Karon Phunaka Resort and Spa — Hotel in Karon

Stayed there for 2 weeks and we had a great trip. The property is on a hill so you get great views from your hotel room. Now, because it is on a hill, you have to climb quite a few stairs if you stay in the building 7...which can be very challenging depending on your level of fitness. They have a sort of elevator on rails that willgtake you up and down the hill so that makes it easier. The room is big, well appointed with a balcony. It was comfortable but the bed was really hard so it was a bit difficulttthe first night. They have a buffet breakfast which is good and has a good variety of food. I have to complain though, they serve some coffee in a pot (low quality coffee) and if you want a better quality one, you need to pay a 100 baht minimum.... I stayed in quite a few hotels on that trip, even cheaper hotels didn't charge you for a simple good coffee out of a machine... For a 4 star hotel, it is not very good.... The beach is within a 10-15mn walks and you have lots of shops and restaurants within walking distance. Now being from the hotel industry as well, I found some issues with the hotel, not big ones in general but issues that shouldn't happen. It was very rare for the people at the restaurant at the lobby to smile and greet you. Also if you order starters, main courses and desserts, bring each course one at a time, wait for the customer to finish the dish then bring the next one... Don't bring all 3 at the same time! Also when one of the staff members takes the same elevator as you to go up/down the hill, teach them to smile, say hello to the guests.... So many of them come in and don't even say hello or anything... For a hospitality industry based property, it is the basis of it. Also please teach the housekeeping staff to be quiet in the morning and not talk loudly outside people's windows or doors. Being woken up around 8am by them can be annoying at times. Apart from that, some staff members are fantastic. Toon is so friendly and helpful, also his smile is fantastic and contagious. Smile, at the reception, is also fantastic, willing to help/advise and has such a beautiful smile too. Also the lady at the counter with all the leaflets for all the various Tours is great as well. So knowledgeable, friendly and smiles non stop. Overall, it was a good stay and the place just needs to spend time reminding/training some staffs on how to improve and it will take the property to...

The staff are very welcoming and very attentive to our needs. There was always someone available at the front desk for questions and concerns. Beach transportation was very convenient. Most definitely the best pool with a view in Phuket. The swim up bar is icing on the cake!

Oddly there were zero reviews talking about the stairs and amount of walking you'll end up doing while staying here. 8 different buildings on 8 different levels all on different grades. Being in my 30's, I'm able to walk these massively inclined stairs, but no matter what shape you're in, you're sweating by the time you get back to your room. We had 11 people staying here, all of us in a different building. very tough gathering us all together with the resort being so large. They do offer golf cart transportation, but it's more sporadic than they think. Also, rides aren't offered while it's raining. This weekend we saw a lot of people walking the very steep inclines and stairs. There's no way an older couple would be able to stay here. The Grab/Taxi transportation won't even drive you up the hill to the entrance. They park at the bottom and make you walk up with your luggage.

Beach transportation runs from 10am-5pm. Very convenient being picked up and dropped off! Beach was very clean with plenty of sand to lay out on, or lounge chairs if you fancy 100b recliner and umbrella! 7/11 located right across the street  from the beach for easy snacks and refreshments!

Only two reasons for the four star instead of the five was the odor in the rooms.. We had 11 people staying here all at the same time, and we all had the same sewage smell in our rooms. Luckily we always travel with a Bath & Body Works spray, so we were able to keep the odor to a minimum. Second reason for not getting the five star was their room key inconvenience. I've never heard of a key card system that only allows "one" key per room, and I work in this industry. We all were traveling with our spouses and were told we were only allowed to have one card. Very big inconvenience considering a few people got sick and had to stay in their rooms to recover. That means in order for them to have electricity, they need to keep the one key card. Since they are sick, they most likely will be sleeping, which means we have to wake them up to get out of bed and unlock the door, or you wait for someone in house keeping our an engineer...

Currently having possibly the worst hotel experience I’ve ever had at a so called top class hotel. On arrival, after 7 hour journey at booking in, was told that we had been allocated the superior room we booked, but with 2 single beds. Pointed out that we’d made specific request for double bed (5 weeks previously). Receptionist then told us that superior rooms only come with single beds, after showing her the booking with superior room description and our request, they finally grudgingly arranged the correct room.|Got to room to discover a note stating that the next day there was a scheduled power outage for maintenance and there would be no power, air conditioning or WiFi in the room from 9:30 to 17:00, apparently this was known about in advance ( receptionists said 2 days, but with the lies we were told by staff, it could have been much more notice), but the hotel only tells guests when they check in. When receptionists was asked why we weren’t informed beforehand, so I could make different plans as I rely on internet connection plus air conditioned room for office work while I’m abroad,|the attitude was that it was only a few hours. |The air con doesn’t’ really cool the room, as room was roasting when we entered, set air con to 15 degrees, it was still unpleasantly hot after 2 hours.|I then asked for a spare room key as we’re only given one key for both of us, receptionists then told me a bare faced lie, in that there was only one master key for the room. I pointed out that the locks were electronic and the cards were programmed by the machine sitting next to her on the desk. The answer was then that it was hotel policy, but I can ask at reception to get a staff member to open my room. When I asked how do I get electricity in room on if I don’t have card (presuming my girlfriend is out with it), all you got was a blank look and ‘sorry hotel policy’.|As the service was appalling I asked to speak to the manager, was told they were not available, asked when they would be available, answer was there wasn’t a manger, nearest was Bangkok.|All in all absolutely worst hotel and staff I have had the displeasure to deal with, I would give it less than 1 star, but that is...