My first trip to Thailand. I have a friend living on Phuket, but wanted to stay slightly independent & not encroach too much. He suggested Angus O'Tools in Karon.
The only downside is that all of the smaller hotels don't have stairs but hey, it's done me good and after the first couple of days they're not a problem. (I'm a lazy Westerner!) I'm staying on the 2nd floor in a room called Galway. Lovely outlook with great aircon, an excellent shower in the en-suite with plenty of hot water, good water pressure and you could have a party in the shower room it's so big :-)
The rooms are cleaned and linen changed every day, and you're supplied with a litre of fresh drinking water that's put into your refrigerator. There's a kittle and TV (if you want to watch TV when you're on holiday....) plus sofa in the window alcove.
The beds are enormous, and I've slept like a log since I've been here.
O'Tool's is literally a 5 or 6 minute walk from Karon beach, and couldn't be in a better location - within travelling distance of everything on the Island although Karon beach has everything you could want from a beach holiday.
Plenty of sun loungers at 100 Baht for the whole day, and lots of little bars dotted along the beach every 10 metres or so.
The food at O'Tool's is superb - English based - their omelettes are to die for and the best chips I've ever tasted. There are so many restaurants and street vendors within metres of your door though, that you're spoilt for choice - from English to Thai, Indian and Italian. A gastronomer's delight and perfect location.
My room is big, airy and has everything I need. At 1000 Baht (about £20) per night, you really can't go wrong.
The staff are all very friendly and for me, I couldn't have stayed anywhere better. Highly recommended.

Ate my one and only hamburger while in Thailand here, and it did not disappoint! Good beer, good food, friendly staff. What else could you ask for? Prices are reasonable. There was Austrailian rules football on, so it was a little rowdy. But I don't mind rowdiness in a pub anyways.

I've just returned from two weeks in Phuket, and while I stayed across the road in Centara, it's fair to say I was a "regular" here, the reasoning why was very simple - this is quite simply a very well run pub.

The staff are friendly, helpful and the place is spotless and very reasonably priced. It has a wide range of drinks and the food was very tasty. If watching sports is also on your agenda then you cant go wrong here with regular events live which will appeal to the Aussies, British and Irish customers that frequent the bar.

The top man here though was Maurice. A friendly chap that went out of his way to make sure you were being looked after, so much so that he took time out from hosting a party of his friends to ensure that a few of us got to see Ireland's qualifier against Kazakhstan,

I strongly recommend this pub, without hesitation, to anyone hitting Karon beach.

Peadar. S. (Ireland).

I was staying across the road in the Centara and being Irish I went straight to this pub on my first night and I was there every evening after that. Had my meals there as well most days,food was excellent and competitively priced. Tiger and his team were tip top and always had a smile.
Coming back next year but will stay here instead of the Centara.