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Phuket Mai Khao Beach Resort
Book online or call:
1 888 HOLIDAY
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Hotel Contact Information
Hotel Front Desk: 66-76-603699
Hotel Fax: 66-76-603555
Hotel Fax: 66-76-603555
Rated 4.3 out of 5 by 6
reviewers.
Rated 5.0 out of 5.0 by flypenny Great stay
Thank you for the wonderful and warm welcome. Thank you for the recognition of platinum priority club rewards and the upgraded room with the step out pool. Awesome Touch we loved it! Thank you very much to Jeab. You are awesome at your job and did everything to make us feel at home. We appreciate you very much. We will definitely stay here again.
May 12, 2013
Rated 5.0 out of 5.0 by AbdnPete Excellent Hotel for the peace and quiet of Thailand
We upgraded our room to the pool outside our door and it was just amazing I strongly recomend you do this, but they also have a wonderfull infinity pool with stunning views to the sea. My only niggle is that we had just left a 5* in Makati where they provided a complimentary bus around the malls, and the service ran for a longer time with more trips. You are charged for this service here and there are only 3 trips here, I only writing this is because we felt you are at the mercy of the hotel after 6pm and taxi drivers who will take advantage of you because of where you are.
April 6, 2013
Rated 2.0 out of 5.0 So much right... so much wrong.
My wife and I choose the Holiday Inn Mai Khao Beach Resort for a four day, three night stay to celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary. The Holiday Inn Mai Khao property is brand new (less than 2 years old) and appeared to offer the quiet and relaxing escape we were looking for.
I am an IHG Platinum member and stay in Inter-Continental and Holiday Inn properties around the world upwards of 50 nights per year for a mix of business and personal travel. I live and work in Thailand and speak Thai fluently.
THE ROOM
The Junior Suite was very well appointed with a large spacious living area, LCD TV and DVD player, large sofa, work desk and best of all a double door which opens on to a private balcony with stairs into the semi-private pool. The bathroom had a large walk in rain shower, separate toilet and dressing area. Wireless and wired Internet were provided in the room as well as a legacy iPod docking station (supports iPhone 3GS, 4, 4S but not 5/lightening connector). To view the room layout and design see: http://www.holidayinnresortphuketmaikhaobeach.com/panorama/junior-suite.htm which offers a panoramic view.
Another minor complaint was the bed. Unlike other IHG and HI properties we have stayed in, the beds were quite hard and uncomfortable. This may have been an issue specific to room 8112 but both my wife and I found ourselves tossing and turning in the night to get comfortable.
POOL
After unpacking and settling into our room I was quick to jump into the private pool area in front of the room. As you will see in the pictures, the pool is very beautifully designed and surrounded by large plants which obstruct the view for those walking by and creates a more intimate environment for the guests. The pool is shared with other “Pool Access” rooms but each has their own area in front of the room to enjoy. During our four day stay there were other guests in the pool twice but both at the opposite end of the pool. It was very much like having our own private pool and was very pleasant to swim in during the early evening.
FACILITIES
Over the course of the next four days my wife and I stayed at the hotel, ate at the hotel restaurants, used the gym and spa facilities and relaxed on the beach front.
A few comments regarding facilities:
1. The main pool area tends to be very busy. On several occasions we were unable to find chairs and ended up going back to our room to swim. If you plan on swimming in the main pool and hanging out by the pool for the day then you need to get their early (8:30 am) or at around 12:15 pm when guests go to lunch and you can commandeer a chair or two.
2. Towels for the pool and beach are available near the pool bar. You simply sign them out when you take them and return them at the end of the day.
3. The spa is very busy. It was booked full for all four days we were there. At one point my wife was able to get a 1 hour massage due to a cancellation from another guest. If you plan on using the Tea Tree Spa then I recommend emailing the hotel to book in advance. The spa menu can be found at http://www.holidayinnresortphuketmaikhaobeach.com/spa.htm. Prices are reasonable for a hotel based spa.
4. The fitness gym facilities are excellent and a nice way to work off dinner from the night before or to work up a quick sweat before a swim.
5. The beach area is beautiful, as you will see in the pictures. The Mai Khao beach is situated on a government national park and thus has yet to be commercialized. There are no chairs on the main beach or jet ski’s and boats in the water. It’s beautiful, especially at sunset!
RESTAURANTS
The hotel has two restaurants, J’s Café & Restaurant and the Pesto Restaurant, a pool bar serving light snacks and drinks and a heavily over-priced resort center deli.
My wife and I had breakfast at J’s Café on two of the three mornings, lunches at Pesto, a delicious seafood dinner at Pesto and a seafood buffet at J’s Café.
- Breakfast, excellent buffet with an array of meats, breaks, cereal, and egg’s to order and fresh coffee. Breakfast is very busy between 8:00 am and 10:00 am so if you prefer some peace and quiet I recommend going after 10 am.
- Lunch, the Pizza at Pesto’s is delicious. I also enjoyed their Caesar salad with an ice cold coconut.
- Dinner, Pesto’s service an array of fresh seafood grilled to order else the themed dinners at J’s Café are reasonable. An all-you-can-eat seafood buffet was offered on Saturday evening for 899 baht ($30.00 USD) plus 10% service charge plus 7% VAT (total ~1058 baht or $36.00 USD).
In regards to the deli, it is incredibly over-priced even by hotel resort standards. Should you be in the need of soda drinks, beer or wine, a convenience store is located a 5 minute walk away out the front of the hotel and to your left or, exit the back of the hotel to the beach, take a right and walk down the side of the hotel. The convenience store pricing is 50% cheaper than the deli and offers a better selection. The lady at the convenience store was very friendly, chit-chatty and quick to give suggestions and recommendations on food and things to do nearby.
The pool bar serves a good assortment of drinks albeit the pricing is quite high. Happy Hour is from 5:00 pm until 7:00 pm and provides a buy 1, get 1 free deal. I recommend the fresh coconut and the mai tai’s!
- Issue: On two occasions we witnessed hotel staff (foreigners, Swedish or Russian) walk into J’s Restaurant, grab a plate, sit down and start eating. This may be standard at the hotel but appeared very strange to us as well as several other guests. The employee’s sitting eating were in company uniform and we believe were front desk staff.
“FAMILY RESORT?”
I would like to point out that I do not classify this as a “Family Resort” regardless of the marketing on their website. There are a number of well planned, well designed family activates offered (see: http://www.holidayinnresortphuketmaikhaobeach.com/download/Activities_fact_sheet.pdf) but two major issues negate the benefits for most:
Smoking - The public pool area, J’s Café & Restaurant and the Pesto Restaurant all stink of cigarette spoke from various foreign guests. The hotel does not appear restrict or control where guests smoke and I complained no less than three times regarding guests smoking within 6 feet of us while dining at Pesto. Guests were also smoking outside at the private pool area and pretty much every other location in and around the hotel. The hotel needs to establish a “Smoking Area” and keep second hand smoke away from other guests, especially children. I have two young children and had they been with us the smoke issue may have driven us to move to another hotel. In this day and age it is unacceptable that an International hotel chain would permit open zone smoking.
Kids Food - At most Holiday Inn Hotels and Resorts, kids under 12 eat free. For some reason under 12’s only eat free in the J's Café & Restaurant when dining with a paying adult and for the dinner buffet only. With the high price of food and added ‘service charge’ plus tax, 17% needs to be calculated on everything and this quickly racks up.
COSTS
As I mentioned, a 10% “service charge” and 7% Thai VAT is applied to all food, beverage and service purchases. This adds a total of ~17% on top of any listed menu price.
With the “service charge” tipping is not expected at the hotel. I asked two separate hotel staff on two separate occasions if they receive the service charge (e.g. tip) as part of their pay or as a bonus and both stated that they did not receive it. This was disappointing to hear as it suggests the 10% is going to the property owner and not to the staff who deserve it.
I recommend guests offer small tips (50 baht to 100 baht) here and there and when possible. Keep in mind that the majority of the hotel staff are on base pay of 5,500 baht to 9,000 baht per month ($185.00 USD to $300.00 USD). Most of the staff commute 40 minutes to and from work each day as they live in Phuket City due to the cheaper rent. This makes for a long work day on top of a 6 day work week!
CHECK-OUT
We had a few minor billing issues during our check out caused by check-out staff forgetting to deduct the hotel room fee’s we had already paid online. We would like to thank. K. Pream at the reception desk for helping to get everything sorted and to our airport transfer limo on time. He was very apologetic and re-checked everything in detail before we departed.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The Holiday Inn Mai Khao Beach Resort has a lot going for it. It’s a beautiful, new facility in a superb location. We would like to thank all of the staff who paid special attention to us and make our trip memorable. Most of the issues I have outlined are minor and can be addressed through the management chain.
Our biggest concern is the smoking issue. We would love to bring our children there later this year but do not want them to be around second hand smoke!
March 26, 2013
Rated 4.0 out of 5.0 by eico1225 Wonderful location. but buffet and staffs could be improved
We stayed here for end/new year holidays.
It's located at middle of nowhere but very relaxing place away from all noises.
We did like the children centered facilities and activities.
Only a few things we found need to be improved are food quality of Buffet(both Breakfast and Dinner) and some staffs' hospitality.
Else, we did satisfy with the hotel and would like to come back someday.
January 11, 2013
Rated 5.0 out of 5.0 by 2kao Happy with Family
Good service and Beautiful Place.
Hotel is very family friendly.
Atmosphere suitable relaxation is good.
November 16, 2012
Rated 5.0 out of 5.0 by Chengsone Great room with relax atmosphere
We went there as couple, the room we stayed was junior suite. The room was great very comfortable. Nice and big bath room but no bath tub. balcony was big and great. services are great too. quiet and very good for relax.
November 16, 2012
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