First impression – Check in was fast and not much of hassle

Room – Clean! Bed was comfortable typical design of a 3-4star room, no big surprise however bathroom mirror panel paint fall off, refurbishment needed

Breakfast Venue – Service was average, nice buffet breakfast spread with choice of local food and continental choice.

Location – centrally located, lots of shopping malls around as well as local food stall during night time.

Staff –Staff was friendly and also greet with smile !

I find it hard to get excited about large, bedroom factory type hotels but with that reservation, I can't find much to criticise about this hotel. We arrived at 5.00am on the train from Hua Hin and, even at that time, reception were able to find us a room. Contrary to other reviews, we found the staff to be friendly, and keen to practise their perfectly adequate English. The breakfast buffet was excellent, although the choice of food at other times was poor, and was overpriced. Irksomely, the internet connection was rubbish, but this wasn't unique to the Novotel. At least the staff tried hard to find a way around this and opened the business centre for me to work my way around the lousy room connection.

This is the best hotel in Hatyai I guess, I mean it's the only hotel 4 star hotel there.
It's okay, but imo it's more of a 3 stars hotel than 4.
But then, the hotel rate is really cheap...so no major complaints.

just back from a 3 day/2 night pamper ourselves at the Novotel Hat Yai/Thailand. absolutely excellent! we drove from Penang/Malaysia to the Thai border. left our car at the CTC 24hrs security parking- left hand side of the road close to Thai border, you can't miss it! went to the CTC "office/tax free buying" and booked there a taxi to Hat Yai + hotel incl. full breakfast, cost for 2 persons RM400, unbelievable!!! trip to Hat Yai was 1 hrs. and lots to see on the way there. we had done it 2 years ago and took our own car across into Thaland and that was your worst nightmare come true, so the thought of ever doing that again prevented us from pampering ourselves there. we booked a non-smoking room at the Novotel/Hat Yai. room on floor 15 was spotless, no sneaky cigarette burns in curtains, carpet or cigarette stains on toilet seat or in bathroom. no mushrooms of any kind growing in the grouting of wall tor floor tiles. everything was spotless! towels were nice and fluffy. carpet had no "iffy" marks. 2 complementary (glass)bottles of water/shower cap/sewing kit/soap/shower/bath gel/shampoo with conditioner/body lotion/sanitary bag. toilet paper was soft and toilet flushed everything away fast. air suction in bathroom was more then adequate although rather noisy, so shut the bathroom door when you go to sleep! we booked 2 seperate beds and they were good in width and in length (one of us is 1.75, so no over hanging feet!) 2 pillows and the Novotel Hat Yai has a "sleep menu" meaning that a request can be made to house keeping for those who want a feather pillow, a pillow which is not soft and not hard or whatever! we slept on a non allergic pillow and that was great! no "iffy" blankets with a "fumble sheet" but lovely feather-light duvets! breakfast is more then enough, lots of variety. if you have croissants/bread and you want to eat butter then you need sharp nails to get the sticky silver paper of the top. we ate once dinner at the Novotel, "Panang" was the dish we love. the sauce was absolutely sublime but the chicken had too many flighing hours and must have died a natural death 'cause "tough" as shoe-soles would be a kinder discription! the room comes with tea/coffee making facilities but to get a cup+saucer+spoon/tea/coffee/sugar/milk powder you'll need pen and paper and draw a picture to make them understand! the room also has a safe for which you have to go down to the lobby to get the ONE AND ONLY KEY in the entire hotel!!! I stress this point 'cause I lost the key and we were quoted after so much "not understanding" that the "fine" was 2500 baht. in the end it was only 1000 baht but you do not want know the hassle we had to go thru to make them understand that we lost the SAFE KEY and not the door key and that we wanted to get INTO OUR SAFE and that we DID KNOW HOW TO CLOSE A SAFE BUT WE COULD NOT DO THAT BECAUSE WE LOST THE KEY etc. etc. it took us 3 hours to get 4 guys and a mean looking black & decker drill to drill the lock away...so be warned! the Hat Yai Novotel is right in the centre of all the shopping you ever want to do. markets just around the corner, but whatever you do, wear proper shoes 'cause you'll be in trouble otherwise! we investigated Hat Yai ourselves, the hotel has plenty of info although it might be difficult to make yourselves understood! there are a number of shopping malls: central department store, odeon shopping centre, hat yai plaza, si kimyong and santisuk market. you'll find that everything is just around the corner of the Novotel. the hat yai municipalty park: amazing fish-feeding place, we took the tuktuk and it cost for 2, 20 baht! namtok ton nga Chang (elephant tusk falls), has got adventurous tourist treks, is approx. 26 km from hat yai. Wat Phako is a temple located on Khao Phiphet Sing, was build in 1514, they say. Koh Yor is one of the many islands in Songkhla lake and the Songkhla Zoo, all worthwhile seeing, but you need more then 3 days/2 nights! one strong warning: if you don't want to be quartered, stretched and dismembered DO NOT FOR LOVE OR MONEY go to one of the street massage/reflexology etc. parlors 'cause you don't want to limp home, have black/blue/purple marks all over your body and be sore for the 400 baht (2 persons) you'll have to pay. after 20 minutes we left and we've got the marks to show! go and pamper yourself at the hotel, that is an experience in itself, they have for everybody something! the Novotel Hat yai has a lovely swimming pool and gym, however if you want to swim DO NOT FORGET TO BRING YOUR SKATES! go on a friday and you'll find that over the weekend all the street markets are open till the early hours of the morning. you can virtually buy anything but leave some money to spend on the real thai silk, you'll never get it anywhere so good and cheap! enjoy your stay, we had a ball!