Mida Grande Villas Phuket (SHA Extra Plus)

The Thai food in the restaurant was excellent, and the cleaning staff in room 5307 were EXCELLENT too. The room itself was fine, with good pillows, but the bed felt like sleeping on boxes. We also didn’t get enough water for a family of four during the daily turndown. A singing duo performed on a couple of nights and were excellent and really enjoyable. The rest of the hotel was disappointing. It’s shabby, with plasterboard hanging from ceilings or missing, mould on the exterior render of the main buildings, and uneven paths that were hard to walk on. Our room was by a very noisy car park, where people kept revving their engines. There was also a constant cannabis smell from the staff quarters and motorbike delivery people, which shouldn’t be tolerated around staff or paying guests. The pools were run down and had very little furniture, cushions, or shade. We counted only four umbrellas across all the pools in the whole resort. Poolside food service was awful. One lunch order was forgotten, and the waiter seemed unsure how to take orders or what to do. The bar was badly understaffed, even though the restaurant was nearly empty and had seven staff members at the time. The Thai dishes were good, but other food ranged from questionable to dangerous. My four-year-old son was served completely raw sausages. We sent them back for a fresh, cooked sausage. Another time, the chicken tikka masala was microwaved and still cold in the middle, then reheated until it was like lava. The hotel isn’t five star, three at best. The staff were friendly, but that couldn’t make up for the poor quality elsewhere.

Some of the staff were lovely, especially Gigi at breakfast, who was really helpful. Breakfast had a nice variety, though the coffee was poor. The location was good for Surin beach, boa tang, and Kamala bay, and the rooftop had lovely views. We ended up avoiding the hotel as much as possible and had fun taking a tuck tuck from the bottom of the hill to get around. For the money, we were disappointed. This is definitely not a 5 star hotel, it’s tired and run down. The entrance is up a very steep hill, and there are steep steps everywhere. You can call for a buggy, but they can be hard to find. The ceilings leak outside the rooms. They put a towel in the corridor to catch the water, and it stayed there all week, wet and filthy. You also have to ask for room cleaning, fresh water, and towel changes. Room service was poor and the food wasn’t good, so we only ate breakfast at the hotel. The reception staff didn’t speak much English either. The kids club is just playrooms full of toys, with nobody watching the children, so it’s not useful if you want some adult time. The gyms are basic, and the cable machines in both were broken the whole time. There were very few pool sunbeds, and the pool bar played awful gangster rap all day and night. It didn’t fit the hotel at all.

The rooms were nicely presented, the hotel looked pleasant, and there were several pools around the property. But the overall stay was disappointing, and the problems outweighed the good points. Getting checked in and out took unusually long. Both times we were asked to sit and wait about 20 minutes. At check-in, this was after the stated check-in time, while staff checked whether the room was ready. They also required a 3,000 baht cash deposit that hadn’t been mentioned when booking. For a place sold as 5-star, arrival felt underwhelming. Nobody offered to show us to our building or help with bags, so we had to work out where the room was ourselves. The resort sits on steep hills, and our room was in the building furthest from the main areas. We had a car, but guests without transport might find that inconvenient. Building 7 had towels left on the corridor floor to soak up leaking water, and one lift was out of service, causing long waits. The main pool was crowded with children and had too few sunbeds, so we had to wait for people to leave. Breakfast also felt limited for a hotel of this size. Service was uneven. We came back at 17:45 on the first day and our room still hadn’t been cleaned, even though the housekeeping sign had been out since morning. The night before, I’d asked for an iron and called twice to follow up, but it never arrived. When we complained about the cleaning, we were told there had been many check-outs that day. It seemed like staffing should have been planned for that. Check-out was held up because they asked for a paper slip from check-in. Nobody had told me it was needed, and I’d left it in the room, assuming I no longer needed it. The property has potential and the rooms are nice, but poor communication, slow processes, and inconsistent service mean I wouldn’t return based on this stay.

We had an amazing three-bedroom place with two bathrooms and a private spa/cold pool on the balcony. Couldn’t be happier with it. The amenities were excellent, and the staff were wonderful. Most of the people we dealt with understood English well and communicated easily. We’ll definitely come back, and we’ve already recommended the stay to friends and family.