Accommodation - ibis Phuket Kata Review
- rebeccastossler
- Jan 8, 2020
- 3 min read
Needs improvements
3*
We have stayed at numerous Ibis hotels under Accor management throughout our travels and we stayed at this hotel for 3 nights. It was somewhat reasonable, but probably the worst Ibis we have stayed at, which have gone consistently downhill since Bangkok were we stayed in a nice Ibis (see our other reviews).
The rooms are bright and clean. The aircon was good and our room had a, small, balcony overlooking the pool which was nice, and ideal for hanging out swimsuits and towels. However our shower and water pressure wasn't good at all and needs to be updated. There were good amenities in the room, a safe, TV, fridge, complimentary bottles water, but the toiletries do lack, although I guess this is a budget hotel.
The swimming pool is nice and a good temperature with plenty of sun loungers available. However there is no wifi connection by the pool which is bizarre as it is next to the reception area and this is annoying if you want to use the internet by the pool.
The hotel is close to Kata beach which is ideal, and a 10 minute walk to food markets and convenience stores.
The issue with this hotel is the lack of communication and effort to provide a comfortable stay for guests.
During our 3 day stay we had a number of issues:
1. We had no electricity from 9am-5pm due to maintenance works on one day. There was no communication or sign to inform guests that there would be no electricity, so we woke up to no aircon, no plugs working and limited breakfast options in the buffet, including no coffee. Only when we asked reception did they respond "no electricity all day", followed by a sign posted by the lift at 11.30am, two hours and a half after the electricity had been cut (so much for anyone's refrigerated items...). There was no apology for the inconvenience or effort to communicate this to guests which is just poor customer service. Additionally, there was no replacement foods or apology for missing breakfast items.
2. The next day we had no wifi. Once again there was no communication to guests about this, and so only after asking reception why there was no wifi did they reply "wifi is broken". No effort to apologise for the inconvenience or to give a timeframe for when it might be working again. They then told me and my boyfriend 2 different things a few hours later. He was told it was broken indefinitely, yet when I asked 2 minutes later they gave me a password and log in on a printed piece of paper? So the wifi connection chips and changes throughout your stay; just poor customer service once again.
The wifi connection in our bedroom was also terrible for the whole stay, it only worked 1 metre away from the door so you had to stand by the door if you wanted to use your phone.
3. The breakfast buffet was also rarely replenished and I had to ask multiple times for bowls or cups so that I could eat breakfast. I received a fed up response from staff, for politely asking if I can have a plate as there are none left...
4. When we checked out the receptionist 'forgot' to return our deposit to us, but remembered to give us an envelope with promotional material in. Therefore I had to go back to the desk and ask for my 1500 baht deposit back. If I hadn't checked the envelope we would have checked out with no deposit back.
5. Basic room services like replenishing loo roll were neglected on occasion.
6. On the same day as the electricity was cut, one lift was out of service all day, with a lot of people staying at the hotel (we were there until Christmas Eve), it meant waiting for a lift for ages at some point, as they appear not to have any stairs either.
Overall the rooms are adequate, the pool is nice and the hotel has a good location. However, there are a number of things which need to be improved regarding customer service and communication. I wouldn't recommend this hotel to others because of this.
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