Sunwing Bangtao Beach — Hotel in Choeng Thale

Came to Phuket with my fiancé for the Phuket Spartan Race this weekend and was so disappointed with the room, food and service at Sunwing Bangtao Beach. Although it was rated a 4-star hotel, the amenities were barely 3-star.

Let’s start with the service. We arranged for the hotel to pick us up from the airport, but had to reschedule our pick-up time as our flight was delayed, however the staff here barely spoke any English when we called to reschedule. For an international hotel, we would’ve expected most staff who tend to the front desk/ hotline to be bilingual. Driver was also kinda grumpy and drove very fast.

At check-in, we asked if we could arrange for a late check-out as my fiancé wanted to shower after the Spartan race - we were not asking for much 30mins to an hour and we were willing to pay for the extra time - the staff looked at his computer screen for a while before saying, “no”, and told us to use the beach bathroom…. The beach bathroom is small and dirty, and I can’t imagine how uncomfortable that would have been had we not been able to use a friend’s room for the shower.

We were also told strictly that we would only have two bottles of water/ day. That would be fine if there was water filter or water cooler installed near the hotel rooms, but no, there were none. We needed to buy water from the nearby convenience store in the end which was also very crowded.

Next, the rooms. When we were making our way to the room (we stayed at Block 7), we were surprised that there were no lifts/ elevators at all. Thankfully, we were on the third floor. Upon entering our room, we noticed there were some mosquitoes in the room, and that the bathroom door could not lock. Actually, even the front door had to be slammed in order to be shut. Furniture, light switches and laundry bag also felt kinda dirty/ sticky when I touched them.

During our short stay, electricity was cut twice in a short span of 45mins in the mornings we stayed on, but staff also did not bother to explain to us what had happened and we were just shocked.

Moving onto toiletries. As we were only travelling for 3days, 2nights, we did not pack our conditioner, shower gel etc., but for a 4-star hotel, there was no conditioner at all, and also no bar soap. Once again we had to go to the convenience store to pick them up.

Lastly, food. We paid 400 baht each for breakfast but were so disappointed by the food. Drinks were way too sweet, and noodle live station was serving undercooked, clumpy noodles. It was definitely not worth 400 baht, as the breakfast barely had any proteins (no chicken, no meat) just things like bacon and sausage. After our first day in the hotel, we just decided to walk to nearby beach clubs for better food.

Potential vacationers may also want to note that TV channels were limited and Netflix/ YouTube barely connected. Most channels were Russian, which appeals to their main clientele I guess… Gym also had super dated equipment (if you are hoping to get a workout in).

Please book a different resort if you are in the Bangtao Beach area, I think there are plenty at similar price points or lower. This was perhaps a four star hotel 10 or 15 years ago, but not today for sure.

The only thing good was the hotel’s proximity to the convenience store and the beach clubs (such as Catch and Lazy Coconut) with way better food. We will not be returning...

I have a lot of negative comments compared to the positive ones. I will start with the positive comments, they have 5 pools to cater to all categories of ppl staying here. They have pool access rooms which is a plus point and it is a beach front hotel. They also have microwave in the room so thats good. This is supposed to be a 4 star hotel but i dont think it matches the services provided. This is my 3rd time in Phuket and this is by far the worst hotel I’ve stayed. I stayed here for 5 days, the breakfast selection was the same for all 4 mornings. By the 4th day, i cant take it anymore. The breakfast selection was not great, not tasty. You can see how the croissant looks like. We have to use a card to redeem a beach/pool towel, and once we returned the towel they will give us a card back. This is the 1st time I experienced this concept. Are they afraid that we will steal or not return the towel? This is a 4 star hotel for god sake. The toilet design is old, the presentation is bad, they put the toiletries in a brown paper bag and for the 1st time ever, a 4 star hotel does not provide a hair conditioner. The phone in the room was not working. We had no choice but to walk to the front desk to ask things. We borrowed 2 international plugs and they asked to pay THB100 deposit. They are really afraid that we will steal stuff I guess. One of the days, they didn't clean the room, when we asked them, they said we hung something outside the door. Please tell me whats there to hang?? There was nothing to hang! We definitely did not hang anything! We had a car and on our last night the parking was full. They asked us to park at a dark alley behind a building across the road beside Asian Essence and expect us to walk in dark?? I have 2 kids with me. I asked if i could do a late check out. The check out time is at 12pm , I asked for 1 pm. The front desk guy was checking something on the computer but his reply is that I have to pay THB300 per hr. Whats there to check when he is asking me to pay? I thought he is checking the room availability after me.

Since the phone is not working, we had to carry out own luggages to the front. At the front desk i left my phone in the room, I asked for the room card back, when i reached, the card has been deactivated, I hv to walk back front to activate the card. After we left, they called me to inform that i have an outstanding payment fr food n drinks we ordered, how come they didnt check this when i check out? So i have to drive back to the hotel just to pay the balance. They didnt apologize when i reach the hotel, after telling them how troublesome it was for me (luckily we rented a car) to come back to the hotel, then only they apologize. Seriously the service here is bad. This is a cheapskate hotel they will ask you to pay for everything and anything. I will never come back for this...

I have a lot of negative comments compared to the positive ones. I will start with the positive comments, they have 5 pools to cater to all categories of ppl staying here. They have pool access rooms which is a plus point and it is a beach front hotel. They also have microwave in the room so thats good.This is supposed to be a 4 star hotel but i dont think it matches the services provided. This is my 3rd time in Phuket and this is by far the worst hotel I’ve stayed.I stayed here for 5 days, the breakfast selection was the same for all 4 mornings. By the 4th day, i cant take it anymore. The breakfast selection was not great, not tasty.We have to use a card to redeem a beach/pool towel, and once we returned the towel they will give us a card back. This is the 1st time I experienced this concept. Are they afraid that we will steal or not return the towel? This is a 4 star hotel for god sake.The toilet design is old, the presentation is bad, they put the toiletries in a brown paper bag and for the 1st time ever, a 4 star hotel does not provide a hair conditioner.The phone in the room was not working. We had no choice but to walk to the front desk to ask things.We borrowed 2 international plugs and they asked to pay THB100 deposit. They are really afraid that we will steal stuff I guess.One of the days, they didn't clean the room, when we asked them, they said we hung something outside the door. Please tell me whats there to hang?? There was nothing to hang! We definitely did not hang anything!We had a car and on our last night the parking was full. They asked us to park at a dark alley behind a building across the road beside Asian Essence and expect us to walk in dark?? I have 2 kids with me.I asked if i could do a late check out. The check out time is at 12pm , I asked for 1 pm. The front desk guy was checking something on the computer but his reply is that I have to pay THB300 per hr. Whats there to check when he is asking me to pay? I thought he is checking the room availability after me.Upon checking out i realized i left my handphone in the room, so i asked for the room card back, i walked to the room and the card has been deactivated, had to walk back to the counter get it activated and walked back again. After signing all the docs, i left. 15 mins later they called me telling me that i have unpaid f&b. Imagine if i dont have a car? So had to drive back and make payment. They did not apologize for troubling me until I told them they didnt do their job properly.This is a cheapskate hotel they will ask you to pay for everything and anything. I will never come back for...