Grand Sunset Hotel Phuket

Great location. Good average hotel. We had a bit of a rough start (a/c temp stuck on cold and noise from water in toilet) the first night in a standard room. Staff were good in sorting this out and offered us a different room the next day. These rooms are at the rear of the building and get the afternoon sun which is not optimal. They do have a nicer greener view however than the front which faces the back of another building. Because the standard room was quite small we decided to upgrade to the 2 room suite for 300Baht a night extra and it was well worth the money. The hotel is protected from noise as it sits between the Bauman Casa Hotel and is back from the busy main road. This is the better of the two hotels. The beach is just a 2 min walk across the main road. There are 2 massage places down the lane which don't hassle you like they did in Patong. It made a nice change. Close to shops, beach, markets, bars and restaurants. The sitting room has a fridge, sofa, coffee table, coffee/tea facilities, 4 power points, 3 shallow drawers and a long skinny one, a place for shoes and a a/c unit which works well. At the entrance is a wardrobe (we asked for extra hangers as drawer space was surprisingly more limited than in the standard room). It has 3 not very wide but deep drawers and 2 hotel umbrellas. The bedroom has a very large firm bed. The pillows are too high for my liking but I improvised and used my soft aeroplane pillow instead. There are 2 shallow drawers, long mirror and flat TV, a/c. Wifi is on the whole good but some days it can be intermittent. Hair dryer supplied. The bathroom has a very high basin (in all rooms), it wouldn't suit kids. I'm 5ft high and it's very awkward for me to use. Another feature which I consider to be a bad design is that in both the std rooms and suites there is an area of frosted glass between the bathroom and the bedroom. Not a problem during the day, but if you want to go in the night you can't turn the light on or it will wake your partner in bed. You need to choose when you have a shower, get in before 7.30am or after midday and before 4pm if you want a hot shower. Otherwise it can be luke warm in busier times. Not really a major given the hot weather here. Great swimming pool, although it could really do with some umbrellas to protect from the sun. Staff in the pool area aren't the best at customer service. There are more friendly places to go for a drink. The hotels "happy hour" isn't really a proper happy hour as we know it. They give you 3 small beers for the price of one and that's it. Once you've bought one lot of drinks your "happy hour" finishes and you're back to paying full price. That's what happened to us anyway. In my experience happy hour should be half price drinks across the board for a one hour period. Movie night was interesting. I got the free popcorn, I got the free ice cream, (nice), "movie under the stars" was actually in the breakfast room. I ended up telling the guy not to worry about the movie as he didn't seem to know how to put one on and I thought it was kinder to put him out of his misery so to speak. He tried hard. The hotel do offer a free rum punch at a certain time in the afternoon which we got. Reception staff are friendly and very helpful. If there are any issues they deal with them. When we upgraded to our new room they sent us a platter of fruit for the inconvenience of the first night. The rooms are clean and serviced every day. Small things are missed sometimes like wiping the frosted windows/doors, vacuuming the rug etc. Then I am a very picky person because that's what I would do. Generally tho it is to a good and acceptable standard of cleanliness. They have 6 floors and 2 lifts. Beach towels and pool towels supplied free. Can't comment on the breakfast, at 250Baht per person, there were cheaper options around. This hotel is one of the better ones on the strip, we stayed 2 weeks in the 2 room suite for $NZD595 plus 300Baht per night extra for the upgrade. This was worth the money.

A lot has changed at this Hotel... Huge upgrades made on rooms, Kitchens and Rooftop Lounge Area, Everything re-opened in July 2016. Great food and fabulous chefs. Bar serves refreshing drinks and at sunset time, The Rooftop concept comes to life. Every Saturday the Sunset Party kicks off at 18.00 with DJ Jesse Garcia who sets the atmosphere with fantastic tunes. A must visit, if you are in the Karon Beach area.