Dusit Thani Laguna Phuket — Hotel in Choeng Thale

(Edit: My review is if the pool villa experience. I interacted with other guest that stayed in regular rooms and they seemed to have less challenges.)

Most things that were sub par about this resort had more to do with the fact that it is very old than that the service was bad. Our 2 bedroom pool villa was in an alarming state of disrepair. Every room had several items that were either broken or just filthy. Some sockets didn’t work, lights that would not stay on, screen doors that didn’t close all the way, curtains and blinds that just needed to be replaced because they were so dirty. Two of the aircon units were as loud as jet engines. The basement bedrooms were constantly damp and smelled of mold. Several lights were broken on the pool deck and the outside showered didn’t work. Even the lock on the front door was broken when we arrived. It took them two visits to get it working. The issues didn’t stop at the villa. Beach/pool furniture was filthy as were the towels they gave out, there were ants everywhere the gym equipment was old and looked like it had never been cared for.

Room attendants came in twos or sometimes threes and you could see them putting in the effort to clean. Overall I would rate the cleaning staff as good and the service staff as satisfactory. There were no standouts however and there was no “excellent” service. A few times when I asked for things (extra towel at the pool, takeaway container at the bar, mayo at breakfast) I was told where to get it myself rather than someone getting it for me. Also there was an annoying recurring theme of staff going out of their way to let you know that they were accommodating you. “Sir I will have to go all the way to another kitchen” or “I will have to go to another cleaning closet to get that for you”. Only after asking a second or third time would the staff fulfill my request. Not terrible but not what I think of as 5 star service.

The food was OK, not great but there were a few items that were tasty. There’s no in room breakfast but if you push hard enough they will bring you items from the buffet to your villa. The pool and beach servers were obviously inexperienced. I could see that being a result of the pandemic. Perhaps they aren’t able to secure quality staffing for all departments? Some of the restaurants weren’t open but the ones that were had average to good service. Bartenders were not great everywhere on the property other than the main lounge. I eventually just stuck to beer and simple drinks that couldn’t be messed up.

You can see in the “bones” of this resort that it was probably spectacular in its day. It really has the potential to be outstanding. The location alone is amazing and the staff appear to be doing their best. Father Time is undefeated though. This place needs updating in the worst way. We still had a great stay but won’t be back unless there is a...

Stayed there for just one night in October 2023. We arrived late at night really tired after a 15 hrs flight with two stops. The staff were amazing but did ask for a large cash deposit (Thai Baht) that we did simply not have, despite paying for the stay in advance and providing two valid credit cards for preauthorization on site. They insisted on cash (?!).

Breakfast was truly amazing, as was the beach, despite some strong winds. The resort is well looked after and clean. The only thing that was REALLY disturbing was construction works at 10-15 meters from our room, my wife was awakened before 8am by knocking and hitting sounds that took forever (~1.5 hrs but clearly more than 1 hr.). Pools were very clean and nice

I kindly ask for official confirmation from Dusit Phuket PR if refurbishments are completed as we plan to stay there again between January 11 and January 21 for our honeymoon.

Update: second stay mid January 2024, 6 nights. 8/10. Perfectly clean rooms, excellent beds and linen, towels etc. 3-4pm afternoon tea is a great idea but somehow sweets and salty dishes were constantly left on the plate - way under par. Superb teas and great coffee. Cocktails happy hour and free flow periods were a very nice touch (7-8 and 6-7 pm) for club lounge.

All staff (breakfast, restaurants, housekeeping, management) deserve a 10/10, no questions.

The only negatives: Beach towels marked 2022 looked like hell, thorn, stained, etc. 50% chance to get a stained one. Cleaned and bleached, so not dirty, but really bad for a quality resort. It's because of the hotel's main client base, far Eastern European, that caused this degradation of property in only 1.5 seasons.

Food in restaurants was underwhelming - except for breakfast and Casuarina beach - where everything was consistently GREAT. example of bad: tom yum had zero flavor, a giant prawn and almost raw ginger (not boiled), zero spice/heat. example of great/superb: Casuarina beach restaurant - yellowfin tuna, tuna tartar, seabass filet, grilled veggies. Food overall 8/10.

Garden set up could have been great, but hotel managed to cram way too many sunbeds and umbrellas under the trees (90% shade anyway), so it feels very crowded, with 40% of the garden not used at all. Make umbrellas permanent, where the sun has chances of hitting the ground, not under trees.

Insufficient transparency on benefits and how they can be used for club rooms. The lounge is a very small indoor space, complemented by an outdoor balcony. Atmosphere is great because of staff, but it's not a club lounge...

I feel bad for taking so long to write this review, so let's get into it!

This resort is massive, it's part of an even larger planned community called Laguna on Phuket island. This resort is about 45 minutes by car from Phuket old town so keep that in mind if you are looking to enjoy the Phuket nightlife or something. It was so large in our 4 days we didn't see every part of it or manage to try all the restaurants.

The Overview:

We loved our time in this resort. The staff and the atmosphere were absolutely wonderful, they were sweet and accommodating. I ordered take out from their Italian restaurant and just asked them to box it up for me, instead they delivered it right to our room on the tray and collected the dishes in the morning. Every staff interaction I had during our stay was nice. One afternoon when we were laying by the pool we wandered over to the Petanque court just off the beach and the staff taught us how to play their local game. It is a game similar to lawn bowling but played on a gravel surface.

The Food: We loved the food, the breakfast and afternoon tea were included in our room rate and we enjoyed them each day, the coffee and Thai tea is honestly fantastic. We had a margarita pizza from the Italian restaurant which was excellent in addition to a wonderful tiramisu. The Pad Thai and carbonara were also delicious (Some pictured below)

The Staff: Waraporn (who I believe is the guest service manager) was one of the sweetest people ever. She made suggestions about places to visit and things to do, she shared about Thai culture and was such a warm addition to our stay. She and her staff are so well trained and clearly care about their jobs. She went above and beyond to make our stay more comfortable.

The Resort Grounds: The grounds were cleaned daily, we watched the grounds crews maintaining the beach and doing general maintenance throughout our stay, additionally the pool chairs and furniture and towels were maintained and dried after rains etc. Great!

The Bad?

I have seen people in other reviews saying the resort feels old and there isn't a separate adult pool and there was construction noise. It did feel like an older resort, the shady trees were wonderful and well grown and developed. The resort was well maintained. The pool had families and sometimes the kids squealed with joy. I didnt hear any construction noise.

It was a joy to stay at this resort and we really hope to...