Mountain Seaview Luxury Apartments — Hotel in Karon

Having been to Thailand numerous times, I was searching for a quiet place, just slightly off the beaten track to kick back and relax without the throngs of people around. I found it. But first my overview list.||PRO - Great value for the money. Clean. Well furnished. Friendly. Quiet location.||CON - Location (though only a minor inconvenience - moreso if you only walk)||||These apartments are well maintained, very clean, and the managers were quite helpful. You can tell they take pride in doing the best job they can. The room I had was extremely spacious (as my photos will confirm) with a full sized closet, kitchen area (stocked with all the needed appliances and utensils - stove, fridge, microwave, toaster, .....), crazy large bathroom, large screen TV, couch, fan, Air con, as well as a table and chairs just outside my room. ||||I was on the ground floor, but still had a good view looking down onto Karon. The sunset view was incredible as I could watch it go down over the Andaman sea - I can only imagine what the upper floors could see. ||For those with extended stays, laundry facility is also available on site. Just plug in $$, add some detergent (can also be purchased) and you're good to go.||||As I mentioned in my overview, location for me, was both a PRO and a CON. If you can read basic road signs you should be easily able to find it (I had only minor trouble trying to guide my "taxi" driver there as he kept missing the proper turn off the main road). The apartments are located up a steep incline/hill. I would not fully load down a cheap gutless moped and expect to make it up). It is nestled into the hill among a number of other smaller buildings. Just make sure you're not wearing flip-flops trying to get home in the rain.||NOTE: The office for the apartments is located in a separate building directly beside the apartments. A sign IS posted to tell you it is the office, however, if the taxi driver drops you off at the apartments and are brain dead from a long flight or something, you might miss the office next door.|||| Another higher end hotel is just a 2 minute walk down the road which has a full restaurant should you not want to wander far for food (though pricier than the vendors along the main road).||The area is quite nice/lush and was quiet as it is far enough away from the main road that you do not hear all the traffic. Being a backpacker, I walked everywhere but even I was getting a bit tired at the end of my stay of making the long climb up from the main road. About a 5 - 8 minute walk from the main road, only the last 2 minutes were on the steep incline (see photos).||||There is a large grocery store just two minutes walk down the main road from where you turn off to get to the apartments. And of course there are numerous places to get eats once you get to the main road. Up the hill at the apartments, the only restaurant I found was in a neighbouring hotel.||||Of course, as all accommodations in Thailand, you can rent motor bikes and book various tours from here. The one difference I found, was that they truly wanted to make sure you had a good time and would only recommend the better tours. Having just returned from a week long dive trip (and having long since done all the 'tourist' traps in prior years) I did not book anything, until the dive bug bit me again. They were able to get me on a boat for a day trip out for a couple of dives.||||Overall, I was very pleased with my experience. I was looking for something quiet and off the beaten path (but not soo far off that I couldn't walk to places such as the beach or eats)...

A very comfortable and good value stay.||||I got one of the cheap minibus taxis from the airport, which dropped me off at the main road through Kata, but it was only a 5 min walk to the property, as the hill is not as bad as some suggest if you go the right way. Whilst the hotel is set up off the main road, the location is still a plus for those not looking to stay right in the noisy streets of Kata but still have the convenience and the view. ||||The staff gave me a really friendly welcome, were very hospitable and keen to offer help and get me settled in. ||||Being a backpacker on a budget I went for the most affordable room which was on the ground-floor, but this still had a sea view which was lovely to wake up to in the morning. ||||Amenities:||- well - appointed kitchen, big, comfy bed, drinking water, toaster etc. aircon/fan, and the apartment was spotless throughout. the managers Jordan and Prati were really helpful and offered me detergent to use in the on-site laundry as I had none of my own. They have an office in the neighbouring property and reception in one of the apartments themselves and so were readily available to answer any queries. Another nice addition to the apartment was an outside area with tables and chairs.||||The hotel have a number of well-maintained scooters available for hire, which was a real help and preferable to trying my luck with one of the more sketchy hire shops in town, and it meant that I didn't have to walk down the hill to the main road to get one.||||For me the main reason I chose this place was the integration of the diving school, which is also ran by the manager Jordan. I did an open-water course here during my stay and it was a massive plus to have the ability to drive to dive sites directly from your apartment door, and it made both the diving and the stay in the accommodation a more pleasant experience. It was ideal to be able to return from a tiring day out diving and know that I had a very comfortable and quiet room. Shops and restaurants are a 1 minute drive down to the main road.||||Overall I had a really pleasant time and would definitely...

The rooms are very nicely appointed, however our room had no exhaust, fan, or window in the bathroom so the floor stayed wet all night after showering - wet feet after going to the toilet.||||It is up a hill, as the website suggests; a very steep one, and I suspect elderly or very young people would have difficulty walking it.||||The closest restaurants are at the bottom of the hill; however if you cross the road and head a short distance towards the beach there are lots.||||We took a prebooked taxi to the airport in reasonable traffic and it took us 75 minutes, not 40 minutes as suggested on the booking.com site.||||On arrival we were asked to pay upfront without seeing the room. We didn't, saying we had to change money so they kept my passport. We paid on our second day after one night in the room. I don't have a problem with that if I know in advance and can decide whether I want to continue with the booking. I don't like it sprung on me late afternoon up a steep hill. I imagine that could be easily added to the website. ||||Had some spare time before our taxi arrived so did the booking.com review. I thought it was a fair assessment . When we handed the key in the manager was obviously not happy with it not being as glowing as he would have liked, suggesting all the information I needed was on the website. ||||I obviously picked the wrong hotel this time, but it is still up a very steep hill, the bathroom did stay wet all night, we were asked to pay in advance, and also, it is a good 20 to 30 minute walk...