Cape Panwa

The hotel didn’t meet my expectations of a five star resort. I’d rate it as a very tired 4 star. First of all, no one met us at the airport despite booking a transfer directly with the hotel well in advance. We’ve been given the room in the main building with the sea view on the forth floor. The rooms are very tired, outdated, and poorly maintained. The doors are dirty, some furniture is chipped, the room layout was very strange, the bathroom was kind of in the middle of the room with only a thin sliding door between a toilet and a bed. The rooms are not sound proof. We had a full board package with Luxury escapes, but it was a quest to book a restaurant for a dinner. There would be always a closed restaurant on the day, or fully booked for a function, or just fully booked even if you try to book two days in advance. So the full board package was rubbish, as most likely you’d end up eating the same meal at the same place due to limited options. Another thing, what’s going on with irons at this hotel? You have to book one through the app but there was never one available. The turn down service is on request. Why? The egg station at the breakfast is veeery slow. Coffee comes from a Coffee machine, self service. The only thing that was satisfactory was the beach, clean water, white sand, enough sun beds. Also the sea is very much swimmable even off season. There was a tidal activity provided in the room. I don’t think I’d ever come back or would recommend it to my friends. Disappointing.

We stayed at the Cape Panwa Hotel for three weeks, and we absolutely loved everything about it. First of all, I'd like to point out the hotel's superb location, it's very peaceful and perfect for a relaxing, quiet getaway. The hotel beach is ideal – a private, well-maintained stretch of shoreline with excellent facilities. At first, we were worried about the low tides during the summer season, but this was not a problem at all, because the hotel took care of it and made a schedule of the low and high tides for each day, and put this schedule in each room, meaning we always knew what time to go swimming. The entire territory is very green, and the buildings blend seamlessly with the natural surroundings. The hotel is very cozy, staff is very kind and attentive, and speaks basic English. We'd especially like to thank Maggie, who speaks perfect English and Russian and was incredibly attentive and caring to us. She made our stay as comfortable as possible and made us feel right at home. She promptly resolved any issues we had, advised us on worthwhile activities, and helped us organize a fantastic fishing trip. Thanks to people like her, we want to return again and again. The food also left us satisfied, breakfasts were great, especially freshly prepared omelette and variety of Thai delights. The à la carte restaurants are excellent, offering a wide selection of Thai and European dishes. Don't worry about the spiciness; the cuisine is tailored to European tourists. It's very convenient that the hotel has a regular shuttle that takes guests down to the embankment, where there are numerous cafes where you can have great Thai and European food at very reasonable prices. You can always find street vendors selling fruit and other delicacies. It's worth trying. There are two good stores: Top’s and a 7/11, a currency exchange, a small pharmacy, and massage services. We also really enjoyed using the hotel's guest app, which makes it incredibly easy to order food, services, and resolve any issues. All in all, the hotel is a great place for relaxing family or romantic holiday. We are looking forward to coming back and will recommend it to relatives and friends.

Another wonderful stay at this amazing hotel. Has a very relaxed, quiet and more traditional Thai feel. Staff are excellent, rooms were very clean and spacious and grounds were magnificent with beautiful coconut trees and gardens leading down the hill to the spectacular white sandy beach. Special mention to the wonderful Pim at the front desk who is always so welcoming and helpful and also thank you to Ivy and Dear. Cape Andaman waiter staff were so friendly and all did a great job. Particular mention of Lisa, along withTeeraphat and Bew. Thanks to Khun Pat, the new GM for your lovely welcome and support during our stay. Look forward to coming back.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A truly wonderful stay – we will return! We stayed at Cape Panwa Hotel after booking through TUI, and from the moment we arrived we knew we'd made the right choice. The hotel exceeded our expectations in every way. Our room was absolutely palatial; spacious, beautifully designed, spotlessly clean, and very well appointed. It was a pleasure to come back to after a day exploring or relaxing on the beach. The beach and sea are simply stunning. The water was crystal clear, and the setting was peaceful and picturesque. Perfect if you're looking for a relaxing holiday away from the busier parts of Phuket. We made a point of eating in all of the hotel's restaurants, and every meal was excellent. The highlight was the à la carte restaurant, Top of he Reef where we enjoyed some of the best food we've ever eaten. The staff and chefs were outstanding at catering for food allergies, taking great care to ensure every meal was safe as well as delicious. Before travelling, we'd read reviews saying the hotel drinks were expensive. While they may be compared with some bars elsewhere in Thailand, we found them very reasonably priced by UK standards and thought they represented good value. The staff were consistently friendly, welcoming, and helpful. The staff at The Top of the Reef were exceptional. Nothing seemed too much trouble, and their warm service really added to our stay. One of the hotel's best features is its transport. We loved the complimentary shuttle bus into Cape Panwa Village, which made it easy to explore the local shops, cafés, supermarkets and restaurants. We also used the hotel's bus to visit Phuket Old Town, which is definitely worth seeing, and booked several other excursions using the hotel's taxi service. Everything was well organised and reliable. The evening fire dancers were another highlight and made for a fantastic end to the day. A few tips for future guests: - Don't be put off by comments about drink prices – if you're visiting from the UK, you'll probably find them very reasonable. - Make time to visit Phuket Old Town using the hotel's shuttle service. - Be sure to try the à la carte restaurant at least once – it's exceptional. - If you have food allergies, you can eat with confidence. The staff take them seriously and provide excellent service. Overall, we had a wonderful holiday and wouldn't hesitate to recommend Cape Panwa Hotel. It offers beautiful surroundings, outstanding food, excellent service, and a wonderfully relaxed atmosphere. We'd happily return and wouldn't hesitate to give it five stars.

We arrived at Phuket Airport early on a Monday morning, cleared immigration and found our luggage very quickly, and were in the hotel transfer car, leaving the airport within an hour of landing. We arrived at Cape Panwa Hotel while breakfast was still in full swing, and were quickly checked in and shown to our room. We've been holidaying here twice a year since 2013, but this was a special one for us, as we'd planned to renew our wedding vows here. The staff at the hotel are like a second family to us, and all were excited at our upcoming vow renewal. We love our Cape Suite, and the hotel have managed to provide us with the same room for every stay, for which we are eternally grateful. The balcony looks out over the beach and out to sea from one side, and over the gardens and the main pool from the other. Housekeeping had left us a lovely message in flowers on the bed, welcoming us back, and the room was spotlessly clean and well appointed. We did notice that the hotel has removed the alarm clocks from the rooms, but upon asking, they managed to find one for us, which we really appreciated. We had ten days to spare before our vow renewal, so enjoyed time in the pool and relaxing. We booked two afternoon teas during this time - a traditional Thai one and a traditional English one, and enjoyed both, although we had a preference for the Thai one which was amazing. The staff in the Cape Panwa Hotel are what keep us coming back. They work really hard, nothing is ever too much trouble, and they always have a welcoming smile. Over the years we have made very good friends with some of them. There is a relatively new general manager at the hotel, and we were lucky to meet her during our stay last October. It was great to see on this trip that she has really settled in well, and has made some good changes around the hotel. After we had unpacked on arrival, the dress and clothing that we had bought over for our vow renewal was picked up and taken away for steaming. I never saw my dress again until I arrived at the spa to get ready on the day of our renewal. My husband's clothes were returned to the room for him. Breakfasts during our stay were absolutely superb. There is a huge choice of dishes from around the world, so you can always find something. I am dairy intolerant, and Chef Wud (Woody) went out of his way to make sure that I was catered for, and we cannot thank him enough for the range of different dishes that he provided for us. Top of the Reef is our favourite place to eat, but we were aware that there was a brand new menu there since our last visit. We had booked two evening meals there, plus our meal for our vow renewal, and on first glance at the new menu we were a little worried. We should not have been..... The food that we had in Top of the Reef was absolutely amazing, from new starters to new puddings. We can highly recommend the fish crudo and the carpaccio of beef starters, and the olive oil cake for dessert. These are things that we would never have usually tried, but were very glad we did. In the evenings, we sat in Cafe Andaman listening to the resident band, who we've known for years and who are excellent, or in Otters Bar listening to Ice singing and playing the piano, which is beautiful. On the day of our vow renewal, I was collected from the room and taken to a private suite in the spa to get ready. The hotel had arranged for someone to come in to do my hair and make-up, and I felt very special and quite overwhelmed. I was absolutely delighted with the finished result, which left me on a complete high for the remainder of the day. I really want to give a huge 'thank you' to William, the assistant manager for all that he did for us during our stay, including agreeing to walk me down the aisle in the absence of my own father. He looked amazing in a traditional Thai shirt for the ceremony, and I don't think we can ever thank him enough for making our event so special. And on that subject, we would also like to extend our heartfelt thanks to both Khun Aom and Khun Mhai, for everything they did to give us such a special day - From getting me ready, to the flowers, to the service, to the evening meal, everything ran like clockwork and was perfect! We had sent some photos of our actual wedding day, and Khun Aom managed to provide a bouquet, button-hole and flowers that were almost identical to the originals, and were a perfect match for the dress that I wore. We usually visit Cape Panwa in May and October, and knew that June/July was going to be a risk due to the weather (monsoon season), but generally the weather was very kind to us - hot and humid with very little rain throughout the day. In fact, we've experienced worse weather in both May and October! We would like to express our thanks to the entire Cape Panwa Hotel staff, but particularly to Khun Venus, Khun William, Khun Aom, Khun Mhai, Ivy, Maggie, Liezel, Chef Wud, Ice, Supatra, Sarusak, Kasim & Mut for making our entire stay so special and enjoyable. We are already counting down the days until our next stay in October, and have already booked for May 2027! We know that this location doesn't suit everybody. Some say it's too hilly, some say it's too far away from everything, some say it's too quiet, but this remarkable hotel gives us everything we're looking for in a holiday, which is why we keep coming back. And, if you are considering getting married or renewing your wedding vows here, we can certainly confirm that the service we received was second to none. We don't believe you would regret it! Apologies for such a long review, but we feel this stay was probably the best stay we've ever had here. When we arrive, it feels like we've never left, and when it's time to go home, we never want to leave! Looking forward to seeing you all again very soon.