Had this on my possible list so i think you have saved me a booking more to do with the beach and swimming conditions really. We had same issues with lengthy dinner service at Marriott Phuket Merlin Beach was also told to move off beach area for other guests wedding photos which was annoying. Grab a beer as thanks 👍
Great video as always. A 3 category upgrade for a Bonvoy gold is pretty good! I stayed at the JW in Mai Khao (which I love!) twice last year as a Platinum and only got a 1 category upgrade for one of the stays. A colleague of mine who is lifetime platinum and knows all the Bonvoy tips and tricks purposely stayed at this Marriott over the JW because he somehow knew that he'd get a better upgrade - and he got a private pool villa!
For future reference, Renaissance Mai Khao routinely upgrades me from the lowest room category to pool villas, and I'm Bonvoy Platinum. I've stayed 4x in the past year and gotten pool villa upgrades every time.
All of your vids are useful and enjoyable 🙂 . Even when you give low score to a hotel or airline, you try your best to give them a chance so you can make the score higher a little. This thought process to me is unique and it draws me towards your channel .
Thanks very much. At the end of the day, I hope the properties see it as thoughtful feedback. While I may steer some business away from them, it's a good opportunity for them to reevaluate. Thanks for watching 🙏🏻
love your vlogs kevin unbiased to the point honest as you often say i,m interested in your asia trips mostly , i live in perth australia so its obvious to me anyway where i,m going next appreciate your hard work lee...
Your videos are so informative and enjoyable to watch. I have been thinking for a long time about which hotel to book for my October vacation and have been wavering between this hotel, the JW Marriott Phuket and the Hyatt Regency Hua Hin. Finally, I decided for the Hyatt Regency Hua Hin. Your videos helped me a lot to get an idea of the two Marriott Hotels. Maybe you could also add information about facilities, such as saunas and steam rooms to you review as these information are not always easy to find ont he hotel websites. Thanks a lot for your content. Looking forward to all the videos to come 😊
Thanks very much. My filming inside spas is generally very limited as I think there’s (rightfully so) a much higher level of privacy expected by guests in those facilities, even if just in the reception area.
This property was a Adamas Resort which had a more Thai decor and archy feely kind of kingdom vibe before Marriott took over and revamped the whole touristy esthetics in 2016. First of all I loved the reception balcony, warm beach drafts in the cool shades I fall asleep like a baby on the big couch every time it is so quiet. Pool access rooms are my favorite they connect to the main pool which quiets down after the morning kids rush, you have the whole pool to yourself at night 13:15 . Big Fish is good for late night poolside drinks and snacks, grilled sea bass is delightful but very pricey. I've never seen tide that low on your video, normally in the evenings they have to remove beach chairs for the high tide. You can walk along the beach to the right to Nai Yang beach and the Slate in 15 minutes, there are chair rentals and drinks along the beach. Plenty food, juice stands and massages at Nai Yang, and a big car park lot at the entrance of Sirinat National Park. The Beach Restaurant is very popular where you can see random fireworks and floating candle lanterns for purchase. You can ride back to Marriott on a 300 baht a day motor bike rental but you have to ride to the main highway then back to the beach takes about 25-30 mins, at night the country roads are dark and a bit hairy for me for about 10 minutes. 👻 👻 You can stop by many late night food stalls and 7-11s along the highway. If you walk back on the beach try to catch the sunset during dry season, the sky turns from Auburn to Orange to Red in about 30 minutes, the sun dips into the Andaman Sea in literally 60 seconds. The breakfast buffet has excellent selection with all the waffles and omelets, the works. I would go to the Slate for the boat-pulley thing for the fine dinning experience. Overall it's the spacious layout and very serene peaceful, tranquil atmosphere for me, lots of privacy and very safe. The check-in is like an interview, they're very good at upgrading and make guests feel welcomed and get what they want. Staff are quick to help with luggage 24hrs, they covered our motor bikes in the rain. It's a 35 minutes drive to the boat piers in the south and 50 minutes in morning rush hours, if you book those shuttle tours to the north it is the last pick up point and first drop off point. I'm not with Marriott, I stayed at Adamas one time and Marriott Nai Yang two times from 2014 to 2019, and hopefully in 2023!!! 😅😂
Great video as always, Kevin. I particularly appreciate your honesty in all videos, which is refreshing - thank you. Just a quick question about gold elite status and room upgrades, which you mentioned in the video. Do you typically ask for upgrades at check-in or allow the hotel to offer them? I have heard conflicting views on this and wanted to get your take as I recently became a gold elite member so I'm not sure of the etiquette. Thanks and best wishes.
There’s no harm in asking or messaging them before you arrive, but on all occasions when I actually booked directly through Marriott (not that often) they were proactive about it upon check-in.
From the buffet, pool and beach i got the feeling that this property is more suitable for family with small kids rather than couple looking for a luxury stay. Thanks for the video
Been here in 2019, you really echo my sentiments. For me the food was a real letdown, service was slow. Layout was confusing, especially if you are on the grounds and want to walk to Andaman. Very apt review.
Love to hear for people who have stayed there. Glad I matched your views. Even with the not great beach (water), it still had a lot of potential, but they just leaned way too hard towards vanilla on this one.
Hi thx for honest review! I just subscribed.Can anyone tell me when you get out of this hotel is there anywhere nice in walking distance to just go for a meal ? Have drink ? Shop around ? Or is it one of those places near nowhere? I know you need to get a taxi and for example go to Bangla road for shops & food but don’t think we want to even be there more than one night which leave us around hotel for rest of vacation is there any night life around ?? Thx guys
Considering how “close” the hotel is to the airport, it’s pretty isolated in its immediate area. Definitely not a place within walking distance of many facilities. Thanks for watching 🩴
Thanks for your video, efforts and beautiful footage. I got inspired by you for visiting phuket in 2022; and I'm planning to go again next month 🤞 Fiji Marriott Resort Momi Bay :)
There's no official valuation of them but $0.07/point is a general consensus. Generally I don't use them unless I can get $0.09 or more per point. This case was a bit difference since I had a free night certificate (equivalent to 35,000 points) expiring soon.
Goodness gracious, Kevin, can you imagine traveling 10000 miles to experience this hotel? Specially being an Ambassador Elite at Bonboy… Again thank You!! Sala Mai Khao is in our list.
Which resort in phuket is best for beach wedding ceremony and honeymoon. Based on your travels which resort has the nicest/most luxurious look/vibe and best beaches?
Just copying and pasting from my reply on your other comment: My personal favorites are the COMO and the Naka Island Resort, but neither are great beach locations. If you'd like to discuss in detail I'm happy to do so on Patreon. Thanks for watching 🩴
I'm not a fan of Phuket to begin with but some of the places you have featured make me think about reëvaluating my opinion...luckily the series didn't start with this affront.
It was so funny that I had the same feelings about the hotel as you did: it's a huge, cookie-cutter, corporate slab with little to no local hints to it. St. Louis? Perhaps ;-) This hotel is such a missed potential, if you ask me. Oh, but the best is when you walked to the dim sum corner and the damn socket / plug is right above one of the steam baskets. Really??? Someone there definitely has a death wish. Thanks, though, for reviewing - I know to stay away from this property!
I've stayed there with my family. The low tide is annoying, you have to walk far out to get deep enough to swim. Also my wife got bitten bad by the beach flies or mites or whatever they are called.
1, you can be taken to court in thailand for posting bad reviews 2, all it needs is a few statues and water features the hotel is ideal for relaxing reading a book ect
As posted in my video, good faith comments or opinions about any person or thing subject to public criticism is entirely lawful under Title XI, Chapter 3, Section 329(3) of the Royal Thai Criminal Code.
Yes and yes but that second 'yes' is why it's worth a shot (sometimes)... I do have another plain old Marriott coming up in a couple months which was spectacular. Thanks for watching 🙏🏻
To be fair, when I travel I get cold food on a near daily basis since I always arrive to the buffet just as it's open (when you've got the highest chance of cold food...)... just a down side of the format. Thanks for watching 🙏🏻
Nice review Kevin. As soon as you started on the food the hotel is a big no for me. We eat with our eyes. Dinner looked shocking. Breakfast cold. One of my pet peeves in life is cold or luke warm food. Yuck. Not to mention dangerous. Can you explain why buffets are cold when first opening. I thought they were not as hot as i would like, as sitting under lamps, not straight out of the kitchen. I wonder where all tge staff and guests were. Place looked deserted.
It depends from hotel to hotel, but the vast majority of breakfast buffet food is not prepared moments before the buffet opens. Most of it is prepared overnight or in some cases the night prior and then needs to be reheated. Since that is a lot of food to reheat, many hotels simply put the pot of unheated food on the buffet line some time before the buffet opens hoping it will be warm in time. Quite often it does not. After perhaps an hour into the buffet service when the kitchen is in a good flow, you'll rarely get another cold dish. Same reason Eggs Benedict are often cold early on and sometimes throughout the service. The eggs are poached and then shocked in cold water to stop the cooking. They're then stored in cold water and when time for plating will be momentatially dipped in boiling water, but it's often not for long enough, resulting in a cold, but runny yolk.
This hotel is a perfect example of Marriott pre-merger with Starwood. This is what they were all about 8+ years ago. Marriott elites fall all over these properties because they get upgraded, etc. Of these Phuket hotels you have reviewed, only Como Point Yamu attracts me.
I was disappointed. Overpriced, pool water was dirty, some staff were quite rude and that's something I've never experienced in Thailand's resorts Spare bed was like sleeping on a stone bench with bed bugs. Never again. On the plus side the beach huts had great food and massages, not related to hotel.
It's such a strange brand, with a bit of an identity crisis... Of the resorts I went to in Fiji the Marriott was by far my favorite one... go figure haha. Thanks as always for your support 🙏
Thanks
Had this on my possible list so i think you have saved me a booking more to do with the beach and swimming conditions really.
We had same issues with lengthy dinner service at Marriott Phuket Merlin Beach was also told to move off beach area for other guests wedding photos which was annoying.
Grab a beer as thanks 👍
I’m glad it was a help and thanks very much for the support, means a lot! 🙏🏻
Great video as always. A 3 category upgrade for a Bonvoy gold is pretty good!
I stayed at the JW in Mai Khao (which I love!) twice last year as a Platinum and only got a 1 category upgrade for one of the stays.
A colleague of mine who is lifetime platinum and knows all the Bonvoy tips and tricks purposely stayed at this Marriott over the JW because he somehow knew that he'd get a better upgrade - and he got a private pool villa!
Upgrades are great, but I reckon I'd rather have a standard room at JW than a pool villa here...
For future reference, Renaissance Mai Khao routinely upgrades me from the lowest room category to pool villas, and I'm Bonvoy Platinum. I've stayed 4x in the past year and gotten pool villa upgrades every time.
Very good review. I recently discovered your channel and you are quickly becoming one of my favorites. Thanks
Appreciate that! Thanks for watching 🙏🏻
All of your vids are useful and enjoyable 🙂 . Even when you give low score to a hotel or airline, you try your best to give them a chance so you can make the score higher a little. This thought process to me is unique and it draws me towards your channel .
Thanks very much. At the end of the day, I hope the properties see it as thoughtful feedback. While I may steer some business away from them, it's a good opportunity for them to reevaluate. Thanks for watching 🙏🏻
love your vlogs kevin unbiased to the point honest as you often say i,m interested in your asia trips mostly , i live in perth australia so its obvious to me anyway where i,m going next appreciate your hard work lee...
Thanks very much 🙏🏻 Perth is definitely on my list for 2024!
Excellent review as always and glad we didn’t end up staying here on a recent Phuket trip
Thanks for watching 🙏🏻
Your videos are so informative and enjoyable to watch. I have been thinking for a long time about which hotel to book for my October vacation and have been wavering between this hotel, the JW Marriott Phuket and the Hyatt Regency Hua Hin. Finally, I decided for the Hyatt Regency Hua Hin. Your videos helped me a lot to get an idea of the two Marriott Hotels. Maybe you could also add information about facilities, such as saunas and steam rooms to you review as these information are not always easy to find ont he hotel websites. Thanks a lot for your content. Looking forward to all the videos to come 😊
Thanks very much. My filming inside spas is generally very limited as I think there’s (rightfully so) a much higher level of privacy expected by guests in those facilities, even if just in the reception area.
This property was a Adamas Resort which had a more Thai decor and archy feely kind of kingdom vibe before Marriott took over and revamped the whole touristy esthetics in 2016. First of all I loved the reception balcony, warm beach drafts in the cool shades I fall asleep like a baby on the big couch every time it is so quiet. Pool access rooms are my favorite they connect to the main pool which quiets down after the morning kids rush, you have the whole pool to yourself at night 13:15 . Big Fish is good for late night poolside drinks and snacks, grilled sea bass is delightful but very pricey. I've never seen tide that low on your video, normally in the evenings they have to remove beach chairs for the high tide. You can walk along the beach to the right to Nai Yang beach and the Slate in 15 minutes, there are chair rentals and drinks along the beach. Plenty food, juice stands and massages at Nai Yang, and a big car park lot at the entrance of Sirinat National Park. The Beach Restaurant is very popular where you can see random fireworks and floating candle lanterns for purchase. You can ride back to Marriott on a 300 baht a day motor bike rental but you have to ride to the main highway then back to the beach takes about 25-30 mins, at night the country roads are dark and a bit hairy for me for about 10 minutes. 👻 👻 You can stop by many late night food stalls and 7-11s along the highway. If you walk back on the beach try to catch the sunset during dry season, the sky turns from Auburn to Orange to Red in about 30 minutes, the sun dips into the Andaman Sea in literally 60 seconds. The breakfast buffet has excellent selection with all the waffles and omelets, the works. I would go to the Slate for the boat-pulley thing for the fine dinning experience. Overall it's the spacious layout and very serene peaceful, tranquil atmosphere for me, lots of privacy and very safe. The check-in is like an interview, they're very good at upgrading and make guests feel welcomed and get what they want. Staff are quick to help with luggage 24hrs, they covered our motor bikes in the rain. It's a 35 minutes drive to the boat piers in the south and 50 minutes in morning rush hours, if you book those shuttle tours to the north it is the last pick up point and first drop off point. I'm not with Marriott, I stayed at Adamas one time and Marriott Nai Yang two times from 2014 to 2019, and hopefully in 2023!!! 😅😂
Thanks for sharing 🙏🏻
Thanks Kevin,,,,as always you did a fair and great job 👏,,,,❤
Thanks very much!
Great video as always, Kevin. I particularly appreciate your honesty in all videos, which is refreshing - thank you. Just a quick question about gold elite status and room upgrades, which you mentioned in the video. Do you typically ask for upgrades at check-in or allow the hotel to offer them? I have heard conflicting views on this and wanted to get your take as I recently became a gold elite member so I'm not sure of the etiquette. Thanks and best wishes.
There’s no harm in asking or messaging them before you arrive, but on all occasions when I actually booked directly through Marriott (not that often) they were proactive about it upon check-in.
@@tfft Super. Thanks Kevin.
I think I got it at 17:15! Marriott Momi Bay in Fiji? Very exotic, when will you post?
The Fiji videos will be late July/early August.
@@tfft Looking forward to them!
From the buffet, pool and beach i got the feeling that this property is more suitable for family with small kids rather than couple looking for a luxury stay. Thanks for the video
Thanks for watching 🙏🏻
Been here in 2019, you really echo my sentiments. For me the food was a real letdown, service was slow. Layout was confusing, especially if you are on the grounds and want to walk to Andaman. Very apt review.
Love to hear for people who have stayed there. Glad I matched your views. Even with the not great beach (water), it still had a lot of potential, but they just leaned way too hard towards vanilla on this one.
Hi thx for honest review! I just subscribed.Can anyone tell me when you get out of this hotel is there anywhere nice in walking distance to just go for a meal ? Have drink ? Shop around ? Or is it one of those places near nowhere? I know you need to get a taxi and for example go to Bangla road for shops & food but don’t think we want to even be there more than one night which leave us around hotel for rest of vacation is there any night life around ?? Thx guys
Considering how “close” the hotel is to the airport, it’s pretty isolated in its immediate area. Definitely not a place within walking distance of many facilities. Thanks for watching 🩴
Marriott Momi Bay in Fiji is the upcoming. I’ve stayed in a beachfront bure and enjoyed it. You do,have to adapt to Fiji time though.
I live in Southeast Asia, 'Fiji Time' is actually faster for me hahaha
Thanks for sharing . This hotel is definitely off my bucket list
Definitely where it should be lol. Thanks for watching 🙏🏻
Thanks for your video, efforts and beautiful footage.
I got inspired by you for visiting phuket in 2022; and I'm planning to go again next month 🤞
Fiji Marriott Resort Momi Bay :)
Thanks for watching 🙏🏻 (and yes 😉)
Hi Kevin, what is the music at the very end? Thanks.
I don't have the track name off the top of my head, but all of my music is from Arlist (subscription based, royalty free). Thanks for watching 🙏🏻
Hi... May I know why you are advice to avoid September and October to visit phuket ? Any specific reason ?
The two rainiest months of the year and September also being the cloudiest.
love the honest review. might go here.
Enjoy your trip 🗺️
Lol, in your last video when you said you would review this place next, I knew it wasn't going to be your cup of tea.😂
I genuinely don’t understand why it gets so much hype in various Marriott/Bonvoy groups. Oh well, win some and lose some 😅
Excellent accessibility to the airport.
Thanks for watching 🩴
Sorry Kevin, rookie question here. What are Bonvoy points in real money? Are they like Airpoints etc? Cheers from AKL, NZL.
Bonvoy are Marriott loyalty point system. Common valuation is 1 point is anywhere between 0.7 to 0.8 USD cents/pt. So 1000 pts is around 7-8 bucks.
There's no official valuation of them but $0.07/point is a general consensus. Generally I don't use them unless I can get $0.09 or more per point. This case was a bit difference since I had a free night certificate (equivalent to 35,000 points) expiring soon.
Goodness gracious, Kevin, can you imagine traveling 10000 miles to experience this hotel? Specially being an Ambassador Elite at Bonboy… Again thank You!! Sala Mai Khao is in our list.
Blows my mind how many people rave about this hotel, tbh. Thanks for watching 🙏🏻
Which resort in phuket is best for beach wedding ceremony and honeymoon. Based on your travels which resort has the nicest/most luxurious look/vibe and best beaches?
Just copying and pasting from my reply on your other comment: My personal favorites are the COMO and the Naka Island Resort, but neither are great beach locations. If you'd like to discuss in detail I'm happy to do so on Patreon. Thanks for watching 🩴
Thank you ✈️
Thanks for watching 🙏🏻
Awww I wanted to explore here, but guess its out.
There’s really not even the much to explore 😅
Well, you said I would might be surprised. I'm not. Agree with all you said.
Haha ok, well hope you were able to enjoy your time there!
We go randomly. But mostly down the beach eating at the restaurants. That night I wrote you, I visited friends who stayed there.
I'm not a fan of Phuket to begin with but some of the places you have featured make me think about reëvaluating my opinion...luckily the series didn't start with this affront.
Haha yes I keep things like this in mind and would never lead with the "bad" experience that I had in any given location. Thanks for watching 🙏🏻
In your opinion, are hotels without water parks/slides for kids?????
🤔 ummm… they can be…?
It was so funny that I had the same feelings about the hotel as you did: it's a huge, cookie-cutter, corporate slab with little to no local hints to it. St. Louis? Perhaps ;-) This hotel is such a missed potential, if you ask me. Oh, but the best is when you walked to the dim sum corner and the damn socket / plug is right above one of the steam baskets. Really??? Someone there definitely has a death wish. Thanks, though, for reviewing - I know to stay away from this property!
Thanks for watching 🙏🏻
I've stayed there with my family. The low tide is annoying, you have to walk far out to get deep enough to swim. Also my wife got bitten bad by the beach flies or mites or whatever they are called.
Thanks for sharing ✈️
Lol, the first line was brutal.
I actually wrote it when I was there 😂
1, you can be taken to court in thailand for posting bad reviews
2, all it needs is a few statues and water features the hotel is ideal for relaxing reading a book ect
As posted in my video, good faith comments or opinions about any person or thing subject to public criticism is entirely lawful under Title XI, Chapter 3, Section 329(3) of the Royal Thai Criminal Code.
@@tfft good luck with that
Marriott equals beige. It is the brand. While there are exceptions in the chain, that is the standard.
Yes and yes but that second 'yes' is why it's worth a shot (sometimes)... I do have another plain old Marriott coming up in a couple months which was spectacular. Thanks for watching 🙏🏻
@@tfft Look forward as always. I am a fan!
Cold food that should be hot at the buffet is just rank and unsafe.
What a let down for this type of hotel.
To be fair, when I travel I get cold food on a near daily basis since I always arrive to the buffet just as it's open (when you've got the highest chance of cold food...)... just a down side of the format. Thanks for watching 🙏🏻
"Unremarkable, beige, generic" lm excited, tell me more 😜
😂
Sounds like this hotel was designed to remind American Marriott members of home, design and service wise.
Thanks for watching 🙏🏻
Nice review Kevin. As soon as you started on the food the hotel is a big no for me. We eat with our eyes. Dinner looked shocking. Breakfast cold. One of my pet peeves in life is cold or luke warm food. Yuck. Not to mention dangerous. Can you explain why buffets are cold when first opening. I thought they were not as hot as i would like, as sitting under lamps, not straight out of the kitchen. I wonder where all tge staff and guests were. Place looked deserted.
It depends from hotel to hotel, but the vast majority of breakfast buffet food is not prepared moments before the buffet opens. Most of it is prepared overnight or in some cases the night prior and then needs to be reheated. Since that is a lot of food to reheat, many hotels simply put the pot of unheated food on the buffet line some time before the buffet opens hoping it will be warm in time. Quite often it does not. After perhaps an hour into the buffet service when the kitchen is in a good flow, you'll rarely get another cold dish. Same reason Eggs Benedict are often cold early on and sometimes throughout the service. The eggs are poached and then shocked in cold water to stop the cooking. They're then stored in cold water and when time for plating will be momentatially dipped in boiling water, but it's often not for long enough, resulting in a cold, but runny yolk.
@@tfft That just sounds yuck lol
A Marriott sounds a bit like a contradiction to me as Marriotts are typically Business hotels.
I get the feeling that "Marriotts" much like plain old "Hyatts" really don't know what they are anymore lol. Thanks for watching 🙏🏻
The Slate would be a much better choice for the area. Not beige at all 😂
Yeah I’ve had many comments about The Slate. Will need to make sure to hit it next time I’m there. Thanks for watching 🙏🏻
If that’s a 5 star hotel they need to do better with the food. Full stop. Hopefully The Slate is a little better…
Based on the number of people that keep telling me about it, I reckon it would need to be haha.
This hotel is a perfect example of Marriott pre-merger with Starwood. This is what they were all about 8+ years ago. Marriott elites fall all over these properties because they get upgraded, etc. Of these Phuket hotels you have reviewed, only Como Point Yamu attracts me.
Yupp, this one is known for it's upgrades, presumably becuase it's never near capacity haha.
I was disappointed. Overpriced, pool water was dirty, some staff were quite rude and that's something I've never experienced in Thailand's resorts
Spare bed was like sleeping on a stone bench with bed bugs.
Never again.
On the plus side the beach huts had great food and massages, not related to hotel.
Thanks for sharing ✈️
Good call, no way should you film anyone’s children in the kids club! That room is so small and ordinary
Thanks for watching 🩴
Ugh, V mid tier and generic for sure. Could be any hotel/resort in FLA :D Nice vlog tho 🙏
That's almost an insult to Florida 😂 Thanks for watching 🙏🏻
I have to agree, very underwhelming and the meh score of 74 seems fair. However the video and narration are again a solid 100 for me! 🎥➕🩴🟰💯
It's such a strange brand, with a bit of an identity crisis... Of the resorts I went to in Fiji the Marriott was by far my favorite one... go figure haha. Thanks as always for your support 🙏