Kamala Beach Residence SHA Extra Plus — Hotel in Kamala

This comfy little residence isn't exactly on the beach, you'd have to pay a lot more for that. It is however close, and for the very reasonable price you pay, you get a huge room, fridge, big shower, wardrobe, balcony (okay, not a nice view) and you're close to Kamala beach and shopping. They provide transport from the airport. ||||Nino, the owner is very accommodating, but he's not often here. I have seen him once, and so far I've been here for 8 days. The staff speaks no English which as others have indicated can be challenging. You have to ask for your toilet paper or clean towels if you're a long term stay, or in my case, I just figured out where stuff is kept and replenish it myself, and clean out my own trash can. That's not a big deal for the convenience of being able to take off on adventures and know my things are safe. I just let Nino know that I'm taking off and my room is largely left alone and I like that. ||||Nino offers tourist services but again, the staff doesn't speak English, and the one man who is here all the time smokes. For me this is a problem because I'm a non smoker, so I don't care to be stuck in a smokey office to discuss tours. I found another agent down the street for those services for those reasons, which is feedback for Nino- find an English speaking staffer and don't allow smoking on the premises, for I doubt I'm the only guest who finds these issues a challenge. ||||I love having a fridge in my room. You should know, however, that you are charged extra for electricity if you are here more than a week, if you use the kitchen (I don't) and you have to turn off the air conditioning when you leave the room, which you should anyway, as you would at home. It's a massive waste of energy to leave it on.||||Kamala Beach is a quiet sister to many of the other more busy beaches, the shopping here is nothing like Surin or elsewhere. For me, this is perfect. The advantage is that it's quiet. No drunken nightlife, the only thing that will wake you up is the Muslim call to prayers at 5 am. You're within a few minutes' walking distance to shops, there is a fantastic little massage place right up the block (I highly recommend it, the women have a great sense of humor and they do a great job ) and two Aussie bars exist in harmony on the main drag, if you're a drinker. Pim's restaurant, which has a lot to recommend it, is about a ten minute walk. Because this place is so centrally located, you can get pretty much anywhere from here.||||I consider the issue of non English speaking staff a minor one as what little Thai I speak helps me get along just fine, I can find what I need by myself. You do need to get your key deposit back the night before you check out because no one is up early here, as I found out, and others have, too. As a very early riser- and I mean EARLY- it's a long wait to find someone who can accommodate you. If you do stay here I suggest making sure Nino knows in advance when you are checking out and arrange for your key deposit the night before. ||||I recommend this place highly, for anyone appreciating lots of space, quiet, convenience and access without the big crowds, noise and traffic. And that's saying a lot. You need to be self sufficient, or speak Thai, for good service, or have them call Nino, or you call Nino. Like I said, he's very...

Booking.com, please take note. When we arrived at this hotel, they first tried to tell us we didn't have a booking. After some discussion, they put us in a remote location several hundred feet from hotel--which refer to it as "the laundry" because our room was located above the garage that they do their laundry in. The sewer smell in the bathroom was horrendous (we've lived in China with smells before, but this was the worst.) The next day we discussed with the reception that this was not the room we had booked or paid for and to change or we would notify Booking.com. The good news was they did finally change and the next room was fine. If you're paying on a backpacker budget, maybe the laundry would be fine for you. The location of the hotel was okay. The breakfast was very easily forgettable. We've spent 2 months in SE Asia and have to say it was the worst excuse for breakfast of any places. You can walk to the beach area but it isn't very nice either. Phuket is now officially off our list of places...

Spent 5 nights at this hotel with my girlfriend.||The room itself is very good, nothing to complain about. Nice bed, air-con, fridge, tv and working shower (even tho I find the placement of the shower a bit odd).||||But the service is not what I expected, they don't clean the room unless you tell them to, you also need to go and ask for toilet-paper and the water you been promised daily.||It also complicate things when they speak no english what so ever, so don't expect any help or advice.||||Also very stressful, when you need to check-out in the morning, around 8 a clock and everyone is sleeping, taxi is waiting and we need to run around the area knocking on doors to find the person to give the keys and receive our deposit from.||||Overall, nice room, bad service. The 15 mins walk to the beach, is alright, and for the price you can't...