- Front-desk staff was on the ball and friendly.
I requested for a 2-pin to 3-pin plug converter to charge my phone (Thailand uses 2-pin plug), as the front-desk staff did not understand me, he ran up to my room to check out my problem, and ran downstairs to get the converter, all within 5 minutes.
- The room and toilet was spacious and clean, drinks from the minibar are free.
I stayed in room 314 (shanghai room) on 27th feb 2008. i liked the arrangement of the room with the ancient decor, and the beds are modern and clean, blanket was thick and warm. The toilets are clean and there was no grime on the floor or whatsoever.
- Excellent breakfast
I loved the crossiant and cut fruits as they tasted really fresh. As the hotel is relatively small in size, the breakfast was relatively well managed, the sausages, egg and ham was warm. I am an Asian and I appreciate the fried rice which was also tasty.
- Excellent in-house massage facilities
I particularly liked the in-house massage facilities (in contrast to sleazy massage palours nearby). As I am a hotel guest, I was entitled to 50% discount on all packages. I took up the "royal thai massage" on the first day, the staff was experienced and spoke good english. As I had 5 hours before my departure from Phuket on the second day, I took up the 3.5 hour "taste of heaven" package with sauna, jaccuzzi, massage, aromatic therapy, drinks etc etc. And it only costed 1350 baht.
- Close proximity (5 mins walk) to the long distance bus-terminal, 7-eleven and tour agency
There is a tour agency around the bend called "Green beach tour". I took up a one-day Phi Phi speedboat tour and managed to bargain it for 1400 baht (original price 2800 baht) without much effort. Behind the tour agency is the bus terminal that will bring you to many places in Thailand including Bangkok. As I arrived from Hat Yai (which is a 7-hour ride by bus), I appreciate the fact that the hotel is only 5 mins by foot (or 1 minute by tuk-tuk) and I can get to bathe and rest quickly. Beside the bus terminal is a 7-eleven convenience store, great for me to grab drinking water and some chips.
>>> The bad things I disliked
- Lack of channels on the TV
I feel that the lighting in the room can be brighter (I suppose the darker lighting is to complement the decor), as I find it quite hard to read on my bed. There was only 1 or 2 english channels and this does not do justice to the 21 flat-panel TV.
- Lack of restaurants in the hotel
As the hotel is small, there was only 1 open-air restaurant which serves Asian food. The food was okay, serving decent food (not wow-ish) with the occasional mosquitoes harassing you.
