Tuana Hotels Casa Del Sol

The location worked well for us, with plenty of food nearby, though it’s a long way from Patong Beach and Phuket’s main areas. The resort itself has two pools, a kids’ water park, a pool bar, pub, and restaurant. Our room had a decent view over the pool, and the grounds were clean and well looked after. Reception were extremely sweet and helpful. I left my handbag behind by accident, and they sent it by courier to my next hotel in Krabi. The bell staff were also great with our luggage. There’s a safe, convenient luggage room by the porch, too. Just so you know, they only take bookings through Agoda or Booking.com, not at the counter. Check-in also required a refundable deposit of 3,000 THB.

The hotel was immaculate, and the staff were constantly cleaning. We had no problems. If you want your room cleaned, call reception by dialing zero. We didn’t know that on our first day, so we came back to dirty towels, but after a quick call they came right over and sorted things out. The setting is lovely and tropical, with massage places and food and fruit shops just outside. There’s a 7-11 a minute away, and the white sand beach is about a 3-5 minute walk, depending on your pace.

The reception and pool area look lovely at first, but our room had a long list of problems. We had to call maintenance right away because the A/C control came out of the wall and hung by its wires when we pressed the power button. The toilet kept running after flushing. The staff fixed those things quickly and were great, but other issues continued: no warm water in the sink, brief power cuts with no pattern more than 20 times a day, and a sewage smell from the bathroom that filled the room. The bathroom lights flickered at a rate that could be dangerous for people with epilepsy. Even after housekeeping changed the linen several times, there were yellow and brown or red stains on it. We pointed out the problems without making a fuss, but no room change or compensation was offered. Eventually, we stopped telling the staff as the list grew. For a hotel claiming four stars, we expected much better. The breakfast buffet was dull and often had empty sections, as if the staff couldn’t keep it stocked or didn’t notice. We’d prepaid breakfast for the whole stay, but on day four decided to eat elsewhere for the rest of the trip. Most of the other guests seemed to be Russian, and staff sometimes spoke Russian to us, apparently assuming we were too. That wasn’t necessarily an issue, but it made us feel less welcome. If this had been a two or three star hotel, I probably wouldn’t have mentioned most of this, but it doesn’t deserve a four star rating.

At the hotel restaurant, we ordered four dishes and only got two. The staff were painfully slow, like turtles, and forgot the rest of the order. Service was rock bottom. The hotel itself barely gets two out of ten from me. They make you wear wristbands, and there are no towels for the pool. I won’t come back or recommend it.