B Lay Tong Resort, Kathu > Reviews (1)

My husband and I stayed at this hotel for 13 nights from 24th May (though we left for 2 to stay in Kata for a change of scenery - review for that will follow).

I have to say I was a bit wary booking online for this hotel as we used sawadee.com which I had never heard of, but everything went smoothly and my request of a seaview room was granted, well as sea view as you can get from a 4 storey hotel lol. Plus we got a bargain price which always helps!

We had been travelling for 13 or 14 hours and arrived late at night (around mid-night). We were greeted at the door by the bell boys who took our luggage and opened the doors for us and they had big smiles on their faces, very polite and friendly. They watched our bags while we went upstairs to reception (yes weirdly reception is up a floor but this is no big deal and there is a lift for you lazy lot out there). Chek-in was quick and painless and we were shown to our room by the bell boy who also proceeded to show us where everything was, then he was on his way, after he got his tip of course lol. We were shattered so just hit the hay and went right to sleep.

The next morning we decided to unpack so we werent actually living out of the suitcases and I have to say they could provide more space, there are 4 drawers only and a wardrobe which needed a few more hangers. We managed to squeeze most things in with my husband having to store some of his clothing on the top shelf of the wardrobe as I wouldnt of been able to reach lol. That was the only downside about the room though. There were robes for us both and slippers provided as well, a safe which was free to use, the room also had a nice flatscreen TV, ipod dock/alarm clock, mood lighting, a mini fridge which was restocked everyday and was free (this consisted of 2 tins of coke, 2 sprite, 2 fanta, 2 cartons of fruit juice and 2 time of beer), tea and coffee making facilities were also present and an ice container, the bed was great two really comfy pillows each, lovely big comfy quilt and there was also a pillow that was longer than I was tall which was great for putting on top of the other pillows on the rainy days when we wanted to watch tv (there was a little 2 seat settee thing but the bed was better to watch from lol).

The bathroom was really nice - It had a full glass wall that you could see into the bedroom from but there were 2 sets of blinds for modesty sake lol...there was a toilet, free standing huge bath, big shower with normal shower head and also rainshower which was lovely, the ameneties in the bathroom were vast - toilet roll, cotton buds, cotton balls, cotton pads, tooth brushes, tooth paste, comb, nail file, tissues, showeer gel, shampoo, conditioner, after sun cream, sewing kit and shower caps - what more could you need! I did make use of the bath one night and although it is huge and really lovely to lie it, it's annoying because the plug is right in the centre and it was a push in push out style so if i sat on it then moved it opened and the water started leaving the tub so you have to be careful!!

Our housekeeper was fantasic, she thoroughly cleaned the rooms every day and always provided fresh, clean towels no matter what. She still cleaned perfectly on the days we forgot to leave her a tip!

We got a room with a jacuzzi on the balcony and it was great as it rained a lot while we were there we were able to sit with our duty free alcohol in our mugs (safer than a glass in the jacuzzi incase we dropped it) and stare out to sea....though on the really windy days there areshutters that you can pull over to protect yourself from the elements while you relax....we always played out music on the balcony and never had any complaint (we didnt have it super loud anyways).

We had lunch in the hotel on our first day and it was lovely my husband had the club sandwich with fries and I had the tuna cibatta with potato salad...I have to say they make the best potato salad ever!! everything was lovely and decently priced for a hotel. We did have breakfast on a few occasions even though it wasnt included in our stay but when its pouring down outside you kinda dont want to travel too far. There was a vast selection of foods - bacon, eggs any style, various sausages though they were frankfurther style, hash browns, beans, various salad items, sushi, other fish and cold cuts and breads/pasteries/cereal/yoghurts and not only that there were also Thai selections everyday of fried rice (diff meat diff days) - some meat in garlic and pepper sauce, sweet n sour, noodles, it changed every day so how any one can complain about the breakfast I have no idea. The only thing I would recommend if you like a cuppa tea in the morning is to request a cup of english breakfast tea, its nice and comes in a mug where as if you just as for tea you get this piddly cup of milky water lol...there are also various juices though they could do with being kepy colder.

My husband and I even used the gym while we were there (ok I only went once but still I tried hehe). Its a small gym and quite dark, there is an overpowering smell of citronella but you get used to it, I would rather this than mozzies! Even though it is small the gym is adequate - a treadmill, crosstrainer, bike, weights bench and various weights and I think there was something else but I can't quite remember lol.

I didn't get to use the spa because on the day I decided I wanted a massage there they were fully booked oh well maybe next time...though I do have to say the lady who worked on the desk of the spa was really lovely and recommended things for me to do as I had got badly sunburnt on my two days in Kata!

The hotel corridors are quite dark, they are inside/outside walkways so when its raining you can get wet but its no big deal (plus all rooms have 2 umbrellas which I nearly forgot to mention oh and a beach bag). It is easy to navigate your way around the hotel and there are always staff members roaming around just incase you do get lost :) Any of the staff that we spoke to had good English - Yes it wasn't perfect but what do you expect its not their first language!

We went to the pool on only one day and it started pouring down, the sun loungers are comfy and there are singles or doubles, you get towels to borrow for free while at the pool which you return when you are leaving, there is a pool bar as well which is open until 8pm. The pool water itself is cold, defo not a heated pool.

The lobby bar in the hotel is nice and funky and modern there is a foosball table that you can play for free, though no one ever seemed to be in here and I think a pool table would be a much better idea, we only ever had one drink in the bar and only noticed a few people in it now and again.

The pool bar usually has happy hour from 5pm until 7pm but this was closed due to bad weather and we were advised to go to the restaurant where the happy hour was taking place, there was no one there when we went but I do have to say the half price cocktails were yummy...best pina colada I had the whole time I was there and I had many! We never tried out the nightclub in the hotel while we were there as we were always out and about or else getting an early night for planned activities. Also Iwould like to point out that we asked the hotel if there was a DVD player we could rent for when it was raining and they sent one up right away, when we asked how much it was they told us it was free to borrow which is excellent as most hotels would charge! We had it for our whole holiday. There are quite a few english channels on the TV but the movie channels seem to repeat everything just like sky tv at home haha.

The hotel is quite a walk away from all the main attractions but we didnt mind we liked the walk for some exercise. The stalls and things can be annoying as you walk past you want massage, you want suit, tuk tuk, etc but you just smile and say no thank you and all is good, you can choose to walk on the beach side of the road and will only get bothered by taxi drivers/tour drivers - though this was the low season and there was no jetski people or anything about as the sea was too rough so this might be a different story in high season! If you don't want to walk you can get a tuk tuk for 150 - 200 bhat, though we managed to find one lovely tuk tuk driver who always took us back to the hotel for only 100 bhat :) The hotel is right acrossd the road from the beach, though we never went to the beach this end looked a lot nicer than other parts.

when you come out of the hotel you go left to go to the beach or town and if you go right there is a 7-11, pharmacy, laundry places, tuk tuk and taxi drivers so you dont need to go far for anything. We got our laundry done before coming home as it was only 50bhat per kilo though we decided to go for the quick next day option with ironing included and this still only set us back 90bhat per kilo so defo can't complain.

I would defo recommend this hotel to anyone staying in Phuket, the staff are all very friendly (well the reception staff are not as nice as the rest but they always accommodated anything we wanted), the food is really quite good and reasonably priced for hotel food, cocktails are lovely, gym is fine and the spa seemed wonderful if only I could of tried it out, the hotel is very clean and well maintained (our shower blocked on the first day and it was sorted instantly).

The pool is cold but its a lovely infinity pool overlooking the sea so can't complain!

If you are booking this hotel I recommend checking out agoda, swawdee.com or asiaweb.net for the best deal you can find and I defo recommend a room with a jacuzzi on the balcony - I am glad we didn't pick a pool access room as they just go out into little shared lap pools and the water is cold salt water! There is a lot of greenery around this hotel and little places to sneak off to for relaxing, even though theres lots of greenery and water we were never bothered by mozzies which is great!!