Centara Kata Resort Phuket — Hotel in Karon

I don’t normally write reviews..but this hotel and its incredible staff deserve a BIG shout out!!!

My mum and dad (67) and I (32) stayed at the Centara for 4 weeks in total over Christmas and it was an incredibly relaxed, fun and happy stay!! Despite it being such a long time at one place (we were worried about not liking it and being stuck there!), the time flew by as we were so content and happy☺️

Caring and Friendly Staff:

We felt extremely comfortable and well cared for. The staff were so helpful and kind, full of energy, positivity and smiles every day. The staff there really did make the stay what it was - the friendly daily conversations over breakfast, personal touches and recommendations, extra accommodating details and services provided - they really looked after us, and it meant a lot to my parents and I, especially as they are elderly and I am vegan. Chef Ngek went out of her way to cook me a personalised vegan breakfast every morning!! (She helped cooking classes too).

A BIG SHOUT OUT to servers Kla, Mark, Oiy and Coach who were such lovely, genuine and friendly people, and who provided efficient and sincere service at breakfast every morning, by the pool, at special events such as Christmas Eve dinner and who even gave my parents a big send off with all the staff there to wave good bye!

Thank you as well to the very capable and competent Manager, Anna, for kindly providing my family with all the well-informed and wonderful recommendations for boat trips, elephant sanctuaries, Muay Thai venues and training centres, restaurants and more.

Location:

In terms of location it was very peaceful and quiet, despite being so close to the bustling centre of Kata town. The hotel is conveniently tucked away just behind the main strip with all the restaurants and markets etc, so everything is right on your door step! We loved visiting the local and popular spa just out the front of the hotel for massages, waxing and nail treatments etc., and there was a popular restaurant right next to it too that had a fanatic menu and accommodated vegans too. SO convenient, especially for my parents who didn’t want to walk too much. Everything’s on your door step! Lots of great restaurants and busy street markets. Even the beach is only a 10 min walk away! The hotel has a shuttle bus to the beach that leaves on the hour every hour so we did that if you prefer not to walk. For us this was ideal!

Facilities:

Rooms were great and in good condition except for a small issue with a faulty telephone and lamp that were quickly taken care off. I liked their green initiative - you got a free drinks token everytime you participated in the scheme by opting out of your daily room clean.

The pools were fab - we sunbathed and swam at the Waves pool most days and drank yummy cocktails and juices there during the Happy Hour 2 for 1 special!

They even had a schedule of fun activities you could get involved in, of which I did some Muay Thai!

HIGHLIGHTS:

Things we enjoyed conveniently whilst there were: Watching live Muay Thai at Phuket Boxing Stadium in Patong Drinks and sights on Bangla Road New Years Eve at Tann Terrace Beach club right near by, by tuk tuk Christmas Eve at the provided buffet and entertainment at the Centara hotel Green Elephant Sanctuary (Choeng Thale) Dinner at The Boathouse restaurant 4 island trip from Ao Po pier, to Phi Phi (Maya bay, James Bond Island, and kayaking through caves usually underwater at high tide!)

Overall we had a really enjoyable, relaxed and content holiday that we would highly recommend to other families who are looking for a friendly and convenient hotel in Kata (especially those with kids as the kiddie pool was fantastic too with a slide and fountains, and a bar for mum and dad - there were lots of parents with young children!)

Thank you Centara Kata team!!! We’ll be back on our...

The placement of this hotel in terms of a review is a bit of an enigma. Having looked at other comparable reviews I would have to say that it doesn’t present itself as a four-star accommodation.

The pros:

From the outset I cannot fault the service and dedication of the staff here. Jeab and her team within the breakfast facility were excellent. Always happy to help and very chatty and friendly.

In terms of our room, our housekeeper Cat was excellent, and gave a good level of service and was always very accommodating when we didn’t get up early.

The size of the room was fantastic and the size of the shower combined with the fact that there was a ledge within the shower was really useful and aided with shaving legs et cetera. Our proximity to the smaller rectangular pool was fantastic and I would echo some of the comments stating that it was always quiet and relatively childfree.

Onto the cons:

This hotel is very dated and probably does need an upgrade. The large pool area, although looking attractive is heavily subscribed and was needing to be continually pumped to keep it clean. On a number of occasions when coming past you could see it was visibly dirty. This meant that as stated we spent a lot of time in the smaller rectangular pool and were not able to utilise the pool bar, which would’ve been nice.

The biggest letdown for us was breakfast as previously mentioned, we cannot fault the staff. Although plentiful and lots of choice the breakfast failed to hit the spot, largely because of the conditions of the seasons restaurant. The restaurant did not have enough capacity to feed everybody and although a hot country, it felt uncomfortable within the restaurant to eat due to the temperature.

The milk for the cereal was warm and everything felt pretty grubby. This was also not helped by other guests who use the facility as a bit of a trough and free for all.

Aside from breakfast I would highly recommend the barbecue night as this was lovely and the food itself was delicious.

Also, the food during the day was great.

Our room was quite dusty and again I would echo the points that the soap and glasses were not changed during our stay as far as I can see.

Also we’ve been used as pin cushions by mosquitos the whole time we’ve been here. We have had a mosquito repellent machine on but it hasn’t really done the job.

Location wise it’s ok but if you want direct access to the beach pick somewhere else although there are hourly shuttles to it.

Food around the area is good and I would recommend Eightfold and Odysseus as well as a lovely cooling cafe called Mun Prao’s.

Not just this hotel but others need to be more accommodating around late check out when they have international guests that have late flights. We asked about late checkout from day one and we’re told that we would need to wait until the day before to see if we could get it.

We couldn’t and this felt like a waste of our time by asking in the first instance and I would rather hotels were straight with guests. As much as having shower facilities and use of the pool is ok having an air conditioned use of your room for even just a few extra hours would be game changing.

We would not come back here but it is not a bad choice for...

We have just spent 11 wonderful nights at the Centara Kata Beach Resort.||Before going into the details of our stay, I want to highlight two exceptional members of staff: Joy, one of the managers, and Aon, who works around the pools. To be fair, all of the staff we met were lovely, but these two really stood out.||Joy is an infectious ball of energy. Her enthusiasm for her work, the hotel, and its guests shines through in everything she does. Our family quickly built up a great rapport with her.||Aon is a charming young man — humble, friendly, always smiling, and eager to help.||We were a family of 10 spread across three rooms. In my room were my wife and three sons. The room itself was a good size, split into two sections: one with single beds for the boys, and another with a king-size bed for us. It also had a fridge freezer, a small cooking area, two TVs, a wet-room style shower, air-conditioning in each area, and a large balcony. The free WiFi was also a handy bonus.||The resort has three swimming pools, though we mostly used the one with the kids’ slide, volleyball net, and swim-up bar. We never struggled to get sun loungers, and even when busy, the pool never felt overcrowded. On Fridays, there’s a foam party with staff in fancy dress dancing poolside to a live DJ, while foam cannons spray into the pool — a big hit with the kids (and adults!).||We also attended one banquet night. The food was excellent and unlimited, with plenty of choice. The only downside was the limited dessert selection. Entertainment included a live band and traditional Thai dancers in beautiful costumes.||Breakfast was generally very good, with just one morning where we had to wait for a table. There’s a great selection of juices, and the food ranges from noodles, rice, and curry to pastries, fruit, cereals, meats, and cheeses. The only letdown was the coffee machines, which produced lava-hot coffee that wasn’t very pleasant.||The hotel’s location is brilliant — right in the centre of everything, close to three 7/11 stores and just off the main strip. Kata Beach is an easy 10-minute walk, or you can hop on the hotel’s shuttle bus.||As for negatives, they were very minor. One day our air-conditioning broke down, but two engineers had it fixed within an hour of reporting it. The shower temperature fluctuated from tepid to boiling on repeat (this seemed the same in all rooms). The drainage slats around the pool are in desperate need of replacement, as many are broken, missing, or lifting.||None of these issues impacted our stay in any way.||We loved our time here and would highly recommend Centara Kata Beach Resort to anyone staying in Kata.||Room 6101...