Beyond Patong Beach

Bangla Walking Street, the beach, and nearby markets are all easy to get to, so the location is a real plus. The room was small, though still fine for a comfortable overnight stay. Service fell well below what I expected.

For the price, the room was nice, and the location was awesome. We booked the four-person room with a double bed.

We picked this place for its position among the different Phuket neighborhoods, and the location really is convenient: the beach is a five-minute walk away. It’s one of the most crowded beaches in the world, though, and the stay itself was nowhere near worth the price. If we’d known how bad Glur was, we’d have booked somewhere else. The room was tiny, just big enough for one double bed, with barely enough floor space to open two suitcases. We were told there weren’t any larger rooms, so I don’t know where the photos showing bigger rooms came from. There’s also a very steep staircase up to the rooms. Cleanliness was poor. Under the bed was filthy, and the sink plug was really gross. There was no bin in the room, so you had to take rubbish to a shared bin outside. Amenities were sparse too, with no kettle for coffee. Noise and privacy were another problem. The hallway echoes, and some guests shouted to each other across it and left their doors open while showering. We complained at reception, but nobody spoke to them or did anything to address the noise or lack of privacy. The pool photos are misleading because there is no pool, and there isn’t a game room either. The owners should remove those photos.

The only real plus was the location, with everything nearby within walking distance. I wouldn’t recommend staying here unless you’re after something cheap and can put up with the problems. The photos on Google gave me the wrong idea. There’s no swimming pool, and the place is more like a motel, inn, or guesthouse than a hotel. The room looked clean at first, but there were worms and ants here and there, and mosquitoes flew in as soon as the door opened. The bathroom was especially awkward: it sits higher than the floor, so you have to climb up and then jump down. That’s a definite no for older people or kids. It’s open at the top instead of reaching the ceiling, and smells from using the toilet spread through the room. Room service made the bed but didn’t change the sheets. The shampoo and body wash bottles had already been used, presumably by the previous guest, so we bought our own at 7-e. There was no wastebasket in the room, either, so we had to take rubbish out ourselves. The door and wall are glass, covered only by a curtain. We had to find something to hold the curtain in place, otherwise people passing by could see inside.