Hi to all,
We recently ( July) travelled to lovely, warm friendly Phuket and had a terrific time as a family. We stayed in various places and one of them was the Movenpick in Karon Beach. We read all terrific things about it so we booked it for 5 nights.
We were very disappointed. It is a very very large hotel, on 53 or more acres and it was really spread out, so to walk to the breakfast or the pool it was a 7 minute walk and you could easily get lost, so most of the time it took 12 minutes or more. The food was very good, the service in 2 restaurants was very slow.
We had interconnecting rooms and 1 room had airconditioning problems and we asked for another room, only to be told they were fully booked and it wasn%26#39;t possible. So no reduction on the room that had the problem. There were a few more things that weren%26#39;t good, both with us and another man and the staff were trained in a way that was very curt, and not friendly and not accommodating to the guest. There are so many hotels to choose from, I would recommend staying elsewhere.
We stayed at the Holiday Inn and it was fantastic in all ways and location was brilliant. Yes, it%26#39;s in Patong in a very busy area, but once inside the resort, you could have been anywhere, it was peaceful and had beautiful pools that had warm water so I was even able to swim. It was very relaxing and so easily reached after some shopping, you could walk everywhere even to local restaurants and didn%26#39;t have to bother about other transport. It was relaxing and had wonderful markets at the back of the hotel.
Markets open 6pm - 11pm every night. We bought lots of DVD%26#39;s from the Hello Kitty shop ( it%26#39;s all pink, you can%26#39;t miss it and it%26#39;s at the main entrance to the markets) most of the dvd%26#39;s worked, well we bought 80 and only 3 didn%26#39;t work, not bad and they had a very good selection. They are all 60 baht ( approx. $2.50 each australian)
There were many other items to buy at these markets, lots of Quick Silver t-shirts and surfing boardies for men and boys, they were great quality and lots of things for kids and teenagers, not so much clothing for women.
anyway, if anyone wants some handy tips or more info, I%26#39;m happy to reply back.
We also stayed at Phi Phi Island at the Holiday Inn, it was good, but the Phi Phi Island HOliday resort which is being renovated now, would be a better choice. The bungalows are more traditional and the grounds nicer.
Oh, important news if you are travelling to Phi Phi Island from Phuket. There is a private air shuttle plane that can take you in approx 20 minutes instead of 3 1/2 hours on a ferry . It costs aprox. AUD $75.00 one way per person. It was worth every cent, because I get sea sick and the ocean was rough on the way over and I was very sick, so going back not only did I save a lot of valuable time, but I wasn%26#39;t sick and it was exciting. The ocean apparently is very rough in June, July, Aug and Sept, but gets a lot calmer other months of the year.
The details of the air shuttle are: Destination Air
www.destinationair.com or email booking@destinationair.com
or phone +66 76 328 638
very worthwhile,
Bye for now
Simone
Movenpick Hotel - Karon Beach ,Phuket- WOULDN'T RECOMMEND IT
Sorry to read that your stay at the Movenpick was a disapointing experience for you.. Having been to both the Holiday Inn (Patong) and the Movenpick (Karon).. I can only say that I%26#39;m very surpriced that your complaint wasn%26#39;t handled in a more satisfactory manner. This was not our experience during a very recent stay. However it is an older resort.. as the very good pricing for a great resort does reflect. Nevertheless problems oughts to have been fixed and/or an upgrade offered.
