Chandara Resort & Spa Phuket

The restaurant food was really good, and we loved having a little private pool outside our room for a nighttime dip after the main pool closed. The big pool itself is lovely, with a great view over the water. Service was awesome too. Everyone we met was kind, attentive, and helpful. Such a wonderful resort.

The rooms were alright, but the rest of the stay wasn't worth it. The resort feels stuck in the 80s and looks like it gets very little maintenance. It's isolated in the middle of nowhere, far from everything in Phuket, so we had to rent a scooter to get around. Taxis cost way too much. The restaurant food wasn't very good, and ants were crawling over most of the tables. For somewhere calling itself a 5-star resort, charging extra for petty things and inflating the bills was a lot. Not worth staying here.

The staff were genuinely friendly, and the villa was huge, with several rooms and a small private hot tub on the back porch. The ocean view was good, too. Those were the best parts of our stay. There's almost nothing around the property. It's beside a marina with lots of nice boats, but nowhere else to eat. The hotel restaurant is there, but its prices were incredibly high, and the location leaves you more or less stuck eating there. We chose not to, especially since it looked like we were the only guests staying at the property. The place is set up as a large private resort and spa. On arrival we got a welcome drink, though I couldn't tell whether it was juice or alcohol. The greeting area is by the pool, which looked clean and well kept. We were driven to the villa in a golf cart after check-in, which was nice. The room was a pleasant surprise for its size, but it had a strong, unpleasant smell. We tried to put up with it, then I started getting bitten by lots of mosquitoes in the room and we decided to leave for somewhere else. We'd already noticed plenty of mosquitoes biting us while our passports were being scanned. The bugs, smell, and distance from anything else brought the stay down several stars. The kind staff, large room, and ocean view couldn't make up for those problems.

I don't usually write reviews, and this was only my first day here, but the staff at breakfast really deserve a mention. Kook, Kong, and Aey were friendly and spoke good English. The service has been great so far. I also recommend Orange car Phuket from Orange car phuket. The cars are good and everything was quick. I'm glad I booked four nights. Next time I'll stay longer, and this hotel is definitely one for my Phuket list.