing any tourism.
The order of importance for us:
1).hotel's ability to cope with nuts-allergic guests
2).clean upscale room
3).adjacent beach is nice and family-friendly
4).hotel has nice pool
5).tasty hotel food/restaurants (esp breakfast buffet and Thai food)

One minor thing I'm also thinking about is that Hyatt seems quicker to get to from the airport.

Would you take Hyatt over Hilton, in spite of the price and status difference?

escape4

I used to stay at Hilton Phuket, then tried Hyatt once, and have been staying at Hyatt since then. I am Globalist and treated well there, their lounge is far superior to the lounge in Hilton. That is not your situation however so I would make the following comments.

I think the Hyatt deserves a price premium over the Hilton, but $950 for 4 nights seems like a lot. I usually pay 4,xxx-5,xxx THB per night depending on season and with the USD price you quoted it's more like 7,xxx THB? They give me free breakfast there so my rate excludes breakfast while it's included in yours. Perhaps that accounts for part of the difference, but it might be that they are unusually full for your dates and you might find a better deal somewhere else, for example on the Starwood/Marriott side. Personally if the rate was as high as 7k THB for the Hyatt, I would consider the Westin for example.

1. I brought my mom to Hyatt and she is allergic to gluten. The hotel was very proactive in trying to help, preparing a separate dish for her for breakfast in the restaurant, etc. We met the head chef a few times and he kept asking how my mom was doing. I think you can be confident that allergies are taken seriously there.
2. I like the room at Hyatt, even when I do not get a suite. Very clean and crisp.
3. The beach in front of the Hyatt is not nice at all. You have to walk to Kamala beach or take the hotel shuttle to get there. Hilton wins in terms of beach.
4. The pool at Hyatt is ok, but rectangular shape and a bit boring. You have more variety of pools at Hilton.
5. Food at Hyatt is better than Hilton.

Yes Hyatt is closer to the airport.

So I clearly prefer Hyatt, but in your situation I think you get more bang for your buck at Hilton with possibly a suite, lounge access, and the price difference for your dates seems higher than the norm. It depends how price-sensitive you are, but I think you will get good value for the money at Hilton, but would be more comfortable at Hyatt, and you might also get a better deal with another hotel chain.

gav0106

evergrn

Thank you very much to both, especially escape4 for your outstanding detailed info. Very helpful.
For Hyatt's ocean view room, the Regency Club access rate is 3200THB ($96USD) more per night than the standard rate and 2080THB ($63USD) more per night than the breakfast buffet-inclusive rate (those are tax-inclusive). Do you think it's worth the price difference to go with the Club access rate? How are the breakfast and evening cocktail food offerings at Regency Club? I'm used to paying 20-25% more for Regency Club access, but it's >50% higher at the Phuket property.

I'm looking at the breakfast-inclusive refundable rate at Hyatt's ocean-view room which is 5800THB+18.7% tax. We also have 2 kids whose breakfast isn't included, so that's another 380THB+tax x2 x4days. When all is said and done, that's about $950 for 4 nights. Without breakfast, the nightly rate is about 1000THB+tax less but the breakfast buffet at Hyatt is supposed to be 765THB+tax pp. So at Hyatt, we'd have to go with the bnb package. As you can see, the fact that we don't get free breakfast alone results in >2000THB cost increase per day.

I was looking at Marriott Nai Yang Beach. Their rates are similar to Hyatt. But I have absolutely zero status with Marriott. We really need a late checkout (7pm flight). Only Hilton, Hyatt and IHG can give us late checkout.

The beach thing is huge. Pool not as much. I like to swim for exercise and kids will love any kind of pool. So the pool issue isn't as big a deal as long as neither one isn't dirty or crowded. But if the beach next to Hyatt isn't nice, then that could be the deal breaker.


We're going in late Nov. I don't think that coincides with any Chinese holidays, but unfortunately it does coincide with US Thanksgiving. Hopefully there won't be a mad tour group rush from US. It seems like I have to lean towards Hilton if the opinion is that there isn't a clear-cut favorite between the two hotels given the price difference. We're flying halfway around the world for r&r, so of course we'd like to have a relaxing, pampering stay. But it's not like Hilton is rundown or 3-start caliber, right? I've heard people complain about Hilton Hawaiian Village being too large and busy and not offering much to Diamonds, but we always have good time there because the room and pools are clean and the resort is well-organized. Or does Hilton Phuket fall short in other ways?

Not a lot of beach resort options in my general price range other than Hyatt, Marriott Nai Yang and Hilton. I think I'm looking too late. There's Swisshotel at Kamala Beach. They're extremely cheap, though. Only 19,000THB for 4 nights in their so-called deluxe suite, tax and breakfast inclusive. I'm not too familiar with this brand, but this does not seem like a high-end hotel.

Kacee

I can't compare to HR, but here's what you should know about the Arcadia.

It's an hour-plus drive from the airport. I suggest arranging a hotel car over a taxi. The price is fair and that way you don't need to deal with the taxi touts and you should have a safe driver.

The resort is across the street from Karon beach. It's a relatively narrow beach that gets really pounded by the surf. If you're not experienced in heavy surf, it's not safe to go in past your waist most of the year. (A shocking number of tourists drown here every year.) I much prefer Kata, about a mile away, for the beach. It's in a protected bay and just nicer overall. Unfortunately, they booted all the vendors who rented umbrellas and loungers from Kata, which makes it much less appealing IMO (they don't allow them on Karon, either).

I always rent a scooter to tool around. You might want to rent a car. The resort has free parking.

The room will be clean. They are not "upscale" unless you get one of the newly renovated ones. The resort is spacious and the grounds are beautiful. The pools are okay, nothing especially fancy. There are several of them, so they don't get overly crowded. The spa is particularly nice, with private cabanas.

The breakfast is okay. You can eat at the buffet or in the lounge. If you go the buffet route, you should plan to eat early, it gets mobbed by the Chinese tour groups and they can be a bit pushy.

evergrn

Kacee

Yes, resorts are mostly on the west coast. The size of the surf depends on the exposure and time of year. It's biggest during the rainy season, April to October. Certain beaches are more protected than others. Karon is totally unsheltered and has the kind of long, straight exposure that causes riptides. Kata has some protection, particularly towards the north end, and is less prone to rips.

This coast was absolutely devastated by the tsunami. In some places (e.g., Khao Lak) it was literally wiped clean.

wheresmybagba

Yes...and most/all of the beaches are not safely swimmable during the monsoon season (approx Apr - Oct).

If you're going in late Nov I would imagine the beaches are back in their safe period (approx Nov - Apr) however obviously you should take note of any warnings posted and weather conditions.

evergrn

Hopefully the water will be calm enough to enjoy in Nov, but of course we won't know until we get there.
If Karon Beach cannot figure prominently into our Hilton experience, then I guess Hilton won't have the edge over Hyatt in terms of beach.

Then it just becomes matter of more variety of pools and much better cost performance (Hilton), vs better room and better food and more relaxing ambiance (Hyatt).
Need to think long and hard about this one. But being a frugal guy, I'll probably end up choosing Hilton in the end.

tide

Kacee

Or just don't go to Patong

I agree, I wouldn't want to stay at Hilton without transport. Although I will add that picking up a car at the airport after 20+ hours of travel and driving on the left hand side of the road can be a real challenge for Americans.

escape4

I enjoy happy hour at HR but in Phuket you could get a lot of food and booze for 2000 THB. I greatly appreciate that I get it for free but I would not pay that kind of money for it.

I would not call the area in front of Hyatt a beach. It's mostly rocks - not sand.

The HR pool is clean and very large so no worries about it being crowded. As an extra perk of booking a Club room you also have access to the more private pool by the lounge which is often featured on the home page of Hyatt.com with the great views from there. If they picked that picture for the home page, it's because it's one of the nicest spots in any Hyatt hotels worldwide. But with children you will want the big pool.

I have not stayed at Swissotel Phuket but I stayed in Swissotel Bangkok. Not my favorite hotel because the elite benefits are slim, but it was fine and not very different from Hilton in terms of quality.

Hilton Phiket is not run down. I think Phuket is a very competitive hotel market and some of us here will criticize and move our stays somewhere else if there is something we do not like much because there are lots of good other options. But your situation having only status with Hilton is a bit different. Odds are good that you will get a suite so added with lounge access I think it's a solid choice if you care about value for the money more than having the best luxury experience regardless of price.

SK AAR

High season starts 1 Nov in Phuket and in general hotel rates are jacked-up from this date. Rates for October are considerably cheaper (I know that doesn't help you, but just to explain that high season has significant impact on hotel rates there)

Don't worry. US Thanksgiving has no impact on hotel rates in Thailand. Only few US visitors to Phuket compared to the influx of Chinese tourists during in particular CNY in January/February.

The hotel rates you quote I find very expensive for even November. I would look for better value elsewhere. Admittedly, in general hotel rates in Phuket are far higher than in other parts of Thailand but USD 950 for 4 nights - that is ridiculously expensive IMO. Did you consider Khao Lak? (about 80 km/1 1/2 hours drive north of the airport - it is not Phuket). You should be able to find nice beach properties there.

I wouldn't base my choice of hotel on the possibility of late check-out. Most properties in Thailand are very stingy about late check-out so I would count on a 4-5 PM check-out if that is what you are expecting. A 1-2 PM check-out is often what you get.

Kacee

This property ordinarily will not upgrade to a suite unless you pay. The standard Diamond upgrade is to a junior suite in the Lotus Wing.