Kata Rocks

My stay at Kata Rocks has been an odd experience. To sum it up in a simple way is it was "okay".

Me, my mother and my grandmother stayed at room 208 for just over a week as part of a Luxury Escapes package.

The package has a lot of inclusions. Free meals, free drinks, minibar, fresh fruit, massages and private airport transfers.

All of these were good except the minibar, which was mostly soft drinks and beer.

The meal and cocktail options were limited, but we made the most of it.

Breakfast had a lot more going on, it was ala carte buffet. It was overwhelming on the first day, but as the days went by we knew what we liked.

We did purchase a few items not included on our LE menu, but only a few as it was quite expensive.

Aside from the fries crab cake, most of the food we ate was very delicious.

There was a spa here as well, the people were friendly and the massages were great, but again, very expensive so we only made use of the free ones.

The villas were clean, tidy, spacious, took a couple of days to work things out like the lighting system. There was some preexisting damage that we had to note down and take pictures of, but that's typical.

There was a persistent issue with the TV in b2 which needs a permanent fix involving the sound, it kept occurring even if we followed the engineers instructions so we gave up on it.

It has a pool as well but I will get more into that later.

The actual grounds are steep. Probably not the best for my mother and grandmother all things considered but my grandmother insisted all the same to come here.

The location is nice, very close to many restaurants and the beach, many outside massages that are 1/10th the price.

They help people move about inside and all the way to the street using golf carts, which is nice.

The staff at Kata Rocks are amazing, hands down the best part. Friendly, helpful, always doing their best (in spite of some rather rude guests). I wish we brought more to tip higher but we underestimated the sheer number of people who would be working here. We are not rich by any means and typically budget for our trips and miscalculated here.

Now for my personal negative about this place. The pools.

The private pool you get is okay, the size is nice but its very shallow. Its also awkward to get in as it has no rails. It also had a peep hole for your neighboring villa which is weird. It also has a decent drop between the pool and the step into it which is dangerous if it is wet or it rains. This is a frustrating design issue. Something can look pretty but not be functional and this is it.

If only something could be done about it? Well it can... kind of.

They have a main pool that solves all these problems. Sounds good right.. haha... WRONG.

Im a pasty white dude who looks at the sun for a second and burns. Cant help that.

I can use sun screen but its uncomfortable and leaves sunscreen solution in the pool.

So how do I get around this? Easy, darkness is your friend. 5am in the morning until sunrise or any time after 7pm, the sun ain't an issue, its hot so you can still swim, dry off. Happy days.

But you can't do that here. The pool doesn't open until 7am. The pool closes at 5pm. This means sunscreen time or no pool. I opted to try it once then never again, and slowly despised looking at the main pool each day. Such a wonderful pool that appears to be reserved for sunset selfies. A shame and my only major complaint aside from pricing.

My only other minor issue extends from my last pool thought, people taking pictures at sunset. I get it, it's pretty, but when im sitting at the table eating dinner with my mother and grandmother, only for another guest to plant their oversized backside in front of our table taking pictures of their trophy wife for 3 minutes straight.

But those are my personal issues I have.

So to cap it off, the place is okay, my grandmother paid for it, she seemed happy which is good! The staff are amazing and I hope they are well paid. Look at making some safety and privacy changes for the villa pools and consider keeping the main pool open later in the evening.

Kind Regards, Mike

P.S

Apologies if we dont list all names, but its hard to get a list...

Massage Pla

Golf Cart Drivers Pai Thong Sean (the speed demon)

Cleaners Minkie

Restaurant Jar May Du Yee Sun Boom Sai Don Tum Mat Max Hat Sing First Mo Fah

Kitchen Oat Chai Jeab Liu Fut Ray Eed Fair Eye Beaw Jha Tu Kong Por Sam Da M Beat Nam Pack Rick with a D

And to everyone one else who made the stay amazing!

Absolutely wonderful sea‑view stay in Phuket! Waking up to the breathtaking ocean view every morning was amazing. The room was spotless and comfortable, with a lovely balcony overlooking the sea. Staff were friendly and attentive, service was smooth. The pool also has fantastic ocean views. Highly recommend this hotel for a relaxing holiday!