We stayed at this hotel for 5 nights in January 2012 and found it enjoyable. The pool and slide area was wonderful and kept our 3yo entertained for hours. The location was perfect - a 5 min stroll to the beach and surrounded by magnificent eateries. The rooms were OK, nothing to write home about and the service was OK too. a little slower than we are used to but not a deal breaker. They seemed a little unorganised around the breakfast buffet when there was an influx of people. For the money I paid, I expected a little more service and a better room...

Facilities at this hotel are amazing and so is the location as well as the rooms but the service is not!
The service by the staff left a lot to be desired epically the pool staff that make you wait at the pool bar for 20mins to get your bill and are rude to kids.
The staff need to be friendly to the guests and go the extra mile for them. You can tell from all of the recent reviews that service is slipping. Fix the long wait at the pool bar there is no excuse for a 20min wait after you have finished your drinks as well as a 30min wait for menus at the poolside. This is not 5* service.

I just read the review by pjmouse and am compelled to echo the views.

I have been to Thailand numerous times over the last 20 years and have stayed in many different resorts in Phuket and other areas of Thailand. My experience at the Grand Centara hotel was at best mixed.

First, the good points:

1. The pool and its associated faciliites (the water slides etc.) and the kid's club are great fun. I travelled with 2 young boys, 6 and 2, and I didn't really have to plan anything else but to go between these 2 facilities. They had a ball!

2. Some of the staffs were friendly and helpful, but not all of them.

3. The Italian restaurant was a gem.

4. The spa was good, but they did make me wait for 20 minutes past my booked time (I did arrive 15 minutes before the treatment). The person on duty was constantly running around, acting very busy, while I sat there in the waiting area. I think they have forgotten to notify the therapist I were there waiting already. They did make up for the time, and the treatment was good. And it was a very nice spa.

5. I bumped into their onsite English teacher from the UK. What a great initiative to improve the staff's language ability!

6. The location was great! The beach, the view, the sunset... unbeatable.

Now, the not so good:

1. When we checked in on 13th Feb, it was raining. We were led to our room by 2 staff and had to walk past a short uncovered area to get to the lift. Any other resorts I have been to would offer at least an umbrella, or the better ones would hold up one for us. What I got from Centara's 2 male staff was "Its raining. You need to walk quickly." Seriously?!

2. After we settled in our room, we headed for the pool. I then went to the pool towel counter to towels, only to be told I need to present the "towel cards". I said I weren't given any, and the guy sent me back to reception to get the cards. So I went back to reception, and reception said they had run out of cards. So reception gave me 4 beach towels, and asked that I return them to reception after I finished. So I obliged. But when I returned the towels, the person at the reception (a different one by then) was all puzzled with what I were doing returning towels there. So I explained the whole situation again. He smiled, and turned away. At breakfast the next morning, a service manager of some sort was going around the tables asking everyone whether everything was ok, so I told him about the towel cards. He seemed really concerned, wrote down our room number, and promised to follow up. Nothing happened. So I went to the reception again after breakfast, and explained the whole situation again, and wahlah, got my towel cards, finally!

3. Still on towel cards: The pool closes at 7:30pm, but the towel counter closes at 6pm. So I asked the guy there what should I do with the towels if I left the pool after 6pm. He said keep the towels and return them the next day, so I could get my towel cards back. I thought he was joking. He wasn't.

4. You basically have to ask everything 3 times to get it: Upon check in, we noticed there were only 2 sets of towels in the room. So we asked the 2 gentlemen who escorted us to our rooms to organise another 2 sets for the kids. 30 minutes later, nothing. So we called house keeping and asked for the same. 30 minutes later, nothing. So my wife went out on the corridor, found a house keeping lady, and got the towels herself. This happens with everything: napkins at the restaurant, baby high chair, tea refill...

5. pjmouse mentioned washrooms in the common area being shockingly dirty. I agree. Please read pjmouse's review.

6. pjmouse mentioned the overall resort upkeep being poor. I agree. Please read pjmouse's review.

7. On the last day, 16th Feb., my wife went to the hotel shop to buy something. The floor was wet and she had a fall. The hotel staff nearby stood there and watched, didn't even offer a "are you ok?". A bit rude, don't you think?

8. They seem to be under staff when we were there which was a peak season (Chinese New Year time). At breakfast, used plates were not always collected. One morning, I had to stack them together and bring them to another table which has just been vacated. They regularly run out of plates and cereal bowls, and one morning even brought out a chocolate cake that was still frozen.

9. Although complimentary water was offered in the rooms, they do charge you dearly for water in the restaurants. Beware.

10. There was also some pricing irregularities: For example at pool side, if you asked for an ice-cream, they give you the Haagendazs small individual cup variety, at 170Batt each! At the Italian restaurant, a scope of proper, very well made Italian gelato cost you something like 60-70Batt per scope (I think there is a difference in adult and kid's menu for ice cream). Why would a proper sit down meal cost so much less than a pool side bar?

Lastly, not sure if this one is under Centara's control, but this resort has more mosquitos than any other I have been to. We had alfresco dinning on 14th Feb., at Mare the Italian restaurant, and my 6 year old son got bitten more than 40 times on his 2 feet.

I must say, I still gave it a 3 out of 5 because my 2 sons were really happy there, thoroughly enjoyed the facilities, which is the main objective of the trip. Its just that the service quality did leave a lot to be desired.

I have been travelling to Thailand for over 20 years and I have to say that my recent experience at the Grand Centara hotel is the most dispointing. I love travelling to Thailand. I love the food, I love the climate and I love hospitality and the high level of service that is normally present at any hotel or guest house I have stayed. Unfortunately the Centara Grand beach resort disapointed me and did not live up to my or my family's expecations. Here is what was good: The weather , the layout of the property, the fitness center ( equipment), the staff at the kids club. Here is what was missing:

1. Overall ambience of hospitality and guests first - when we checked in we were told that while our rooms were ready, we could not have access to them because there were no room keys... Really? no room keys - I would have thought that having room keys on hand would be standard procedure for a hotel. We booked several months in advance...

2. At 5 star resorts and hotels I expect things to be seemless . I expect that gym will have water on hand when I use the facility. At 2pm in the afternoon, -the gym had no water. At 6am, they had no clean towels. I expect that the plates are stocked at the breakfast buffet, I expect that the water spills on the floor of the buffet are cleaned up within seconds of occuring, not 10 minutes.... I expect the staff to be atuned to the needs of guests. Unfortunately this was not the case.

3. Washrooms in the common area - I expect these to be spotless in 5 star hotels. - the washrooms near the pool and near the out door restaurant were shocking. On one occasion I had to point out to staff that the women's washroom near the pool needed repair.

4.Overall resort upkeep - the website says this this is a new resort . It does not look new. It looks tired. It does not sparkle and does not shine. It looks like it has seen better days. Many of the wate fountains in the pool area did not work, the children's outside play area was under repair for 4 of our 6 days.

This comments may seem trivial to some. However, my point is that the price we were charged was the same as the price we were quoted for other 5 star properties on the island. These other properties are 5 star ( I have previously stayed at them). This property does not compare in terms of amentieis or service.