Hotel Review:Radisson Blu Phuket

I chose this property for my stay on Phuket because I was swimming in an overabundance of Club Carlson points.  To help unburden my points cache I was looking forward to 4 nights at Radisson Blue Plaza Resort Panwa Beach.  For the most part I would agree with many of the comments posted on Trip Advisor about the property.  It is far from the beaches of Kata and Patong for which Phuket is known and the cabs are anywhere from $15 to $20 each way to go to the other side of the island.  Just as a side note, while it may not look big on a map Phuket is a very large island and that becomes apparent when you happen to be on the opposite side of it trying to get back to Cape Panwa (where the Radisson is located).  I liked the seclusion but had I the opportunity to do this over again I would have stayed 2 nights at the Radisson and 2 nights at a property near Kata beach.


This photo of Radisson Blu Plaza Resort Phuket Panwa Beach is courtesy of TripAdvisor

Upon arrival I was double upgraded to a corner suite overlooking the sea.  The room was huge. It had covered outdoor seating plus an outdoor shower.  Floor to ceiling glass windows and a large luxurious indoor bathroom with huge tub, shower and walk through closet.  The room was clean and updated. The best part for me was that the floor did not have carpet, instead it was covered in a wood-like laminate.

The outdoor shower pictured below allowed you to view the sea.While this shower was spacious the indoor shower was more so.....

                                    

The soaking tub pictured above came with specially mixed bath salts.

Our room came with a daily breakfast buffet that had many hot and cold serving stations along with made to order Asian and Western items.  The choices were varied and plentiful enough to carry one through to dinner.  Many days we took fresh bread, cheese and fruits with us as we explored the island.  The mojitos and margaritas at the pool bar were very delicious as we would usually only partake if it was happy hour due to the expense. This was also the only place I would actually drink alcohol as I knew the ice was shipped in and the bottle actually contained the alcohol advertised.

Below is where breakfast was served.  You could chose to eat inside in an air conditioned dining room our outside on the deck.  All my meals were eaten outside.

There was a food mart (read 7-11 type store) across the street that we used to buy beer, the hotel security guard would act as a crossing guard every time we made the trip.  Mind you the road is barely wide enough for a truck to pass. The hotel offered us chilled glasses from their lobby bar without issue and a bottle opener as we drank and played pool at the outdoor table overlooking the sea.

The staff was friendly but there definitely was a language barrier.  The taxi service they commission in the lobby is highway robbery but many of the taxis on Phuket have mafia involvement so even going elsewhere is a not going to guarantee much of a discount.  While Club Carlson touts Radisson Blu as their premium brand I would not apply that label to this property.  It was nice, just not premier.  Having the suite helped because it was updated but this place needs more attention and perhaps with Club Calson rebranding efforts it will receive as much.  I stayed for free so the extra expense of higher priced drinks, taxis, food really wasn't a factor.  I did enjoy walking to Cape Panwa restaurants (10 minutes on foot) where the food was great, inexpensive and the views gorgeous.  All in all it was a good experience, just not one that has me wanting to go back.

The view from our bed cabana. The cabanas sat in about six inches of water that rolled over the wall into the pool below.  We would have our happy hour drinks here.

This photo of Radisson Blu Plaza Resort Phuket Panwa Beach is courtesy of TripAdvisor

                                           
 These views are from the water.  The hotel has kayaks for use (no charge) and we took advantage of them.

Standing on the beach if you look to the right, some locals lived here.  You would see them mostly when the tide was out foraging for crabs.  The hotel security kept them away from the property but the beaches are public. There never was much beach activity.

This is the hotel lobby lite up for the evening.  The property fell into the top tier of points usage, equating to 50,000 points per night.  Because I have a Club Carlson co-branded Visa I received the last night of my stay for free.  Therefore my 4 night stay cost 150K Club Carlson points.  While I did use the Club Carlson card to book the stay I did not use the card to pay for any extras while I was there because the card came with a 3% foreign transaction fee that was not waived.  Since I was trying to meet a spend on my Hyatt Visa (for a 5K bonus) I used the Hyatt for ancillary expenses.

This photo of Radisson Blu Plaza Resort Phuket Panwa Beach is courtesy of TripAdvisor


If you enjoyed this post I hope you'll consider following my future travels, experiments and projects.