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The Old Phuket Karon Beach Resort Hero

We (my wife and I) stayed at the hotel for two weeks. From January 15 – January 29, 2024.
Our room was in the older part of the hotel, the one called the Sino wing.
The room was perfectly OK. Plenty of space, two balconies, a good bathroom with a well-functioning shower and a fridge that kept food well and truly cold.
The bed then? A double bed with good dimensions. No risk of congestion there either. BUT! The mattress is rock hard. After two nights I had pain in both my back and hips. But after drawing the reception's attention to the problem, we were given an extra bed mattress. That solved the problem. However, the pillows were far too hard. The hotel had no solution to that problem.

The pools then? The smaller pool, rooftop pool on the third floor of the Sino Wing, was nice. Not so many visitors. Calm and still.
BUT! There were far too few sunbeds. There were 6-7 of them. Also, 2 – 3 of them were broken in different ways. Although we spoke to the bar about this, nothing happened. The same broken sunbeds remained there the 2 weeks we stayed at the hotel.
At this pool there was also a small bar. Maybe not the biggest selection. But I can understand that. BUT! The fact that the coffee machine was broken repeatedly was really bad. Why doesn't the hotel replace a machine, which is broken more often than it works? The staff at this bar were a disaster. Much of the time it was manned by a young man. This young man knew ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about bartending. I had to instruct him how to make a gin & tonic. If you ordered a drink, he called for a colleague who came to mix the drink. This, in turn, led to the waiting time, from ordering to the drink being on the counter, often reaching 20 minutes. The dishes at the tables also stood for hours. He showed no interest at all in pursuing it. However, he was a very large part of the time very busy with his mobile phone instead of paying attention to the guests.
The larger pool, the one at the Serene Wing, was however well-functioning except that there were also far too few sunbeds. There was also a well-functioning bar with bartenders who knew their job and a coffee machine that always worked.

So to the absolute worst part of our stay at The Old Phuket. THE BREAKFAST!! DISASTER!
Soups that should be hot were cold or lukewarm at best, White beans in tomato sauce were cold. No bacon was served for 2 weeks. For the beans, different varieties of fried chicken were offered in varying sauces. Omelettes (a la minute) were available and were OK. However, they completely lack salt and pepper when cooking. Fried and boiled eggs were OK.
The vegetable part was under all criticism. Small tasteless tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce leaves, peppers and carrots. That is all. No fresh fruits at all.
Yoghurt came in two varieties. One, with some sort of strawberry flavor, which contained so much sugar it was inedible, and one unsweetened.
The bread was an absolute disaster. There, 12 out of 14 days there was only white formfrench and pain riche (which was also always dry). At only 2 breakfasts, a variant of a darker and slightly coarser bread was served. Otherwise, there were plenty of croissants and sweet pastries.
The so-called juice also needs to be mentioned. It contains large amounts of added sugar. Almost tasted like undiluted orange juice. The same was true with the pineapple juice and the grape juice that were served alternately. Lots of added sugar. We finally gave up and bought our own orange juice, without added sugar, at a grocery store, which we took with us for breakfast. We also noted that several other guests did the same.

Had it not been for the breakfast, hotels would have been rated 3.7 – 4.0 on a five-point scale. Unfortunately, because of the breakfast, we cannot extend beyond 3.0.

Is the hotel as a whole then worth the money you have to pay? Our answer must be... BARELY!

I hope the hotel management reads this and takes the criticism to heart. You have a number of improvement works to deal with.

Mixed experiences. The breakfast a disaster

Not sure where to start, but let's try and look for some positives.  The rooms are big, the fridge & kettle work & shower is powerful. That's about it.  

There are so many amazing hotels in Phuket - this is not one of them.  Having been so underwhelmed, we actually tried to move to a proper resort, unfortunately, as there were 8 of us, nowhere could provide 2 x family rooms in peak season.

This is a 3* hotel at best, that caters almost exclusively for Russian guests. The breakfast is, as others have mentioned, is a disgrace. Who wants fish porridge & spaghetti carbonara for breakfast? Not me.  You couldn't even make toast as the belt driven ones in this hotel were broken.  There's a nice cafe just outside the resort that serves a good breakfast though if you find yourself inexplicably stuck here.

We also discovered you can pay to go to nice hotels for the day - so that's what we did.  The Marriott at Merlin Beach was amazing, so was the Centara. I just wish our travel agent had booked us these to stay at rather than the dowdy Old Phuket - especially as they weren't much more money! 

Travelling the other side of the world and ending up here didn't ruin our holiday, but it did mean we spent extra on breakfast most days & other resorts / days out, so please - look at alternatives.

Stay somewhere else

Great hotel with ice cold air conditioning to die for! The rooms are massive and spacious and the two swimming pools are brilliant both with poolside bars.
The team that work here are great and a special thanks to Ben a bar tender at the poolside bar. The housekeeping team were also lovely
Fabulous people, fabulous place

Great hotel

hotel amazing ..staff so friendly .. very clean ..they can't do enough for you .. no negatives here . would stay again defo ... great selectin of food for breakfast ....pool area very clean .. bar prices very keen ... shops and great restaurants in walking distance ... 

ISLAND HOPPING IN THAILAND

Myself (29) and my partner (30) stayed in the old Phuket karon beach resort it was our first time in Thailand and our first stop. We were meet by the most friendliest and nicest people got us checked in straight away after offering a cold face cloth to cool down and a drink. They also updated our room without asking the room was fab. The shower outside has to be the nicest shower I have ever experienced. Room was cleaned daily and the bed was massive. The room came with all your essentials. We got the jacuzzi room which was fab first time trying the jacuzzi it wouldn’t work rang reception and two lads were down within 2 minutes to fix it. The pools are lovely and it’s a very safe place to stay right beside the beach with some lovely restaurant right outside the gates also really nice food markets beside it. Tuk Tuks close by so easy to get around anywhere. It’s only down fall was there is no bar (except pool bar) so if you want a late night drink you need to go to one of the restaurants outside the gates but really not a big deal. Fab hotel Fab experience would highly recommend.

Great Experience. Fabulous place


The Old Phuket is one of the most popular hotels in the Karon Beach area and benefits from a central location in Karon. Tranquil Karon Beach, one of Phuket's longest and most beautiful beaches, is easily accessible while the shopping and entertainment area of Aroona Karon is also within walking distance, with lively Patong Beach only a 15-minute drive away.

##### Your accommodation at The Old Phuket Karon Beach Resort

Decorated in Sino-Portuguese style, all Sino Deluxe en-suite rooms are air-conditioned with private balconies providing a garden view. Amenities include satellite TV, safety deposit box, tea/coffee making facilities, mini-bar and hairdryer. Serene Wing offers spacious and contemporary accommodation. Sino terrace deluxe, serene deluxe pool view and serene deluxe pool access rooms are available for a supplement.

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The Old Phuket Karon Beach Resort

Your accommodation at The Old Phuket Karon Beach Resort