Secret Cliff Resort & Restaurant Phuket — Hotel in Karon

This hotel had issues from the very first day until the last. We booked two rooms for two nights—one Superior room booked on April 10 and one Deluxe room booked on April 12. Both rooms were supposed to check in on April 12 and check out on April 14.

First Day – April 12: I arrived at the hotel around 5 PM and proceeded to check in. However, only the Deluxe room—which was booked just a few hours earlier—was available. The staff claimed that the Superior room booking was not confirmed due to full occupancy, despite the fact that I had a confirmation email from Agoda, and the app showed “confirmed” status.

The staff insisted they had emailed Agoda to inform them of full occupancy. A staff member named “On” even challenged me by saying, “We have proof—we sent an email to Agoda. Do you want to see it?” I replied, “Yes, I’d like to see the email.” She then disappeared for 10 minutes and came back saying, “We can’t find the email, and we don’t need to show it to you anyway.”

I was extremely upset—I had just driven six hours to get here. I raised my voice and said, “Enough. You just said you had proof, and now you say you don’t. What’s really going on?” She raised her voice back, saying, “Don’t act like that,” and continued to insist my booking wasn’t confirmed, claiming it was an internal system issue that I didn’t need to see.

When I asked, “Who did you notify? Why didn’t you notify me directly?” she snapped back, “Who did you book with? Go ask them. We don’t have your name or number.” She told me to contact Agoda myself for a refund. I asked, “Is this my fault?” She said, “No, it’s not your fault. But it’s not the hotel’s fault either. Agoda is at fault.”

At that point, I was exhausted and told them I didn’t want to check in anymore and wanted a refund for both rooms. They said they could only cancel the unconfirmed room. Since I couldn’t stay in a separate hotel from my friend, another staff member eventually found a room for me after more than an hour. I finally checked in, feeling extremely disappointed with the rude service.

After that, my friend’s keycard didn’t work, and the electricity in the room wasn’t functioning. It took more than 30 minutes after calling staff for someone to come fix it. Everything was terribly slow.

Second Day: The hotel is located on a mountain, so parking near the hotel is limited. We had to park at a restaurant on the lower side, and hotel staff were supposed to come pick us up. My friend’s husband informed the staff to send a car to pick us up, and I also informed them again—twice in total. I went to park the car, expecting the ride back.

I ended up waiting with a pile of luggage for more than 30 minutes and had to call two more times. Still, I waited…

That night, around 11 PM, I went out for Songkran and returned around 1 AM. I called for the hotel to pick us up again. This time, a staff member came with a motorbike, saying the golf cart was broken. My friend and I had to ride up the mountain—three people on one motorbike.

Third Day – Check-out: On check-out day, I went to the lobby with the keycard while my bags were still in the room, as I needed staff to bring them down. A driver took me back to the room, but the hotel staff hadn’t brought the key. The front desk said housekeeping would open it, and sent the driver to drop off my friend’s family first.

Meanwhile, the front desk staff did nothing but scroll on their phone and walk around. After the driver returned, no one had opened the room yet. Only then did the front desk pretend to scold housekeeping and sent the driver to get the key for me.

Summary: This hotel has extremely poor management and rude staff. I do not recommend staying here. If you don’t want your vacation to be ruined with frustration and disappointment—do not stay here. Also, the rooms are very old, and the ceiling is...

I recently stayed at the Secret Cliff Resort with my spouse and toddler for 5 nights and had a wonderful experience. Here are some highlights:

The resort offers a shuttle service to and from Karon and Patong Beach once each morning, which is convenient. However, if you prefer to walk, it's about a 15-20 minute downhill trek. Be prepared for a bit of a hike back up, though! You can download the grab or bolt app for other transportation. However, from my experience, bolt is cheaper but unreliable so grab is the best option.

The views from the resort are stunning. You can see the Big Buddha in the distance, and Karon Beach is laid out before you. It's breathtaking, especially during sunset.

The restaurant on site serves a delicious breakfast with a wide range of options. His is by far the best hotel breakfast I have ever had. Options available ranges from omelette, waffles, fresh fruits, fresh juices to traditional Thai food.

In terms of room service and the restaurant itself, I was not impressed with the food but the service was great. We got the seafood bucket which was nothing like advertised. The price listed for said seafood bucket was supposed to be 450 but the total was way over. The panoramic view from the restaurant is iconic as there were bus loads of tourists coming in to take photos.

The staff is friendly, attentive and accommodating, they even provided a baby chair for our little one and took the time to entertain him with each passing. The restaurant is definitely baby-friendly as there is something there for them to eat each time.

Be aware that the resort's location can be a bit tricky to find using GPS. It's nestled on a cliffside, and the roads can be narrow and winding. Just take your time, and you'll get there! Keep in mind that the restaurant is separate from the hotel so the driver may take you across the street which is not a safe walk.

The pool is a great spot to relax and take in the views. The pool was almost never cold as it is stationed right under the sun. There are many lounge chairs around the pool with umbrellas and ashtrays for who smokes. The bar offers frozen drinks, beer and other beverages, but be prepared for a bit of a price tag. Around 200-300 THB per drink and not much alcohol. You will see the drastic price difference once you venture out into the town.

The housekeepers were friendly and efficient, keeping our room spotless throughout our stay and ensuring we were still good when we declined room service.

It's great to see that the resort takes pride in keeping the outside areas clean. Men were regularly cleaning up trash and keeping the grounds tidy, despite not seeing many trash receptacles around.

The air conditioning in our room was nice and cool, a welcome respite from the Thai heat. However we did have a couple days where it leaked and another when it did not work at all. The staff was very quick in getting this resolved.

The bathroom was a bit of a letdown. There's only a tub with a hose that shot the water out of the tub and onto the floor. The toilet had a smaller seat than the perimeter of the bowl. The bidet hose took some getting used to but it did the job.

The water here and other hotels had a smell which I feel is just a Thailand issue and nothing to do with the hotel but keep that in mind.

The provide a beach bag and two towels for each room which made going to the beach and the pool a breeze.

Overall, I would definitely recommend the Secret Cliff Resort to anyone looking for a relaxing getaway in Phuket. The views, restaurant, and pool are all top-notch, and the staff is friendly and helpful. Just be aware of the few quirks...

If you get room 237, ask for another room unless they fixed this: The room literally stinks (bad smell from the toilet). The shower's top part is broken and the bottom part has a layer of rust over it. - the cost to fix this should be 1/3rd of one night's stay and as a business owner would personally not put a person in a room in this condition before fixing.

This place is beautiful - from the public areas to the rooms. But it's badly maintained.

The good: contrary to other reviews staff has been very nice so far, food (had the chicken fried rice) was very tasty and fresh, one of the best I've had with quick service. Room has a great bed, AC, towels soap etc.

So this is a mixed review. I had a bad enough experience to make me want to write this review to let you know, and I probably won't be coming back. But it may be a good experience for you with other circumstances / if you ask for another room so I'm giving 3 stars and not 2. I do believe with some love this place could be a 4.

P.S. This is the first bad review I'm writing on this trip. I've had only good experiences so far in Thailand at half the price and this is my first time both paying double and having a bad experience.

Other notes: Dinner would have been perfect but a bug tried hopping on my plate (possibly not their fault but if happens often then think about it). Lobby's men's toilets - light was broken in one stall and bad smell from other. Prices here (food, laundry etc.) are 2x-3x because the place is isolated and no other options around but also.. Rooms are across a highway and it's risky to cross. So there's a guy who just does rides. Rooms are also badly signed and hard to find so someone takes you to the room. Hotel can pronably fix both and save that guy's salary with a little up front investment once. I personally had the experience of trying to find my room by myself (my bad, I asked to go to the gym first when they suggested to take me and then tried by myself). The numbering system made no sense and signs weren't very helpful. I went over 20 minutes up and down steep hills before giving up and running across a highway back to lobby to ask for help. Also, when I finally got to the room and opened the bathroom door a lizzard ran out and gave me a scare. I tried opening the front and balcony doors and chase it out but lost it at some point so it's probably still here sleeping with me.

Conclusion My experience wasn't good - at several times in the brief window of an hour or so from check in. I wouldn't come back here.

Do I recommend to avoid? Probably not. I guess if I had another room, had come a bit earlier in time to catch the sunset and had more luck avoiding bug encounters I would could have had a good experience. The place does look good, and most of what I read in the reviews I didn't run into so it looks like they're trying and hearing feedback.

General observation: It seems to me like the hotel can improve its business even if it cut 80% of its extra services by focusing on maintenance and reinvesting that budget to give a good basic experience. Small things like good smell, working shower etc. can make or break...