Hilton Garden Inn Phuket Bang Tao — Hotel in Choeng Thale

I have stayed at a lot of Hiltons (worldwide) and a number of Garden Inns within the US.

This was my first International Garden Inn experience. In Phuket, I typically stay at other beach areas and in local or more resort-like hotels but this one suited me better for this short weekend getaway.

I was looking for a comfortable place to stay with a pool that I could enjoy, weather permitting (and thankfully it did cooperate.). This Garden Inn met all of my requirements and was a shorter trip to and from the airport than Patong or Kamala beach areas.

I was traveling alone, so that sometimes also influences where I prefer to stay and how I select the property.

This hotel was perfect for my needs for a short getaway from hectic life in Bangkok.

It took about 25 minutes and the equivalent of around $20US to get here. Perfect.

My driver had no trouble getting me here and though my already late arriving flight was delayed there were still two cheerful and welcoming folks at the desk to get me checked in and tell me about the amenities.

I was upgraded to a "premium balcony" room as a Diamond member. As best I can tell this means higher floors.

The room was comfortable and well-appointed, though a bit humid inside but we are in the middle of rainy season AND on a Lagoon. I imagine the constant opening of balcony doors doesn't help the HVAC out trying to get rid of humidity, but the room was comfortable all the same and the AC stays on while you're gone (something not typical in Thailand).

The room had comfortable, (though fairly firm) beds and wonderful pillows, linens, and towels.

Breakfast offering is extensive including both eastern and western dishes and cooked to order egg station.

The property is well maintained and also has a restaurant and bar in the breakfast area as well as a bar and tables for food on the roof. I had a few drinks by the pool, all refreshing and delightfully served by kind and friendly staff.

My room was located just across from the stairs that reach the rooftop pool area but I wasn't bothered by any noise from it.

There is street noise even at the highest floor if you're on that side but since I'm used to Bangkok street noise it didn't bother me at all. Light sleepers may want ear plugs or a room facing the other side.

All in all, I'd definitely stay here again for a short trip to Phuket - though I might choose a resort with more onsite amenities if staying longer or if I had different goals.

Other reviewers will have to give the scoop on the area shuttle, and things to do off property. I got my pool day and some much needed quiet time to myself in a clean, comfortable, welcoming environment- which was exactly what I was...

I would give this place -100 STARS if I could.

There were many problems but first and the craziest:

After I checked out I found that our car parked in their underground garage was blocked by another car parked horizontally in front of it. The staff allowed another car to be parked in front of our car with the handbrake on so it couldn't even be pushed away. Hotel staff had no idea what room the car belonged to. But I had to go to the airport or I'd miss my flight!!! Staff also refused to use hotel speaker to tell car owner to move the car, reason given was "we can't disturb other guests". Really?? But you can disturb me blocking our car from leaving and causing me to almost miss my flight?? The entire reception was slow dealing with the issue until I said several times "I must make this flight so if the car is not moved and I can't get to the airport I'm calling the police now!!", that's when the manager called a shuttle taxi to take me to the airport.

This unlicensed taxi or whatever it was, drove at speed up to 130kph on bending roads and overtook cars having the entire car in the incoming lane across double yellow lines, putting myself in danger. I had to tell the driver to slow down. All of this because Hilton mismanaged their carpark and blocked our car. Also note the underground parking is machanical that can stack cars one above another. And despite this function they chose not to stack the cars that night and instead allowed a car parked in front of our car blocking the exit.

Manager didn't offer any compensation either. My friend had to work and took the taxi from airport back to hotel then finally could leave with the car and got to work late too. The whole episode completely ruined my trip in Phuket and left an extremely bad feeling.

Also the hotel throughout the night and in the morning pumped extremely loud music through the lobby restaurant and the heavy bass sound could clearly be heard through the walls even on 3rd floor. Many other reviews complained about this too.

And the hotel has poor wifi that you can only use if you register for hotel membership from a screen with 8-10 boxes to fill your info when you try to connect to wifi.

Hotel location also is both far from the beach and far from Bang Tao town center, no shops or restaurants nearby.

But what happened with the parking and the staff attitude and blaming carpark security and refusing to call the car owner to move the car and then the shuttle taxi putting me in danger being driven at high speed overtaking cars illegally on bending roads to the airport, all with no compensation, is the worst hotel incident I've ever had in 30 years of traveling worldwide....

We stayed at this hotel for 8 nights. It has a great location, surrounded by villas and forests. The area is green and quiet (especially compared to other areas of Phuket). It takes only 5 minutes by scooter to get to the beach (which is huge and clean).There are 7 floors with two swimming pools on the rooftop and a gym on the second floor. There is good parking space for cars and scooters. Hotel provides a free shuttle bus within 1 km from the hotel (so it can take you to the beach, to the area with restaurants). You can also take a free bicycle and beach towels (for the swimming pool or beach).The lobby of the hotel looks beautiful, good design with cozy sofas. There is a restaurant on the first floor. We bought breakfasts and never regretted it. They start to serve breakfast at 6 am and finish at 10:30 am, which is very convenient. Every day they had a very good choice of food (vegetables, fruits, bread, pastry, soups, meat, cheese, jams, eggs etc). There is a choice of coffee, tea, and juice. We enjoyed eating breakfast there! The only thing that can be improved - keep meals warm because usually, they are cold (no matter what time we came).The staff of the hotel is so welcoming, caring, and helpful! When we arrived, they were very kind to upgrade our room to the one with the garden view (we loved it). We asked a dozen of questions about places to visit, scooters for rent, and boat tours and they did their best to provide us with suggestions. They helped us to rent a scooter and booked two tours for us. 10/10 for the customer service. Girls at the reception explained to us about Hilton membership, we registered and it let us enjoy late check-out. The hotel allows you to stay as long as you need and use all the facilities after the checkout. Thanks to Baitoey, Deer, and other hard-working members of the staff, 5 stars!The rooms were not big, but it was more than enough for the two of us. The bed was not too soft or too hard - just right. :) The bed sheets were fresh and clean, and the towels were of good quality. There is a sofa in the room, a TV, table, refrigerator, iron, and an iron board + fan. The AC system is new and working well. The shower has good pressure, hot and cold water. However, it would be nice to have shampoo/conditioner and shower gel of better quality (we bought our own). They were keeping rooms clean and tidy (daily room service). Wi-fi is worth mentioning, it is really good everywhere in the hotel.To sum up, we highly recommend this hotel! It played a key role in our overall satisfaction with our...