We stayed at The Access Pool Resort and Spa from Feb 10-13.

Transfer
As this was our first visit to Phuket, I had booked transfer through the hotel web site. Even with one hour delay we were picked up at the airport by a friendly driver. The transfer was 850 Baht, and it would have cost about maximum 250 + 100 Baht (in airport service charge) if going by Taxi-Meter (public taxi) we later learned.

Arrival
At arrival we got welcome drinks and were informed about breakfast and a special offer at the spa. Then we were shown to our room. As we had booked with very short notice and Chinese New Year were celebrated, entire Phuket was very fully booked at our arrival, so we got a room in the Green Wing, directly facing the lawn area and the place for outdoor restaurant as we later noticed...

Room
The room was clean and spacious, but had a very noisy A/C that we had to turn off at night to be able too sleep. Unfortunately we got no information on check in about the night market and the evening entertainment that were held at the lawn outside the room. This was done twice a week, on Saturday and Tuesday evenings with different themes for entertainment and food on each day. We did not eat at the restaurant/buffé as the prices were a bit steep. The entertainment was a bit loud but only lasted between 6 and 10 pm.

The bed was very hard and uncomfortable compared to European standards.

The best part about the room is the direct access to the pool outside (open 8am-8pm)

Facilities & Food
Prices in mini bar was affordable (I think 60 Baht for Singha Beer)
Two bottles of drinking water were free and replenished every day.
Since Room Service by boat is their concept, we tried the food. Not the best burger I've had, but acceptable. Their thai food was not above the ordinary, also with affordable prices.

Tours and others
We booked a Safari tour through the hotel concierge without problem, even though the tour itself may not be value for money.

The location of the hotel is about 1 km away from the main town, but no problem to walk there. There is also lot of taxis and tuk-tuks if you prefer not to walk

In all we where satisfied with our stay but the staff could have been more alert and informative.

I think we must of stayed at a completely different hotel as I don't agree with any of the reviews slating this hotel and didn't witness any of the bad things that have been mentioned.
We had a wonderful stay from start to finish and we were there for 10 nights over Jan/Feb 2008.
On arrival the staff were very friendly and incredibly helpful, finding no problem with them understanding us, of course there English isn't perfect but then maybe we should learn to speak their language.
Because it was our honeymoon they had given us a free upgrade to the new wing of the building which had been beautifully decorated for our arrival.
The room was very well furnished with lovely pieces of furniture and the access to the pool from the balcony was lovely.
The grounds of the hotel were maintained well with plenty of sitting all round the connecting pools/canals. We enjoyed many a day round the pool before heading out for the afternoon on a scooter we hired from one of the bars round the corner.
Every day the room was made up and towels etc replaced for fresh ones.
I'm glad I booked this hotel and didn't listen to all the bad comments otherwise I could of missed out on a special hotel. I've stayed in all classes of hotels and this compares to the best of them. The Hilton was the next hotel along and just looked like a contrete block, I felt sorry for people staying there and paying twice the price as the area surrounding it wasn't half as pretty.
My husband and I loved this hotel so don't be put off by some of the comments. If there is ever a problem then the staff will sort it which is more then I can say for alot of hotels round the country.

we were disapointed from the moment we arrived staff seemed mildly interested at best, we were given a room right down the back with limited pool access, not what we payed top dollar for. We were moved to a nicer room and the bathroom reeked of sewerage took two days to get it fixed, we ate one night at their seafood buffet, my partner got food poisoning and was violently ill the next day, one of the managers was aware of this and 2 days later when we were leaving asked if he was better, he said not really, the manager said you must be careful with food we replied it was your seafood and he laughed ?? communication breakdown or indifferent ?? pool access from the room was the best feature by far

Overall

Quite a nice experience in overall. We're initially quite intimidated by the negative comments below but luckily we didn't encounter any of these horrid experience.

Rooms

Rooms were exotic, spacious and beautifully furnished, with sufficient air-con. Bathroom was quite adorable with a window to the room beside the tub.

Quite a number of insects especially at night although there are many small lizards crawling outside the walls hunting for mosquitoes. And there are ants all over the sink every morning. Our advice is before going inside the room, shove off the insects resting on the door and go inside the rooms as quickly as possible after opening it.

Food

Breakfast was acceptable, no surprise, with some variety. Thumbs up for dinner yet the price is quite steep (approx US$25 per head).

Facilities

The pool is GREAT!!! It's all that I can say.

Transport

Transport is NOT convenient because the hotel is located uphill and 20 min is needed to walk to Karon Beach. There are 2 free shuttles every day but the last shuttle stops at around 1700 so you'll definitely have to book a cab if you're returning late. Also, WE BOOKED A TAXI TO FETCH US BACK AND IT DIDN'T SHOW UP!! We eventually called back to the hotel and demanded for the taxi...thanks to the telephone number printed on the complimentary bottles of water given everyday by the resort.

Communication

That's a problem. They have problems with basic English. They only understand key words and will have totally no idea what you're saying when it's in complete sentences.

Price & Value for Money

We visited Phuket by tour and have virtually no choice in choosing hotels, and frankly speaking we're unable to say whether it's value for money or not.