Novotel Phuket Kamala Beach

Very kind and thoughtfull service by Novotel hotel but especially by Nam and Ake

Unbelievable service by Nam and Ake

The most exceptional hotels we visited during our stay in Thailand.

We have thoroughly enjoyed out first visit to Thailand staying at the Novotel Kamala Beach. Thailand come in different flavours the calm and peaceful and totally bonkers. The Novotel at Kamala Beach falls into the calm zone. Kamala is a quieter area compared to nearby Pa Tong. The hotel is right on the beach and is very clean. You can walk right round the bay on the beach from the hotel without interruption. The beach is sandy and into the sea is very gently sloping so good for swimming. The hotel itself is of a very good standard, staff are friendly approachable and helpful. It's very clean with a good standard of room service. We chose to upgrade our room to one with a seaview which we were pleased we did since the view is fantastic from our balcony. We went B&B because Thailand is a relatively inexpensive place to eat and drink out. We've eaten from everywhere from McDonalds, Hard Rock Cafe to street food and local restaurant and the food has always been of a good standard and well cooked, so don't be scared of trying 'street food' or food from the vendors along part of Kamala beach. Food options are very varied from Thai to western foods. Back to the Hotel, the Novotel is well placed at Kamala at one end of the long beach, everywhere is walkable and walking is flat, no hills. However the path to town doesn't quite reach all the hotels and some beach navigation is necessary. For getting around, the hotel is well served by those offering trips to tourist destinations such as the Bond Island used in The Man with the Golden Gun, Phi Phi islands etc. For local random journeys just install the "Bolt" app on your phone and set it to pay by Cash or Card - we chose to pay by cash. Taxis are very reasonable here, much cheaper than the UK - to put in perspective for three people fares per head are typically less than the £3 charged for a single bus fare in the UK. Drivers typically arrive with you within a couple of minutes (depending on traffic) and like in the Uber app you can track their progress to arrival. You can also hire bikes and likely cars, they drive on the same side of the road as the UK here, but the roads are quite 'mad' with bikes and cars flying everywhere, undertaking etc. So they are not as ordered as in the UK, and you need to be very aware of what's going on around you all the time. For me though taxis are so reasonable, why bother to hire a bike car and take your life in your hands? Just let the experienced drivers get you there. If you visit the area, take note of how clean and well kept all the cars are, and so far we haven't seen one pothole on any journey we've taken. Not one! Compared to the UK where it's hard to drive 100 metres without loosing your car down a massive hole in the road - embarrassing isn't it! We haven't been anywhere yet where the mobile service isn't 5G, in fact I've never seen less than a five bar 5G service when travelling or any location so far. Back to the hotel, food is of a very good standard, and not hugely more expensive than places to eat in Kamala. The only things that are pricey at the hotel is drink, there are a number of bars here, but many were closed when we were here, for example you would generally pay around 80-120 baht for Chang beer, but at the hotel where they serve it in cans it costs around 180 baht. So not drinking alcohol at the hotel we estimated that for the three of us drinking a mix of beer, whisky, wine and spiced rum the cost was about £30 for 12+ drinks for three of us. So good value compared to the UK. For anything you want to do, do your research first making use of the free wifi at the Hotel, which we found performed very well. I always travel with my work and was able to keep on top of that during the course of the holiday. The hotel has great facilities all round, if you use the ATMs to draw cash make sure to select the 'No' option to local conversion otherwise you pay a lot more for your baht. A transaction fee of 250 baht (£6-7) applies so withdraw large amounts than keep getting small amounts. To sum up, I'm not one who will usually want to go somewhere twice in a lifetime, however I would undoubtedly come to Thailand again when funds allow, the only other place I've been and would revisit is Disney World Florida, but that'll never happen because the wife doesn't do rides. So overall, very impressed with Thailand and yes, we would undoubtedly stay at the Novotel again in the hopes the experience would be as good as it has been this time.

We had a lunch with a stunning, sun-filled view of Kamala Beach. The atmosphere was bright and perfectly complemented the meal. A special thank you to Khun PJ, who took excellent care of us and ensured every part of our order was correct and handled with care. The food portions were generous, perfectly cooked, and absolutely delicious. Highly recommended for both the service and the scenery!