The Passion Nest (SHA Plus+)

I’m from Malaysia and stayed for two nights because it was close to my dive center and Hanuman World. The room was clean, ready for us, and spacious enough for a short visit. I really liked having a balcony, since it was useful for drying my diving clothes. The walls or building materials may be thin, though, because I could clearly hear my neighbors making love at night.

The friendly staff made us feel welcome, and we had a fantastic stay at Passion Nest. The rooms were clean and comfortable, with a great atmosphere. A perfect place to stay in Thailand. I’d definitely return.

The location wasn’t bad, and the hotel works with tour companies and scooter rentals, so you can arrange things there instead of searching around. They didn’t have a scooter available, but managed to get one delivered from a partner rental shop. For the Jame's Bond Island tour, we found a better price in the Old Phuket and booked there. We’d expected more from the reviews and were a bit disappointed. The room smelled clean when we arrived, the pool was nice, and we appreciated having water replenished daily. But there were no plugs by the bed, the AC blew straight onto it, and there were no sheets, just a light quilt that I’m not sure was cleaned often. There was no sink soap, only one tiny bottle each of shower gel and shampoo, and no replenishment over three days, even after cleaning. Reception was only open from 8 to 18:00, so anything you need has to be handled then. After the second night, our towels weren’t replaced because we’d taken them to the beach. When we asked, they said they’d replaced the ones left in the room, meaning the face towels. We waited a bit, but eventually got more. One of our rooms wasn’t ready when we arrived. We were told to wait 20 minutes and that someone would take us over, but after 35 minutes with no one showing up, we checked at reception and were told it was ready. We’d booked three nights and extended our time in Phuket by two days, but chose a different hotel. It’s not too bad if you’re on a budget and don’t need much.

The hotel was clean and tidy overall, and the staff were nice. I really appreciated that they let us check in earlier. The room was large, the air conditioning was perfect, the pool had a pleasant temperature, and there was a mosquito net on the window. The location is okay, around a 15-minute walk to the main street, but the road has very little path for walking. I’d give it 3.5 stars if I could. There are lots of rules on paper and fees for furniture damage, despite the old equipment needing repairs and already being hard to damage further. The wardrobes smelled so strongly we couldn’t put anything in them, and the towels smelled too. The bed was broken. At night, the toilet bubbled and smelled, waking us several times. Hot water only worked after we asked for it to be fixed. The hotel says quiet hours start at 9:00 PM, but nobody seemed to enforce that, and guests were noisy even at midnight. Cameras everywhere were good for safety, but made the balcony feel less private. There was also a big gap between the doors.