Orchid Hotel and Spa Kalim Bay

The staff I met were kind and friendly, and the coffee was delicious. I might have stayed for their company if the rest of the experience hadn't been so awful. I paid for breakfast for two for seven days. Expedia's photos showed bacon, eggs, toast, and fruit, but all we got was toast and coffee. When I asked for fruit, they first said they had none, then found mango and papaya. I was grateful since I hadn't eaten much, but it wasn't what I paid for. The room was frightening and felt unsafe. There was no way to lock the door. The outlets were burnt out, lamps had been cut off with no plugs, and my sheets and the wall had unidentified stains and splashes. The bed was as hard as wood, with old foam and no fitted sheet. There were mystery stains on the couch and chair, rusty faucets, and no hot water, just lukewarm at best. Water didn't drain from the shower, and none of the wet tile had slip protection. The tiled balcony had no grip either, and small PVC pipes were scattered around as a tripping hazard. The balcony light switches didn't work, and I got an electric shock twice. The mini fridge was empty and wouldn't get cold. There were no water bottles. No elevator, and the stairs were steep. I was on the fifth floor, with 14 steps on each floor. The pool was nice, but a dog above the pool seating smelled bad, defecated on the balcony, and wouldn't stop barking. The lobby had a cute reading corner, but no lighting. The place claims to be on the beach, but it's actually on a very busy, constantly noisy street. You can see the ocean, but at low tide it takes less than two hours to reach it. There was garbage around and no real access to the ocean. I'm asking Expedia for a refund. This was the worst experience I've had as a solo traveler. This kind of false advertising using AI shouldn't be allowed.

The way guests are treated here left me feeling completely unwelcome. Courtesy and professionalism seemed absent, and the service was deeply disappointing. Staying at Orchid Hotel, Kalim Bay, Phuket felt more like a punishment than a holiday. It brought to mind Kala Pani, the notorious jail in India's Andaman Islands. I wouldn't want another traveler to have that experience, and would urge anyone considering this place to think twice.

We left after only three hours and lost 6120 baht because the woman refused to refund us. We had asked for our money back because we didn't want to stay, but were told we were the only customers with a problem. They also provided water only on check-in day, so we had to buy our own afterward. We booked a deluxe sea-view room with a double bed, but were first put in a basic room. After speaking to staff we got a sea-view room, though it had two joined twin beds with a gap of about 1-1.5 inches. The balcony wasn't usable: the table was dirty and rusty, the AC fan blew hot air, and a dog in the next balcony barked as soon as we came outside. The passage by the stairs smelled bad too. There was no lift in this four-floor hotel, just steep, narrow stairs. Our room had no water heater or phone, and for anything we had to go downstairs to reception. The toiletries were very basic, and there were other expected amenities missing for a room costing nearly 4.5k. They insist on full payment first, which made me feel they knew people might not pay after seeing the rooms. This was a pathetic stay. Avoid this scam.

The pool area was affected by a dog kept in a first-floor room. It barked constantly and peed on the balcony, and the urine ran down toward the pool overflow. The smell was awful. Of the seven loungers, six were too damaged to use, and the spa was permanently closed. The room had a long list of problems: it wasn't clean at check-in, the toilet seat was broken, and the bathroom window was rusted open, letting mosquitoes in. The AC controls came off in my hand, there were no mosquito nets despite the advertisement, and the bed rails and posts were broken. The curtain lining and sofa were torn too. During our ten days, the room was cleaned just twice, and I had to ask reception for toilet paper three days running. The beach is tiny and across a very busy road. This place was tired, dirty, and shabby. I can't recommend staying here.