Pro's - Amazing view, nice swimming pool, good restaurant.
Con's - Rude staff, not family friendly, run-down, unprofessional.

As a first time traveler to Thailand after seeing the photos of this resort I was excited to be staying at a romantic yet family friendly location. Unfortunately from the minute we stepped into the resort the illusion was shattered. We arrived to check-in around 2 pm and were told our rooms weren't ready and to go and have lunch as they would be ready on our return. When we returned to the resort at 4 pm we were informed our rooms STILL weren't ready and could not be given a definitive timeframe for when they WOULD be ready. In fact the front desk staff was incredibly rude - a huge shock to me as up to this point my impression of Thai people was how friendly they were. After much drama and raised voices we were reluctantly given rooms (not the ones we had been promised), a free dinner (which we didn't actually want) and nasty glares for the duration of our stay.
The view from the rooms was spectacular and the bathroom was nice, but the room smelt of damp and had evidence of water damage along the floor rails. Each room had a balcony however our room also had a nest of ants living on the chairs on the balcony which made using it all but useless.
Getting to and from the rooms was quite a chore and the resort was a bit of a maze. Every day we were there lifts didn't work - either completely broken or leaving you in darkness as the lights inside them weren't working forcing us to walk through whole other blocks of rooms just to get back to our room. The stairs up and down to the pools and restaurants was also slippery almost all the time and quite dangerous. Virtually every member of our group slipped over on them at some point.
The pool was amazing and our children loved it. The pool bar was also pretty good. The pools gave a lot of variety for the kids to try, however once again little things just showed the unprofessionalism of the resort such as not having enough towels. Guest upon guest was turned away told there were no pool towels and yet the pool area wasn't full on at least two of our visits to the pool, including ourselves.
The beach was nice, however we discovered it wasn't really safe for our children to swim in as despite having fish quite close to the beach the underwater seabed was littered with plastic rubbish, torn sandbag canvas and broken glass. Such a shame that that underwater view didn't equal that above the water.
The children's club was two rooms - one with video games and another with a baby/toddler area and some art and craft activity. Our children had been excited about the kids club based on previous resorts we had been to but hated this one. They repeatedly called it boring and we were reluctant to leave our children there (only doing so as we had a spa booked across the way) as the supervision of the children seemed very casual. They couldn't wait to leave when we picked them up ... I don't think the staff on the desk even noticed us take them away to be honest.
We chose to splurge on a his'n'hers massage at the resort hoping for a relaxing, romantic experience. The Spa staff immediately told us we would only have a 45 minute massage (we had booked an hour long massage) as we were allegedly "late" (we were not late - we had arrived 15 minutes early based on the clock in our room! Also had other friends be told the same excuse!!). Instead of being relaxed and romantic we were rushed into a room where we were given a normal massage I would barely pay HK$200 for in Hong Kong! There was nothing special or calming about it at all. At the end of the massage we were rushed out of the room, without the slippers I had worn in, and left to sit in a middle area that smelt very musty and mouldy while being eyed by the Spa staff who wanted us to leave. I felt totally ripped off by the experience.
The restaurant was nice, and I was impressed by the executive chef. He visibly had control of his staff and made them remove things he wasn't happy with. The range of food was good and for the most part well cooked - possibly the only part of the resort I would rate as worth it.
On our last day we had been told we would be allowed to check out a little later, which we were very happy about. I was in the room with my child who wasn't feeling very well, only to have the door opened (without any knocking) around 11 am in the morning. The housekeeper quickly ran out and closed it again upon realising we were still there only to come back 15 minutes later and knock on the door asking when we were leaving and implying I should 'hurry up and get out'. I was so angry with the desk staff for not conveying the message of a late check-out to the housekeeping staff and to all the staff in general for their rudeness. A restaurant meal on the first night did not compensate at all for a completely ruined holiday.
I would barely rate this resort a 3 star establishment, and would NEVER stay there again (or any Centara resort after such a horrible experience) and actively encourage my friends to look at other resorts when staying in the area.

With my girlfriend I have past 11 days in this hotel from the 10th of december 2012. Starting from the first moment we have been surprised for the kindness of the personnel, everybody is very professional and we felt very relaxed from the first minute we arrived there. The hotel is very clean and organized. We were in SPA Ocean View room, very confortable, with Hydro Massage bath in the balcon, the sea view was amazing. It is very difficult to find something wrong in this hotel, the only thing I can say it's that the hot water in the shower was not perfectly steady but after 2 showers I've found the perfect position for mixing cold and hot water. There is direct access to the ocean and we always have found a lot of place either in the swimming pools and in the beach. A lot of services and beach tools are available for hotel guests, we used mask for snorkeling, body board for surfing (sometimes there are little waves very funny to play with), kayak, beach volley camp kindly arranged by the beach service or by swimming pool service. The sea water is very clean and warm, day and night and it is possible to practice snorkeling directly in the hotel beach that is close to a little hill with sea rocks full of tropical fishes, fantastic! The main swimming pool is very big and divided in different parts, sometimes it was like to swimm in the middle of a tropical forest river because some part of the pool are full immersed in the vegetation. Very funny also the water splash, we enjoyed it also if we don't have childrens. The international breakfast is variegated and very good also for lunch and dinner there is a good choice in the restaurants, but what we appreciated particularly was the quality of the service. The SPA is very very good, to stay there inside it is like to be send in a different world where relax leads. The position of the hotel is perfect because it is not in the middle of the confusion of Patong but it is very easy to go there to enjoy night life, also Centara has a very good rent car service, just 10 minutes to have a car available! We could tried the top of professionalism and the kindness of Centara at the end of our vacation when due to an issue, the Phuket airport was closed. We came back to Centara in the middle of the night where the Hotel personnel gave us back the same rooms we had before. In the morning we got a lot of problems to contact the flight companies and a Manager of Centara offered to help us. She contacted the flight companies and, after several ours of dealing, she succeded in getting new flight tickets for us to go back home. Meanwhile we could rest in the Hotel Lounge, very nice place, with internet connection and fresh drinks. Thank you a lot for you help! Maybe in another hotel we could get lost. In the evening We had already forgot the Airport issue and we could enjoy the last special dinner in the beach of Centara, it was like a day more of vacation. When we came back home, I realized to have lost my hard disk with a lot of important data inside. The problem was I knew to have used it already one week before in the hotel computer and I was sure to have lost it for ever. Calling Centara from my home they told me to have found my hard disk and they are sending it to me immediately. This means nobody has touched my device forgot connected in a public computer of the Hotel for a week! It is also a very good example of the quality of Hotel guests, nobody was interested in get something lost from another guest, this is happening only in very good resorts where the 5 stars of Hotel are not only related to the services but also to the quality of the hotel guests.
I hope to come back next year in this paradise and I suggest to everybody to try this Hotel.
Salvatore e Natalia

High expectations can get a holiday off to a bad start and if initially they're met things can go downhill easily. Thankfully for us neither happened!

Ushered into reception to take a seat for check-in, presented with a tasty fruit cocktail and quickly taken to our room (premium spa deluxe 247). Wowed by the standard of the room with it's large glass enclosed rainfall shower, big comfy bed with pillow options, great view and plenty of cupboard space. Never disturbed by noise from neighbouring rooms and had a nice feeling of privacy and detachment from the other guests. The blinds mentioned by other people are a little irritating as they need to be hauled up and down taking about 30 seconds but hardly a problem! Nicely stocked with toiletries and beautifully cleaned each day, in fact the entire resort was spotless and I was heartened to see only two cockroaches on site during our 12 nights! Admittedly they were in the restaurant (the Cove) but still impressed sightings were so rare!

Staff almost all very friendly and only seemed too pleased to help. On occasion felt like berating some fellow guests for the disgusting way they treated them - if you're inclined to be rude perhaps because you've paid a fair bit of money and want to play the king take a reality check and remember these are your fellow people with their own hopes and dreams. On a lighter note I did rather enjoy the little interactions with the security staff smiling and greeting with a salute! The head of security was similarly a pleasure, remembering us and taking the time to stop for a chat - we were leaving the next day and my partner said something about being sad to be going tomorrow to which he replied along the lines of 'and how about now?'. A healthy attitude I thought and since being back at work worrying about things that need doing I remember his words and remind myself that generally 'now' is fine and it's dwelling on challenges in the future that distract me from enjoying now.

But back to the hotel. Enjoyed two of the signature four hands massages in the spa, beautiful experience only slightly detracted from by the surprise of discovering the in-room price list was out of date and the price had almost doubled! Recommend men wear your own underwear; the disposable items supplied are perhaps more suited to a fetish club as they stretch so much the fishnet design leaves nothing to the imagination! Partner's female underwear was fine and she enjoyed a superb facial.

Beach in front of the hotel is clean, twice saw people collecting litter. Intriguing pipe heads out to sea and there's a lot of water leaving it but no sign of any pollution during our stay (and I swam out past it). Nice tropical fish to visit along the rocks at the end of the beach, hotel snorkels are free and good quality. Beach area felt safe and was fairly quiet, none of the other hotels in Karon we saw could rival the location - at the end of the beach with no road in front, semi-private beach as little else after the hotel and yet only about 10 minutes walk into Karon.

Breakfast was great, plenty of choice and kept well stocked. Alas again rude guests were my main grip - grunting at the egg chefs isn't endearing.

Partner celebrated her birthday and we came back to find a bowel of fruit and delicious chocolate dessert/cake in the fridge, nice touch.

Pools, slides and lazy river were all lovely. The guys looking after the slides were great fun and helped bring out the child in us!

Khop Kun Krap to everyone at the Centara Grand.

My family stayed here for 2 weeks in October 2012. We stayed in block 9 which was recommended to me prior to booking as for the views out on the beach from the balcony. We had previously visited Thailand before staying at the fantastic Cape Panwa Hotel.

Upon arrival, after flying from the Uk, we were told we would have to wait for our room as it was not prepared !! . We waited about a hour before being taken to the room where we found it to be clean /tidy. The staff were very friendly and are a credit to this resort. We found that the bar staff by the pool had attitude and were more interested in getting sales.

We often found that on walking down the steps to the pool on block 9 we came across a horrible sewage smell,On occasions it was not that bad but !!!!

I was after water sports (sailing)and on arrival I saw a HOBBY catamaran sitting on the sand . After a number of enquires asking if this boat could be put into the water I gave up asking. It would have been nice to been able to sail that boat.


The pools were clean and was the beach,Security was good and the guards always said Hello to you. A good holiday but would I go back to this resort ????