On arrival at Phuket Airport we were expected to be met by the hotel’s driver but unfortunately there was no sign of him. However, this was probably because when we arrived for our fight at Bangkok Airport we were informed our flight was cancelled and we were put on the next flight to Phuket so therefore I guess our hotel driver did not know we were not on that flight. So we had to get a taxi (the hotel refunded the cost when we arrived).

My first impression on driving up to the hotel was that it is a very nice and open hotel. The gardens were so green with massive big statutes in the front entrance and in the gardens. One of the staff came down the stairs to welcome us and guide us to the front desk, whereupon she sat us down and brought us a cool fruit drink and cold face towel. We checked in with no mishaps and were then taken to our room in the Palm Wing, a deluxe room in the Bird of Paradise section, room 2406, on the top floor.

The room was a good size with the most massive biggest bed I have ever slept in which was also nice and hard. As this trip was a first wedding anniversary they had decorated the bed with orchids and a message saying Happy Wedding Anniversary. There was a nice bowl of fresh fruit in the room and two fresh flower displays. A short while later a maid arrived with a carafe of fruit punch in an ice bucket which after putting a couple of slugs of vodka in was delicious.

The room was very nicely decorated with a few drawers, plenty of hanging space in the cupboard and a well stocked mini bar and also a sort of hot water maker so that you could make some tea/coffee. There is a safe too, which you have to pay 95 bahts a day for, although you could put your valuables in the safe room in reception, which I believe, was at no cost. We just felt it a bit of a bind when we wanted to take out extra money or our little bit of jewellery etc so paid for the safety box in our room.

The bathroom I felt was the only let down, it was quite small but more than adequate although I feel that it could do with a face-lift. New tiles may be?????

The balcony had two sun beds and I could just about see the sea through the trees. Our balcony was totally private. We could not be overlooked by any other balcony so any topless sunbathing was not a problem, although I would say that it was very very hot and any sunbathing would have to be followed by 10 minute intervals to the shower.

All the public rooms are open and so spacious. The only room that was air-conditioned was the reading/internet room. The hotel has 5 swimming pools, all beautiful and so inviting although our favourite was the swimming pool with the Blue Heaven Swim Up Bar, for obvious reasons. The beach is just over the road, which is not busy, and so within one minute you are in the sea.

The breakfasts were buffet style with every imaginable item you could want – the chef will cook you an omelette, scrambled eggs etc. We did not have breakfast every day, as we often do not eat until mid day but on the days we did eat in the hotel it was a glorious feast. One downside and that is we had to put an extra tea bag in our cup of tea; luckily I always make sure I bring with me a box of t-bags. Us English do like our tea quite strong with milk.

We ate twice in the hotel in the evening, once in the Windsong Restaurant which was wonderful and once we had room service again the food could not be faulted.

The service in the hotel is first class. The staff could not do enough for you and most of them speak very good English.

I would recommend this hotel to anyone and where it is situated in Karon, you can walk either left or right out of the hotel. There is no building work around the hotel although where the Karon Circle is there is quite a bit going on but we were not disturbed by this.

I would definitely recommend this hotel and would more than likely return to it when we come back to Phuket.

Thank you to all the staff at the Thavorn for making us so welcome and making our stay so memorable. We shall return!!!!

If anyone would like to see all the photos I took of our holiday please feel free to email me and I will gladly send them to you along with the link to my on line day by day diary of my trip.

My stay at this hotel was probably a one in a million. I was swept away into this hotel during the recent tsunami. Immediatly the hotel staff treated me and gave my family free drinks. The staff also remained extrodanarily calm although they were predicting killer aftershockcs to come any minute. The staff also offered us a room to stay in which even though wasnt the best room still had an amazing room and two beds, a balcony, a big minibar, a cable tv, and free tea, coffee, and water. Unfourtunatley we could only be in the room for an hour or two since we had to retreat to the lobby incase we were needed to evacuate the building. Even though everybody was very tense during this time the calmness and reasurance of the staff helped us all relax. The comftorable buisness centre offered us live updates on the status of the waves and internet prices were very reasonable. In the end the hotel was even able to locate my mother who was missing for over 8 hours.
In conclusion we would definetley recomend this hotel to anyone and everyone and it would be the first stop if and when we go to Phuket.

My wife and I stayed here for our honeymoon and throught it was superb. The grounds are wonderful with 5 swimming pools (one with a bar in the pool) and beautifully landscaped. The staff were very friendly and keen to help and made this stay a real pleasure.

The reception area is a great place to enjoy an evening drink and the hotel restaurant (The Old Siam) is open air overlooking the beach and the food was some of the best we had in Phuket.

We spent our first night in a luxury room as a honeymoon upgrade which is worth the extra you would pay for it as it was first class. The standard room we moved to was a little basic but very clean and spacious. We would definately stay here again.