Phunawa Resort Phuket Karon Beach — Hotel in Karon

We had a good stay at the Phunawa resort for 2 weeks, the location was ok, it was about a 10 minute walk into the town and about the same to the beach but is situated up quite a steep hill, fine for us but anyone with mobility issues would struggle, there are plenty of taxis and tuktuks available however. We found it great value for money on the deal we found on Agoda and we all loved the big, warm pools. ||Pro's: Great huge room, 2 separate bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, full kitchen and a lounge with cable tv , great kitchen with all the utensils, glasses, crockery etc you need, the balcony was huge with a table and chairs and maiden for drying clothes, we enjoyed many nights sat out watching the lightening in the sky. |The cleaners came every day, the room was kept very clean, bed linen changed, clean towels provided and they even washed the few pots we left in the sink. |The pools were great, always a sun lounger available, pools a good temperature.|We didn't eat here other than at breakfast but the food looked ok from what we saw and the drinks we had round the pool were good. |The staff were lovely and happy to help. |Short walk (about 10 minutes) to a fantastic clean beach, the water is lovely. |The grounds of the hotel are well looked after, clean everywhere. ||Cons: The hill up to the hotel is a steep walk, there are lots of signs warning "beware of stray dogs" most days we didn't encounter any issues but one day we did, when walking down to the shop my husband was surrounded by about 4 dogs snarling and showing their teeth he stood his ground and shouted at them throwing his hands up and luckily they went away, thankfully he didn't have the kids with him, he reported this to the hotel and for the remainder of our stay we didn't see them again, I'm not sure if anything was done or if we were just lucky not to see them again but be careful. |The breakfast was just ok, we didn't go for about 4 days as there was a swarm of bees around the jams and the drink dispensers, when I say swarm I mean literally hundreds and the staff didn't seem to do anything about it until a number of days later when they finally covered the jams which helped. The egg station was ok, few cereals to choose from, some fresh fruit which needs to be covered as there were ants on this sometimes, the sausage and ham was always cold, they had spaghetti bolognaise often with some noodles/rice and fresh salad. They did have a hot drinks dispenser which for some reason got taken away and replaced with 2 pots of coffee, no hot water until we asked for it. ||Overall we had a great stay and we would return if we found another deal on agoda, room was great, the beach is lovely and we met and spent time with some fantastic local people in Phuket. (make sure to visit Mr Bean and his son at his street food stall outside 7/11 in the centre and we had many great nights at Sutin bar just down the road from Mr Bean,...

The Phunawa Resort was a very good accommodation. Along with 2 kids (8 and 6), we enjoyed the stay. I would recommend it for families as it offers spacious rooms (all suites), a full kitchen, easy access to interesting pools and quiet location. The official photos are a bit deceptive as they looked much newer and bigger than reality.

Rooms are very spacious and well furnished with high quality items. They were clean and comfortable in general. Although it paid so much attention on the design and looks, beds were hard and cheap, coffee table had many nails under and beneath, and there were no reading lights by the bed. They had glass doors all around the suite even including bedrooms and couldn't block the noise from outside at all.

Kitchen was equipped with an electric stove and oven along with a big refrigerator and a microwave oven. However, it seemed obvious that the hotel didn't want to encourage the guests to cook anything more than instant noodles. It only provided one small pan and one small pot along with basic utensils. We mostly made sandwiches and cooked pasta and pizza.

Pools were clean and interesting. They were separated by the island (restaurant) in the middle and stairs. Each pool was small and often crowded. There were no pool-side chairs and beds. If you consider the pool as an important part of the trip, you should get the first floor rooms that have the direct access to the pool.

Services were mediocre at best. It was difficult to communicate with staff in English. I found them busy chatting each other rather than taking care of guests. When I complained on something, they often just said ok but didn’t do any action afterwards. I also had feeling that the hotel seemed to try its best to make the first impression on arrival as good as possible but tend not to appreciate the long-term guests.

Location is good because it was quiet and surrounded by the greenery. But I highly recommend you to hire a car as you can’t go anywhere by foot. Please do not rent a motor bike. We have seen too many accidents on the street by inexperienced tourists. Also Thai police seemed to target tourists on motorbikes for any traffic violation.

Wi-Fi was free and available throughout the resort. It was speedy enough to do Skype/Hangout calls and watch YouTube in HD.

One last reminder. You may encounter cockroaches in the room. They are big and flying. I had to kill them by myself twice as the hotel pretended they were just part of natural happening.

Room Tip: Rooms with the pool access if...

I will start by declaring we only stayed for one night of our planned 10 night trip. I want to still submit a review as I believe that the way a business handles their customers in a bad situation is often a very good reflection on the business. So here it is. We arrived at check in to find the pool was completely empty due to works being completed. The work also meant the the rooftop bar and breakfast areas were closed also. We had booked the 3 bedroom apartment with rooftop Jacuzzi. The roof top area is nice and a fabulous view but the external spiral staircase to access it meant it was not accessible for my mother and a little scary with my 2 young children. We also had an issue with a water leak in the main bathroom. I can tell the hotel will be fabulous when they have finished their upgrades but I suggest you call and check before booking. ||I was disappointed with the work going on but it is low season so is the best time for the hotels to do these things and while prior notice would have been great it was the flexibility and helpful nature of the hotel that I want to say was fantastic. We stayed one night and had a fabulous breakfast brought to our room in the morning. That morning I spoke to the lady in the front office about my concerns with no pool or meals area at which time she did not charge us for the full 10 night stay that we had planed and she even helped us to find an alternative hotel and arranged transport for us to relocate. (We had a great time in Karon beach still and thanks to the Phunawa report for making what was a tricky situation...