Cape Panwa Hotel

“We enjoyed it, but would not go back”

The Sea - really enjoyed the beach. There were quite extreme tides, so the beach can look a bit messy at times, but it nature and the fact people dump rubbish miles away. Generally calm, a few days of big waves. I swam 4-5 times a day. Very nice to walk up and down. Take sea shoes, you definitely... more

The Sea - really enjoyed the beach. There were quite extreme tides, so the beach can look a bit messy at times, but it nature and the fact people dump rubbish miles away. Generally calm, a few days of big waves. I swam 4-5 times a day. Very nice to walk up and down. Take sea shoes, you definitely need them. There is a concrete path that leads out from the door of Panwa House. Worth doing. Snorkelling - there were plenty of fish to see, especially under the pier and on the other side of the pier. Lots of colourful fish, even eels. Water clarity was 4/10 when we were there. The Pier - sit on the end and watch the fish, lovely spot. Sunbeds - Hundreds of them, no shortage Drinking water - all of the restaurants WILL serve you 'drinking water'. It is absolutely fine to drink. If you ask for a bottle, they are 250 baht each. But the drinking water is free. Kayaks / water sports - take them out as often as you want, great fun, one and two man kayaks, paddle boards. Beach towels - You can take a towel on the beach or at the pool as often as you want. No cards, very easy. Room - Very large and big balcony overlooking the sea. Has all tolietries provided, inc shower and bath. Room service daily, very good. Fridge stocked with chargeable drinks, water is free and supplied daily. Resort food - Mixed bag. We ended up eating out half the time for dinner as it is very cheap outside. Overall we were disappointed with the hotel food experience. Breakfast was fine, basic lunch fine, dinner disappointing. Dont panic though, go B&B if you can as the food outside is superb and very cheap. The hill outside the hotel - having read a few reviews on here, i thought it would be like Everest. It took us, max, 90 seconds to get to the top..and its worth it. 2 excellent bars at the top with fantastic views of the bay, and watch the sun set. Plus Uncle Johns bar for the last drink of the night. Way better than the resort facilities, and much cheaper. Free shuttle bus - goes every 20-30 minutes over the hill and back when you want. Easy and free. Worth using. Paid shuttle bus - goes into Pukhet. Great getting there but photograph where you are dropped off as you might not find your way back, or pin it on your phone, something. The Old town is a maze. If you do miss it, a taxi back is about 500 baht Taxis - a taxi rank is a few metres from the hotel entrance. Barter for a good price. Cleanliness - The resort was very clean throughout, high standard. Staff - Apart from the hotel manager, a really nice bunch Irritations - The hotel manager really doesn't care and is rude if you have a grievance. Keep all receipts and photograph anything that goes wrong. The 'water' fiasco when you arrive and don't understand it, and want water with dinner and end up spending £20 on 4 small bottles. Not being able to get in you room until after 1400. A couple we met had to wait for 4 hours in reception after travelling all day. Our wait was 2 hours.

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“Definitely not a 5 star resort”

First impression was this isn’t a 5 star hotel,we was upgraded which was great and the room was lovely. The breakfast was terrible not a lot of choice,lunch on the beach restaurant was nice, dinner menu was the same and not a lot of choice What did it for us was the price of the drinks are overpr... more

First impression was this isn’t a 5 star hotel,we was upgraded which was great and the room was lovely. The breakfast was terrible not a lot of choice,lunch on the beach restaurant was nice, dinner menu was the same and not a lot of choice What did it for us was the price of the drinks are overpriced and then the charge a service charge too, so we started to go to 7/11 for alcohol as did a lot of other guests, then when we checked out the tried to charge us for beers we had already paid for and seen as the girls English isn’t good it was hard to resolve the matter. We checked out at 12 and even though lunch starts at 11.30 and we was full board they wouldn’t let us have it so we went to local restaurant, This hotel needs to up its game to be a 5 star I would t recommend

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“Average Overall”

It’s a tricky one with this hotel.. the hotel does have a good variety of restaurants and bars, which was ideal. Panwa House was especially good. But the room wasn’t the best in honesty. The bed was very firm and not comfy if my opinion. The TV was very dated and with only 1 English tv channel. T... more

It’s a tricky one with this hotel.. the hotel does have a good variety of restaurants and bars, which was ideal. Panwa House was especially good. But the room wasn’t the best in honesty. The bed was very firm and not comfy if my opinion. The TV was very dated and with only 1 English tv channel. The staff were hit and miss also.. Some great but some just not very friendly/attentive. They also cook for the staff in the main buffet restaurant (which I found odd) and when I mistakenly peeped in one of their serving containers, the food that they had, looked far better than the buffet food the guests were being served and I was quickly shooed away by the staff. It felt odd. (One night there was bbq and the next day the whole menu was made up of the previous nights left overs.. and you could taste it!) Pool was fine, access to towels was good. I’d say on the whole, 10 years ago this would have been a great hotel. But it’s been neglected a bit and now feels a bit dated and lacking management. Probably wouldn’t recommend.

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“CAPE PANWA you have broken my heart”

I have visited this hotel for the last ten years, This year's experience leaves a lot of Pain my heart to have to write this. This year's would have preferred to have stayed in England and stayed in a tent than Visit this hotel to see what has happened. You were my most favourite of places I have... more

I have visited this hotel for the last ten years, This year's experience leaves a lot of Pain my heart to have to write this. This year's would have preferred to have stayed in England and stayed in a tent than Visit this hotel to see what has happened. You were my most favourite of places I have ever visited in the world. From start to finish this holiday was a disaster, At breakfast I was constantly asking chefs to relight the chafing dishes as all the heat had gone The food was cold, appalling food, A lot of the food was inedible From your buffets ,the food From the main menu was good , But nobody wants to wait 45 minutes for somebody to come and take a drinks order and then come back twenty minutes later to take the food order. You have so many trainee staff that all the food kept coming out wrong.. Cost-cutting and not having permanent staff and just taking in the students from the local colleges is not working. We almost left after the first week, Your new food and beverage manager turned up Yakob, who we spoke to, He promised us things would get better. I know it. Will take time. The rooms are traditionally Thai. But there is no excuse to run out of towels 1 day, I found myself running down the corridor to get towels of the chambermaid because they had forgotten to replace them. Shower gel shampoo body moisturisers. All the things that you expect in a 5 star hotel not being filled or replaced. The rooms not serviced properly. I spoke to the general manager The day before we left and told him of my concerns he made us V.I.P's On our last evening . He oversaw the whole of the dinner for every one and it was fantastic.This is the service we have come to love from Cape Panwa .That is how the whole of the holiday should have been. There is an extra charge for the specialty buffets . But this this is not mentioned at all in the TUI Brochure over the last 10 years, I have never paid extra. Baya , Liza , Somchi, Jenny, Nuchchi work so hard fantastic assets. 👏 Use them wisely. Cape panwa get back to what you used to be !!!! You have to make the decision if you're a wedding venue, a conference centre or a holiday hotel? In the main season. You cannot live on your laurels any longer. I know I cannot return unless you can prove to me that you have changed. At this present time I would rate you as a three star hotel only. My heart is broken 💔

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