we are interested in staying at MPR in Feb 2010. could anyone recommend either the jungle or seaview rooms..which is the nicer..is it a good seaview and worth the extra cost? which rooms are closer to the pool/reception area as I understand the resort spreads uphill. also a few reports have suggested that karon beach is dirty..is this true and if so is it far to walk to kata beach. have also heard that there are not too many shops/restaurants near MPR..sorry about all the questions but this is our first trip to Thailand. all help would be appreciated...thankx.
marina phuket resort
Haven%26#39;t stayed but have walked past and it looked lovely from the outside. Don%26#39;t know what the seaview there is like. Personally, when I%26#39;m costing a place, (for exactly the same room type) I reckon a seaview is worth $20-$40 extra, max. Often you get a room upgrade along with the view, i.e. it will be deluxe instead of superior. This is usually worth the extra.
Karon beach is not dirty, but at the Marina end there is a huge stormwater drain and culvert onto the beach. It%26#39;s not in front of your hotel, and you only have to walk 30 metres and you wont notice it.
Like any of the major beaches along there, you get rubbish washed up on the shore, but it%26#39;s not like a tip or anything.
marina phuket resort
Hi favnet
We are leaving on Friday for a week at MPR. I emailed them a while ago about the difference between jungle %26amp; seaview and this was there response:
';Q: 3.) I am unable to decide between jungle and ocean rooms. The website mentions privacy in the jungle rooms, are the ocean rooms private also? Is there any ocean view from the jungle rooms balcony?
A: You would feel private in both room categories. The Jungle View rooms are newer located in the jungle while the Ocean View rooms are larger, elegant in Thai style and well maintained yearly. All of these rooms have a private balcony, air-conditioning, hot and cold water, bath and shower, a digital safe deposit box, daily complimentary coffee and tea, a refrigerator, an LCD TV, a top-of-the-line Mini-Computer, world radio, free 24-hour Internet, and in-room facilities for burning CD/DVD.
A Jungle View room with ocean view is unavailable.';
From looking at many photos in the reviews it looks like the seaview is slightly obscured by jungle, but apparently you can still see and hear the sea, which is important to me.
I have seen the resort on a previous visit and the grounds were spectacular. There were heaps of shops and restaurants etc. right out the front.
I was trying to attach the Mapjack link, but it isn%26#39;t working for me - hopefully someone else can post it.
Deb
I have stayed at the Marina Phuket in an ocean view room and the view is partially obstructed by foliage, we didn%26#39;t see inside the jungle rooms, but I think some might be closer to reception, pool and Sala Thai restaurant and others less so.
You don%26#39;t notice the storm water drain when staying there, although it%26#39;s a steep walk up/down the stairs to get to the beach, walk a very short distance to the right and you are in front of the Karon Beach hotel frontage. The beach is not dirty, just has a bit of an undertow at the end there.
As for shopping/restaurants, not sure where you read there are not many as there are quite a few across the road and walk either left or right and you will find plenty within 5-10minutes walk. There are markets at the north end of Karon and the south end of Kata, both easily accessed via a 20baht/person songteow (open air bus) ride if you can%26#39;t be bothered walking.
Have a look at our photos at the link below, if staying there again, I would possibly consider the jungle room (not the standard room), if it was not too far to walk from reception.
Lee
…google.com/leebee88/MarinaPhuketResort#
Try this link for map jack and choose Karon beach at the side. Not sure if Marina Phuket web cam is working but you can try accessing that via their web site.
Lee
http://www.mapjack.com/?nCqwTmWsWcXD
http://www.marinaphuket.com/home.html
Didn%26#39;t know map jack existed, thankyou for sending the link..has made everything much clearer now. All the info you gave me is really appreciated.
Kata Beach is less than a 5 minute walk from the Marina Resort.
If you have time when you return I would love to hear which room you decided on and what your thoughts are...have a great trip.
Hi djhl, how was your holiday in Phuket? Just wondering if you decided to stay at Marina Phuket Resort...if so which room did you stay in and what are your overall thoughts on the resort and area? I will be booking soon and would love to have your input.....regards favnet
Hi favnet
Yes, we just got back from 6 nights at Marina and I absolutely loved it. The only fault I could find was that it was very hot on the balcony and it would have been good if they had a fan out there, other than that everything was perfect.
I just noticed a review saying the staff were not friendly. I find that amazing, as they were always smiling, remembered our names and could not do enough for us.
The rooms were beautiful, exactly as they are shown on their website. We had an ocean view room, D206, which had a very good view of the sea. There were a few leaves and branches, but it didn%26#39;t disrupt the view at all.
The pool was great, I could see it might be a bit small in high season, but in low season it was plenty big enough.
I loved the breakfasts at Marina. There is probably not as much choice as at some larger hotels, but that was a good thing - I didn%26#39;t eat as much! When you sit down they ask you to order your eggs, bacon, sausages etc. from a menu and while they cook that to order you can choose from cereals, fruits, asian foods, various breads, pastries, croissants, cheeses etc. There was also a couple of other hot dishes such as fried potatoes, mushrooms, tomatoes, waffles, pancakes, etc. that changed daily. We stayed at the Peninsula in Bangkok afterwards and I think the Marina did better eggs.
There were massages by the pool, and I had a pedicure. We also ordered liqueurs and coffee delivered to our room to enjoy on the balcony.
All in all it was a perfect week, and thank god it was a long way from Patong.
Deb
Hi favnet,
Deb%26#39;s (djh1) reply could have lterally been mine, too. Had exactly the same experience. I think also the same room (';second row'; bungalow with a hardly obstructing lowered roof and a palm tree in front, with a great view of Karon Bay). I slso second her thoughts on Karon and Patong letter for letter. I was amazed how friendly the staff was, and that everybody seemed to know our names, service always present but never intrusive, just a great place (on a somewhat commercialized island)!
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