MÖVENPICK RESORT & SPA KARON BEACH PHUKET

we stayed here for 3 nights in a two bedroom suite. Check in - we knew we would have to leave a deposit, but was surprised it was so high 3000 THB. We opted to pay in USA dollars as we had some left over from just visiting, however they would not take some of the notes as they were dated 2006. Our room - very close to the pool, great facilities, in need of some maintenance, ie paint blistering on walls. Housekeeping - could not fault, cleaned every day and replenished. Pools - they advertise 4 pools however due to a 2 tier system in their hotel (VIPS and everyone else) you can only really use 2 of them. (we were fortunate to have all pools accessable to us). All pools really should be accessable to everyone as it does create a bit of 'them and us' within the hotel. Also the pools are up to 3 meters deep, totally not ok if you have children of which I have 3 - ages 11yrs, 8yrs 6yrs. In the main pool they could only really use 25% of the pool for them as it suddenly went too deep for them. There are only a few sun loungers by one side of the pool. They have a system for ordering pool food, press the buzer on the table and someone comes to take your order. We pressed and waited, and waited, pressed again, waited and waited, and pressed again. Finally somone came after we chased a member of staff so it defeated the object of pressing the buzzer. If you do order chips, make sure you ask for salt and pepper at the time of ordering otherwise it will not come. Food - again a 2 tier system. One of the restaurants is just for VIPS (and off the street walk ins). Pacifica restaurant breakfast was average, no better than others we have had in Phuket for a fraction of the price. Spa - I booked a massage on our first day. They had one space for our 2nd day or 2 spaces on our last day. I booked for our last day. I turned up for my 90 minutes of pampering only to find out they did not have me booked in. I was extrememly disappointed and upset and had been looking forward to some 'me' time and a special birthday treat from my husband. The staff really did not seem concerned and kept telling me 'we do not have you booked in'. Check out - we asked for a late check out - 12.30pm, which reception agreed (usually it is 12noon), however by 11am our room had recieved two telephone calls asking us to settle our bill (we only had one room charge on it) which was considerably less than the 3000THB we had left as deposit upon check in. Be prepared for staff to ask you to donate the remaining balance of your deposit for an undisclosed charity. This really is not a hotel for families, the kids club was very pricey and three times the price of other Phuket hotels, the pool has one slide but as mentioned was very deep. And if your children made friends from other parts of the hotel, facilities may not be available to them (due to two tiered system). Rats were seen in the grounds, and extensive tree work was being carried out next to our room (although a notice was left in our room the day before).

All in all the stay was really lovely.....the Hotel and grounds, restaurants and service excellent. Only negative we had was the rooms were dated and a bit tired. We did not like the shower over the bath as it was a bit high to climb in and out. Otherwise, couldn't have asked for a more friendly, top class food hotel with beautiful surroundings and beautiful staff.

One of the best I have stayed in, there was no language barrier as we had encountered in other areas and the staff were very polite. Pool areas were great and a few to choose from. Overall a great experience

Service was too slow in all the restaurants and when you are travelling with kids and trying to have a peaceful meal.....delay in meals makes everyone very upset. Happened at all the meals we had at the hotel.

absolutely blown away with the service, the resort, everything! our villa was perfect! the staff are the kindest people, very welcoming and make the stay so comfy! the pools, spa, restaurants everything was perfect! would deffinately visit again!