Phuket 102 – Novotel Phuket Vintage Park Resort

Thanks to Accor Hotels 50% sales, the girls and I booked the Novotel Phuket Vintage Park Resort at really cheap rate of RM212 nett per room per night for 5 nights. We were pretty excited as this 4-start resort is supposedly new, only opened in April 2012, and the location is quite central along the busiest road of Patong beach. 

Hotel at night
The check in was quite slow as the reception staff was clearly still very new at the job and have to keep referring to the duty manager for guidance. Also because of the open concept design of the lobby, it was very hot and the hotel had lots of fans (some cheap dyson bladeless fans knockoff which were quite noisy) blowing at the guests and staff. We were greeted with welcoming drinks and wet towel when we were waiting for check in.
Huge mural at the hotel lobby

Lovely chandelier at the hotel lobby

Hotel lobby waiting area
Reception area

Finally our rooms were sorted out (we requested for connecting rooms but the hotel didn’t prepare such at first),  and the reception staff took us to our rooms located at end of block 5 (bad idea!). Our rooms were nicely fitted, comfy and spacious. Every rooms here has a balcony overlooking the swimming pool which is nice. I loved the super white bathroom and shower (no bathtub though but I don’t really like tub anyway). The bed was slightly on the hard side, I’d prefer softer bed. TV selection was extensive with lots of international channels. Our first night in the hotel went smoothly until the next morning… We were woken up by the consistent loud noise next door at 8 something in the morning which we later found out that the block right next to our rooms was still under construction! The loud noise was from all the construction works going on at the next block hacking and drilling stuff, which ruined our beauty sleep after a late night out. We were very upset with the rooms given to us and demanded for a room change right away. The hotel eventually moved us to Block 1 (located next to the main road) which we found the noise level was so much more tolerable. All the rooms definitely need better sound proofing, as we could hear the loud chitchat of the housekeeping staff in the walkway every morning. My room was left uncleaned for one day even though we had put up the ‘make up room’ sign before we left the room, but a call to housekeeping late in the evening got this sorted out. My friend was complaining that the room seemed dusty still after housekeeping but perhaps its common at most of beach resort. Overall, the room was spacious and functional but the service level definitely needed improvement from the reception to housekeeping.
Twin bed room
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Sofa couch area
Our king bed room
Our king bed room for just one night…
TV and study area
I like the super white bathroom and shower
See through shower from the bedroom

My friend was amazed by this buttonless Schindler’s lift/elevator in the hotel and kept pressing it. Lol~!

The best part of the hotel was the huge swimming pool right in the center. It is the biggest pool in Patong beach and we spent some good time there. The swim-up bar was having happy hour everyday from 4-6pm with buy one free one cocktails promotion (average about THB200 per cocktail which was reasonable for hotel bar).
Swimming pool view from Block 5
The swim-up bar
Kids wading pool
View from the connecting bridge
Lovely pool at night (Picture taken with iPhone Instagram)
We took the hotel airport transfer for THB990 on the last day here as our flight was early in the morning and we had to leave the hotel at 6am. We also signed up the islands hopping tour from the hotel for THB2650 per person which we were given free upgrade from a half day deluxe tour to a full day tour. I was quite disappointed that the hotel does not provide free shuttle to famous places like the Jungceylon or Phuket town. Traveling around in Phuket with taxi or tuk tuk is very expensive with short distance within 1-3km will easily cost at least THB200 and a trip to Phuket town will cost at least THB400 one way (luckily we had 4 of us to share the transportation cost). We also tried the hotel spa which was running 50% off promotion and free 15 minutes head and shoulder massage for hotel room guest (will cover it in another post).     
In short, apart from the unpleasant first morning experience with the noisy rooms and the once uncleaned room, I was somewhat satisfied with the stay in Novotel Phuket Vintage Park Resort. They definitely need more fine tuning and should be able to improve as the hotel was barely 4 months old when we were there. Of course the on and off Accor Hotels promotion will make this hotel much more attractive with the much cheaper rate like this one that we got 50% off the room rate, so check out the Accor Hotels website for more promotions. 
 
Accor Hotels Website: http://www.accorhotels.com/gb/singapore-malaysia/index.shtml
Address: 89 Rat U Thit 200 Pee Rd  Patong Beach kathu, Phuket, 83150, Thailand
Tel: +66 76 380555 
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