Baumanburi Hotel - SHA Extra Plus

Mixed Experiences at Phuket Pool-Access Hotel

Rating: 3/5

Our recent stay at this Phuket hotel was a blend of highs and lows.

Let's start with the positives: the location is excellent, within walking distance of the beachfront, stores, a popular local mall, and street food stands. Convenience stores nearby are a plus for quick necessities.

The highlight of our room was its direct access to the hotel's swimming pool, which was a fantastic feature for our little one. The hotel does offer elevators and luggage porter service, which is convenient for guests.

The breakfast spread was good overall, though vegetarian options were limited. It's worth noting that they collect a 1000-baht security deposit in cash at check-in, returned after a room inspection at checkout.

Now, for the areas needing improvement: Our first impression was marred by the rude reception staff during check-in. While we noticed other, more pleasant staff later, the return of these less-than-friendly faces during day shifts was disappointing and impacted our experience.

We faced a few issues with room service. On one day, our room wasn't made up, with staff claiming they "forgot." Also, oddly, no hand soap was provided for the washbasin - we were expected to use shower gel instead.

The tropical climate and pool-access room meant dealing with numerous mosquitoes. The hotel should consider providing electrical repellents as standard. Safety was a concern in the pool area, where rough tile edges caused minor cuts on our feet.

In conclusion, while the hotel has some great features and a prime location, there's significant room for improvement in customer service and attention to detail. With some tweaks, especially in staff training and room amenities, this could be a top-notch Phuket stay.

Have stayed many times.
Some great and not so great aspects.

Pros:
Air con was very good.
Room spacious and clean.
Pool large and great swim up bar for food and drinks.
Food is consistently good.
The location is great. Far enough away from nightlife to relax, but close enough to head out when you feel like it.
Next door to Otop Night Market and Beer Bars.
5-minute walk to beach.
10-minute walk to Bangla Road.
Decent in room safe.
Directly outside hotel you have:
Money exchange (Good)
7/11
Pharmacy
Cheap Laundry

Price on sale for all the above pros, usually $30pn for standard room.
Recommend upgrading to Deluxe.
Pool access room $85pn is a good deal.

If you want to travel cheaply and enjoy a lagoon pool with a swim up bar, I'm convinced there's no better hotel than Baumanburi in Patong.

Cons:
In serious need of renovation.
Particularly the outdoors. Pool itself is nice and heaps of space. However, multiple water features such as massage jets don't work and haven't for many years.
The area, which was designed and used for massage years ago, is now completely rundown and desperately needs a clean.
Bed was very hard.
Service can be challenging and speak very little, if not no, English. Cleaning staff can be quite lazy. Food and beverage staff seem more focussed.

Overall, for the price, pros outweigh the cons.
Breakfast is a pass mark. It's not worth more than $10pp.
Buffet style breaky, cook to order omelettes, range of breaky options, limited in drinks.