My partner and I spent six nights at the resort in 2006 and had fond memories so returned in late January 2012 with three friends for two nights.
The best part of our stay was the free upgrade (for all three separate parties) from a deluxe room to villa. The Thai style rooms were beautiful. A welcome cake and large bowl of fruits awaited us in each room upon arrival which was a lovely surprise.
We only ate at the resort once during our stay which was at approximately 10.30pm on the night we arrived. All meals were very good. The staff were however quite tired and service a little slow. The breakfast buffet had a good variety and was on par with my experience at other 4 star hotels in Thailand. There did seem to be less staff than in 2006 and they may have been slightly less attentive but overall still good.
The resort is a very short 10 to 15 minutes into Patong. It was in fact nice to be away from the hustle and bustle but still close to Patong and Kamala Beach.
The actual hotel itself is beautiful with a lot of Thai architecture. It is set dramatically and quite steeply in a hill side amongst the jungle which doesn't make it the best for very young children. There are however buggies available to transport guests from their rooms to reception, the bar and restaurants.
There are three pools on the premises including an infinity edge pool bar with great views over the Andaman Sea which we made good use of.
There is a shuttle service to Kamala Beach every hour which is fantastic and I believe there is one to Patong Beach also which we didn’t utilise during our stay.
Overall the experience for all five of us was very good. The resort reflects its four star rating. The resort could tighten up its service levels by providing a little more oversight and training for their staff, particularly in the restaurant and bar; i.e. drinks delivered in faster time-frames and staff that can understand English well so food ordering isn’t a difficulty for customers and staff.
- Aquamarine Hotel Kathu
- Aquamarine Resort Kathu
