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THE ALVIATOR'S VERDICT
Given the price point, I was very pleasantly surprised by this clean and convenient airport hotel. I even had a swim! |
4.5
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After a fabulous few days at the JW Marriott Khao Lak Resort and Suites, I was flying Jetstar from Phuket to Singapore. The night before departure, my 9:55 PM flight posted a 2h 15m delay, meaning that it was now leaving at 12:10 AM in the morning. I’m not sure whether I’d call that a redeye, though I knew I was going to need to get some rest before my midnight flight.
As a result, after I sent my parents off on their (on-time) Cathay Pacific flight back to Hong Kong at midday, I booked myself a day room at the Phuket Airport Hotel, the only airport hotel at Phuket International Airport.
The hotel is no-frills, though it is a pleasant way to get good rest ahead of a late longhaul flight, or a very early flight if you’re travelling elsewhere on Ko Phuket. Furthermore, the hotel features free airport transfers, as well as free coffee, tea and water round the clock, and a pool. Here’s my review of the Phuket Airport Hotel.
Booking The Phuket Airport Hotel
While it’s possible to book a room at this hotel overnight online, unfortunately you have to either email them in order to get a day room, or fill out their contact form. This is an antiquated system – so much so that I don’t remember the last time I booked a hotel in this way. That being said, response times were very fast, and I received an email with a quote 23 minutes after putting in an initial enquiry, and didn’t have to pay until I checked in. Day rooms are available from 12 PM to 7 PM at the Phuket Airport Hotel.
I ended up paying 1,800 THB (HK$409/£40/US$52.5) to stay at the hotel. While I didn’t mind this rate at all, this is more expensive than the hotel’s usual nightly rates, which sit around the 1,600 THB mark (HK$364/£35.60/US$47).
Arriving at the Phuket Airport Hotel
The Phuket Airport Hotel is priced as a budget hotel, and it is decorated rather similarly to one – no fancy entrances here. Instead, the signage to the hotel was ridden with telephone cables, and the hotel’s entrance signage was in 1990s-style gold font.
Phuket Airport Hotel Entrance
There aren’t any indoor public spaces at this hotel, so I turned into the hotel, and found a surprisingly well-decorated and well-kept lounge/lobby area. There was nobody at the reception desk when I arrived, though someone showed up after a couple of minutes.
Phuket Airport Hotel Lobby
I was quickly checked in and asked to pay for my room (as agreed). After I did, I was escorted to my room.
While the outside of the hotel feels quite sparse and dingy, the inside of the hotel is delightful, resembling a local beach resort.
Phuket Airport Hotel Lobby Inside Area
Phuket Airport Hotel Pool
The entrances to the rooms were mostly located by the pool (including mine), so I’ll actually just start by talking about the pool. This was a delightful way to spend some time before a flight, and I was sure to indulge myself. The pool itself isn’t particularly big (it’s probably around 15-20 m in length), so it can be quite hard to share it with other people who were using the pool. However, there weren’t more than a couple of other people using the pool at any point during the stay.
My parents found it especially amusing that I didn’t swim much at the JW Marriott Khao Lak (which had multiple massive pools), but did swim here. It definitely was less crowded during the early afternoon!
Phuket Airport Hotel Pool
Phuket Airport Hotel Day Room
I was given a full tour around my room, which was not necessary, albeit being a nice touch. The room itself wasn’t particularly large, impressive, or out of the ordinary (in a good or bad way).
It was a good size, and featured a bed, desk and chair, wardrobe, and safe. The bed was comfortable enough, and everything was clean.
Phuket Airport Hotel Room
The bathroom was also clean, albeit the shower water pressure not being particularly good. There were unbranded toiletries provided.
Phuket Airport Hotel Bathroom
The minibar in the room featured two bottles of complimentary water.
Phuket Airport Hotel Room Minibar
The biggest source of natural light in the room was the curtains leading out to the pool, so you can’t have privacy and natural light at the same time (although there are blinds as well as curtains). There’s a smaller window on the other side of the room, though it’s significantly smaller, and tucked away behind the wardrobe.
The room does feature fairly high ceilings, though.
Phuket Airport Hotel Room Ceiling
There was air conditioning as well, as well as free WiFi, which was fast enough.
I was pleasantly surprised by the room, and thought that it was plenty comfortable for a short day stay.
Phuket Airport Hotel Facilities
While the hotel itself is quite basic, it did feature all of the amenities you’d need for a comfortable stay.
Apart from the pool, there was free coffee, tea, and water available by the lobby. Soft drinks and beer weren’t free, however.
Phuket Airport Hotel Lobby Free Tea, Coffee, Water, and Paid Bar
Phuket Airport Hotel Airport Transfer
I went to reception at 6 PM for my booked airport transfer (my flight was delayed from 9:55 PM until 12:10 AM, though I figured I’d get dinner at the airport). I was transferred to a hotel staff member, who took my bag and escorted me to the van that would be taking me to the airport.
Outside of the hotel I saw a few bikes, which presumably are owned by the hotel for guests to explore the area.
Phuket Airport Hotel Lobby Airport Transfer
These aren’t private airport transfers, though in this case I did have the van to myself. I was driven to the airport, which took less than ten minutes. From there I waited for my Jetstar flight to begin check-in, two hours before departure.
Conclusion: Phuket Airport Hotel
Not many of Phuket’s airport hotels offer day rooms, so many might be staying out of necessity here. I thought that the day room rate was very reasonable (especially considering I booked on the day, and you might get a cheaper deal booking further out), the hotel was clean and had WiFi, and I even was able to have a nice swim in the afternoon. The free coffee and tea options are nice-to-haves, despite being not very high-quality. For the price point, this hotel definitely was better than I was expecting – I’d even say that it was a pleasant surprise.
Phuket Airport isn’t particularly layover-friendly either, so this is a good option if you’ve got a very long layover at Phuket Airport.
