We've just returned from Phuket today and since I always read Trip advisor reviews I thought I should actually post one. We stayed for 1 week in the Centara in the Cabanna rooms, the 2nd week we stayed in the JW Marriott. The Centara isn't luxury 5 star but its great anyway, the value for money is hard to beat, we booked via their own website and got a special deal for 7 nights, airport transfers, breakfasts, one dinner, a free cocktail every night, 1 hour internet access and a 45 minute spa session. The location is excellent, a short walk to the beach, a few supermarkets, bars, tailors, massage parlours etc. Tuk Tuk to Patong beach was 300 baht although you could probably haggle for a bit cheaper. The breakfast was buffet style and as much as you could eat, plenty of choice and the chef will make omelletes for you to your liking. We had one dinner in the hotel and it was very good. A few good eating places were the Two Chefs, Karon Cafe and the Moovenpick, all very easy to find and close to the hotel. The Cabana rooms were good, although maybe a bit tired, although they were upgrading the one next to us. I'm comparing this to the JW Marriott though which is unfair as the money difference is unbelieveable, in terms of accommodation, food & drink. The location made it for us, not in the over busy Patong but close enough to go in whenever we wanted, Karon had enough to keep us occupied in the evening. We did two tours, an all day tour with Mr Sam (Elephant/Spa/Simon Cabaret) and a sailing tour with Captain Mark, both excellent and we would recommend!!!

This hotel was fantastic and I would recommend it to anyone wanting a mid-priced resort. Much better than 3 stars in my opinion. There are 3 main buildings plus single cabana style villas. We stayed in the Tropicale building, which was right next to the pool- fantastic! Being off season, it was very quiet and easy to get a sun bed or drink at the bar. The cabana villas are gorgeous with own spa- would book there next time. The rooms were very clean, and the houskeeping service was excellent. The 3 pools were very nice and clean. The service throughout the hotel was excellent- the people very friendly and eager to do anything to help. I had a facial and massage in the spa- very good, although quite hard pressure on the massage! You can get much cheaper massages outside the resort, but I liked the clean, attractive surroundings in the hotel spa. Breakfast was good, with lots of variety. We also ate in tha Azure restaurant next to the Lagoon pool, and it was good. A variety of asian and western food. Happy hour half price drinks 4-6pm was really good. We tried a variety of cocktails. There are loads of restaurants just outside the hotel- we had drinks in the Irish pub and dinner twice at Two Chefs- very nice restaurant with good steaks and thai prawn curry. Tuk Tuks into Patong for cheap shopping were only 300 Baht (about $9 AUS) and were easy to get just outside the hotel. We had a taxi drive us around for the entire day for 2000 Baht (about $60 AUS)- other people bartered down for much cheaper, but we considered this a bargain for all day air conditioned comfort! Karon was much quieter than Patong- I would recommend staying there and taking a taxi or Tuk Tuk into Patong. Lots of shopping for tshirts, sarongs, cushion covers, DVDs and souveneirs in Patong- offer them a third of their asking price, then barter to about half of their original price. We also went to Phuket Zoo (a bit sad, but we had our photo taken with a tiger), FantaSea (don't bother about dinner- yuck!), Big Buddah & Chalong Temple, Phuket Town (Phuket Festival is a nice big shopping centre but not very cheap), 4 in 1 Siam Safari (very good- elephant ride was the best part) and (our favourite) speedboat to Phi Phi Island- this was fantastic, snorkeling with the tropical fish, gorgeous white sand beaches and turquoise blue water- highly recommend this tour. We thoroughly enjoyed our week in Phuket and can't wait to go back. Downsides- the poverty, the humidity, the crazy driving

Very impressed with this hotel. Staff were all very polite, pleasant and couldn't do enough for you. The public areas and gardens were well kept and constantly being cleaned, trimmed etc.The hotel has 3 pools, the lagoon pool was our favorite, again clean, tidy with plenty of sunbeds. We had booked bed and breakfast, lots of choice for breakfast and slightly different dishes every day. We didn't eat in the hotel at night however often had a lunch time snack at the pool restaurant. Meals here were more expensive than outside the hotel but reasonable compared to UK prices. They were always tasty and well presented. Couldn't fault anything at all about the hotel. The resort itself was quieter than we expected however we soon got used to this. Patong was far busier and we went there a couple of evenings during our stay.

We booked into this hotel initially in a deluxe pool lagoon room, but there was definately nothing deluxe about this room type, as it was shabby and very much in need of a facelift, so we paid extra to upgrade to a pool cabana and we were very glad that we did. It was beautiful.....the little pool was great to sit and have a drink in after being out and about. We cannot fault the pool cabana or the rest of the hotel, apart from the lagoom deluxe room we were originally in and maybe the restaurant. The hotel grounds were well kept and the pools all looked great...lots of families and kids in lagoon pool. The restaurant could maybe do with ensuring the food is covered at breakfast, as every day we saw flies on the breakfast cereal and some other food, and there were small birds walking on the unsliced loaves of bread that were uncovered! Kind of gross, but most people still ate it anyway. The quality of the food was good, just the issue of making sure it is covered should be looked at. This was the second time we had been to Phuket and we would definately stay at this hotel again, but only in a pool cabana. The houskeeping staff were great and the gardeners are very friendly. The supervisor at the front desk was a little unfriendly, but everyone has bad days. The lobby of the hotel is beautiful and there were a lot of other friendly tourists there. There are great little restaurants and massage places and a convenience store nearby. I would definately recommend the wonderful pool cabanas....so private and spacious compared to the other room we had. The hotel provides sunscreen, mouthwash, moisturiser, toothpaste, toothbrush, razor and shaving cream, shampoo etc in the pool cabanas and the little sewing kit came in handy one day! The shuttle bus to Patong from the lobby costs 80 baht, which is much cheaper than a tuk tuk or taxi. I would recommend this hotel, just would not personally stay in the other room types after having been spoilt with the cabana.