Holiday Inn Resort Phuket Surin Beach, an IHG Hotel

Just had a nightmare experience at this hotel. Had a very strange encounter with housekeeping when she came to clean my room earlier that day as she was asking me very personal questions about where I was from and the length of my stay at the hotel, after having seen that I was a young female staying at the hotel room by myself. A few hours later during the evening (and well past housekeeping hours) I hear someone attempt to force entry into my room using a working key card without notice, and after realising that i had used the manual lock, proceeded to try to forcibly push door open continuously and aggressively (as if she was trying to break the lock open), while spamming the doorbell button to try to make me open the door. Obviously feeling terrified as a young woman staying there by myself with someone aggressively trying to enter my room with a working key card, I immediately called my sister who was luckily staying in another part of Phuket to drive to my hotel immediately and help me out of the room. Extremely shaken by what had just happened, I rush straight to reception and speak to the hotel manager who proceeded to check CCTV and confirmed it was that same woman from housekeeping that was asking me those intrusive questions earlier that day. I was told she had only just been hired and that was her first day on the job, and that this was not housekeeping protocol and they would fire her immediately. And that was that - it was quickly shrugged off by management as just another scary experience they’re sorry about with no offer of compensation and no clear show of adequate protocol on the hotel’s part further than providing a refund only after I requested it myself specifically. Obviously i did not feel safe enough to continue staying at this hotel after someone had just tried to break into my hotel room, paired with the lack of adequate duty of care from management in regards to guest safety. They did not even request for an official statement from me, notify police, or express any sort of escalation to investigate further. Considering this a Holiday Inn franchise and strongly markets itself as a “family” resort where a lot of children stay, i found the entire experience extremely concerning and unsafe. I would not stay here again nor would I recommend this to anyone I know who is visiting the area. There are numerous hotels directly next to this one where you and your family will probably feel a lot safer.

I thought the negative reviews here were just complaining, but they're actually spot on, unfortunately our stay here was a complete failure.

Before I get into our personal story, just some facts about this hotel, without emotion:

-Staff is super friendly

-It's a great environment for kids

-if you are seeking a 3-star level hotel, I think this would be a great option

-There is no air conditioning in ANY of the main areas - lobby, restaurant, breakfast, etc..

-the elevator is extremely small, and is quite aged, with a strong smell

-the rooms can get quite musty, especially during rainy season

-the walkways are dimly lit at night

-the breakfast was mediocre, at best. No real healthy or quality options. But again for a 3-star level hotel, it is TOTALLY fine.

So for our personal story, we checked into a room that smelled so strong of mold, they moved us to a second room, which ALSO smelled of mold, and so they placed us in a third room.

Interestingly, they did not dispute the fact that it was moldy, they explained that it rained a lot the previous day and that's the reason for the strong mold smell. We even saw fresh paint over a dark spot of the ceiling near the air conditioning unit, that was clearly mold.

We booked with a different hotel the following morning because our son has asthma, and there was just no way we could stay there for 5 more nights. Even this third room smelled musty, and we didn't feel like we were breathing healthy air in the room.

The last thing we wanted to do was travel more, but we bounced in the morning after breakfast.

The management refused to make it right, offered no refund at all, and rightfully acknowledged we booked with a no cancelation booking, and that was that. They offered us a sister hotel for 3 nights but we were already on the way to another hotel so the offer wasn't relevant, unfortunately.

They gave us a runaround, but ultimately didn't budge.

It's a shame when it's clear that someone needs help and the management simply doesn't want to make it right, just because they don't have to.

My advice, spend a little more and seek out other hotels in the area, there are some great hotels in Phuket.

Thanks for coming to my Ted talk.