HILTON PHUKET ARCADIA RESORT AND SPA

Stayed for my 40th birthday with family. Lovely grounds, a little hot to walk around too much but appreciated the sense of space given the volume of guests. Room was nice, had a ocean/garden view and very quiet with the exception of the odd thumping tuktuk passing. Only complaint is that the balcony has no fan and no light. Not sure why but for Hilton this should be standard. Upon check-in advised we would have to pay a quite significant deposit (despite having paid for. The room upfront) which would be paid back between 2 - 4 weeks later. I asked why and the guy just mumbled something about banks. Maybe this is standard with all Hilton hotels but having booked through a third party I was never made aware of the policy. In this day and age there is no reason any deposit should take that long to return. The food was good but expensive. When checking in we were not told that we needed to or asked if we wanted to make a reservation for he Sunday brunch buffet. Luckily they found us a table and we loved the selection and kids activities but again.. why no fans' The whole outdoor area is super hot.. it's an easy and cheap fix to keep guests happy. We had the breakfast buffet the following day and suffered with the heat again... but the food was good. Upon check out I noticed again that the whole lobby has zero fans... literally soaking in sweat waiting for the transit bus and the same again while we were waiting for taxi. Overall a pleasant stay (install some fans Hilton) and do take note about the large volume of group tourists. The tour groups from china can be huge, during our stay I think there was around 6 or 7 busses just in one group. Buffet dining can get a little combative as can the swimming pools. So if that bothers you then maybe look for somewhere with less rooms as this is a huge hotel.

Had a great stay in the Hilton Arcadia. The kids loved the pools. Breakfast spread was amazing as were the theme nights. Brunch was awesome. We managed to eat in all the restaurant except the Thai and found the standard to be very high as with the service. Look out for the salmon tartare in the Italian, was so good we ordered another after the mains :-) We loved the little street food stall in the lobby, its a great way to introduce yourself to fried durian fruits. Kudos to the service staff in the pool, very efficient and always quick to bring a beer when needed. The room was spotlessly cleaned everyday thanks to the friendly housekeepers. The check in and out was smooth and we were recognized as Hilton Honors members. Due to the size of the hotel grounds it was impressive to see how well they were maintained. The pool table and table tennis room was great as were the staff managing them. The kids loved the kite flying. If your a fan of the beach then its easy accessible to walk from the hotel, there is plenty places doing parasailing. Nearby shops, restaurants and laundry's are walking distance to the hotel from both main entrance and beach exit. Look out also when you arrive for the little chicken family, again the small kids love it. Would have no hesitation to book here again on a visit to Phuket.. Great job Hilton Arcadia

My 5 days were amazing in this hotel . Friendly, smiley staff, the beautiful view, nice food...I was feeling like in paradise. When I arrived, I was given some exotic juice and a wet face cloth scented with jasmines. That was very nice treat. Lovely receptionist Diana checked me in and gave me the proper description about the hotel facilities ( I really needed that because the hotel is very huge like Palace ). To end up, I would like to say -the best hotel I have ever stayed at. Thank you all for a wonderful time :)

Fantastic staff, clean rooms and facilities,ocean views great. Great pools for kids, close to shops and beach. We ate at sails one night which was disappointing for the price. Big resort so you never feel it is too busy. While some facilities could do with renovations, the quality of fittings and furnishings are high.

it's not the usual Hilton resorts. Out taxi dropped us at the front entrance then we were told to stay there till someone got us. We then walked over to another section of the hotel after some body got us. We have Hilton gold status and usually when we stay at hotels check in etc runs really smoothly. We went to the Hilton Honors desk. This time not so much. We asked for extended check out for today we got. Our room was a garden view which was pretty but the room itself was tired. The toilet seat had burn marks and the bath had big chunk out of. We had asked for a quiet room which it was. The room was clean. We were told there were two restaurants for dinner. We did have a beautiful meal at the Italian restaurant and definitely worth a try. We were the only ones in the place and my hubby and I had four staff members watching our every move. Not the most relaxing. They are doing renovations in the hotel. something we didn't know at the time of booking. We seemed to be the only ones on our floor as all other rooms were being done up. It's a hour and a half from the airport and the hotel layout is a bit of a mish mash. The garden s were lovely. When We went to check out that was a bigger mess than we had when we checked in. The taxi that they ordered us hadn't been ordered to take us to the airport. We took down the minibar voucher with what we had consumed and a trainee woman at the desk informed us we might have missed putting what we had down on the form so they were going to check. In other words oh you could be lying. On the surface it looks like the staff know what is happening but you don't have to scratch the surface very far to find they don't know what is going on. Hubby and I are very relaxed but this hotel was definitely not a five star hotel. The service was not if a five star hotel. If you are thinking of staying here for a holiday do yourself a favour and don't. Doesn't compare with other hotels in Phuket that we have stayed at. Very disappointed!