We stayed at Centara Karon Resort in Phuket for 6 nights. There were 4 of us (2 adults and 2 kids under 10). If you are family then this the place for you. The hotel facilities and staff are fantastic and we had an extremely memorable stay. The hotel is situated in a great "village" part of Karon. Walk out the front gate and you have everything you need from restaurants, bars, tours desks, currency exchange, shopping, etc etc etc! We really thought Karon was a great place to stay. Not as hectic as what we saw in Patong.

At the resort we stayed in a Cabanna room. All we can say is WOW!!! It's not super fancy, but very nice indeed and with kids it is really great. The private jacuzzi was simply fantastic in the warm humid evenings. Also, you get a few special things if you are a cabana guest. In all honesty we did book a deluxe family room at lagoon area before we arrived. On checkin they allocated a room which I don't think received a lot of sun so there was a musty smell. We asked about the cabanna rooms and we decided to pay the extra for the upgrade. Turned out to be a great decision!! We were very comfortable there.

The pool is fantastic and if you have kids they will not want to leave. The pool is literally designed for kids. It has two slides and a tunnel....WOW! Our girls simply loved the pool. The swim up is great and there is a restaurant right at the poolside too!

My wife spent a lot of time at the SPA...we did the Baht Bonanza deal which turns out to be really good value if you plan to spend a lot of time at the hotel and eat and drink there. I would not recommend it if you are going to be out mostly. We found it to be very valuable.

All I can say is that when we come back to Phuket we will certainly be coming back to Centara Karon Resort!!!

Highly recommended!

We have a three year old and the facilities at this resort for her were exceptional. There are 4 pools at this resort - one in particular for the kids with two winding slides built up on a 'mountainous island' were fantastic. It took my 3 y/o a couple of days to gain the courage to go down the slides but once she did we couldn't get her off them. The pool in the form of a moat running around the island was 60cm deep and my 3 y/o could easily get her footing. Right next to that was a 45cm baby pool with fountain which was also great and there were also 2 huge adult pools. A cafe beside the kid's pools sold scoops of ice cream for 55 baht (AUD$1.70) and they had happy hour (2 scoops for one) between 2 and 3pm every day.
Happy hour at the pool bar was also great between 4pm and 6pm - 229 baht (AUD$7.10) for two cocktails.
On the last night of our stay we organised a baby sitter from the front desk - this is one of the hotel staff and ended up being the housekeeper who cleaned our room every day so we knew her to say hello to already and we found her to be competant and friendly. This was AUD$6 an hour. We were also advised if we got back after midnight we would have to pay for the baby sitter's taxi ride home which is fair enough.
The kid's club was interesting with activities planned every hour from 9am til 5pm taking 3 y/o's and up. A couple of these you had to pay AUD$3 for - batik painting, bracelet making but the others were free. We didn't use this facility much because of the great weather but it would have been a godsend in the case of bad weather.
We stayed in a lagoon deluxe family studio with two queen beds. Good sized rooms with a great bathroom and balcony area. Just note, this is only one big room so you are sleeping with the kids.

The place:
If you've been to Bali - Phuket is better. You don't get hassled walking down the street (except by the occassional suit salesman). The streets of Phuket are not crowded like Bali which has 200 motorcycles going past you every minute. The people are friendlier. There is much less of a stink. Food is cheaper. Your holiday will cost the same as Bali.

The Hotel:
We stayed in a 2 Bedroom Premium Deluxe room in the Tropicale wing for 1 week at the end of January 2012. Our family of four (15 year old and 5 year old) had plenty of room.
It actually is 3 rooms (Adult bedroom and bathroom, central room with kitchen and lounge, Kids bedroom and bathroom).

For families with young kids this hotel is great.

For couples this hotel is OK because the kids will keep to 1 pool, leaving the other two quiet for you. Each pool is totally seperate. Check what type of room you are paying for. Don't expect the cheap rooms to be fantastic. Upgrade when you book.

The Good:
- The room was tidied and beds made daily. All the stuff the kids left lying on the floor was picked up too.
- 3 Pools to choose from - all of which are a good size. Kids pool with 2 water slides excellent.
Water slides not gigantic, but enough fun for 3 - 10 year olds.
- The hotel was full to capacity but you would not know it. Plenty of sun loungers and towels available.
- Grounds kept immaculately with lawn and garden areas.
- Gym, sauna, tennis court, spa.
- Breakfast buffet massive and good. Choice of: Thai cooked, English cooked, Fruit salads, yoghurt, cereal, cakes, omelettes. Bottomless coffee. We generally ate breakfast at the smaller of the 2 restaurants.
- Food everywhere was cheap.

The Bad:
- Internet slow, but inexpensive ($20 for a week). It would be good if the Hotel improved the internet.
- One massage my wife had (Salt Pot) was terrible. Even though she complained and asked to stop she got told thats what she had asked for. Other two massages (Leg, and Indian) were great. There are many good (clean) and cheap massages to be had on the streets of Karon.
- No free shuttle into Patong the main town.
- Spa should be booked one day in advance.
- Russians. But they generally keep to themselves and turn into big red lobsters at the beach.
- Taxis are expensive in Phuket. A trip that costs $5 in Bali will cost $15 in Phuket.

Although these were downsides, they did not detract much from the good quality of the holiday.

The location:
Karon is OK for a stay up to about 1 week. 2 weeks would be too much. Reasonable choice of shops, restaurants, markets. Staying at Patong would have been better for shopping. Karon beach is very large but not idyllic.

Tips if staying here:
1. There are 4 Centara Hotels in Phuket. Make sure you (and your taxi driver) know which one you are going to. This review is about Karon. Kata and Karon are the best for kids. Grand is expensive and has no kids club.

2. Buy the 10,000 Baht Bonanza if you are with a family and get 5,000 Baht to spend free (on food and massage).

3. Have the chocolate desert at the main restaurant. Brownie + Ice Cream + Mousse. You won't be disappointed.

4. Take advantage of Happy Hour drinks if you have kids and and order the drinks before 7pm. 2 drinks for price of 1. (2 beers for us, 2 non-alcholic cocktails for the kids).

5. Leave a 20 Baht or 50 Baht tip for the cleaners ($1 - $2). Use the safe for the rest of the money. Leave a 10-15% tip for waiters and bar staff if it hasn't been put on the bill already.

6. Book trips outside the hotel as it will be much cheaper (20-60% off brochure price). We did:
Patong Cookery School (expensive but v.good). ATV. Elephant Ride. James Bond Island.
All fine.

7. Do laundry outside the hotel (50 Baht for 1kg).

8. Come with empty bags. We bought t-shirts, shorts, shirts, sunglasses, a suit, jewellery, dre beats headphones. Shop around before committing to buy. Generally Thai starting prices are about double what they want you to pay. If staying in Bangkok, buy there instead as it will be a bit cheaper.

Overall, a great family holiday. Get your booking right (you can book direct at the same cost as a travel agent), and you'll have a great holiday.

Great service by helpful and friendly staff. The hotel has nice grounds. We had a room on the 6th floor of the Terraces with an ocean view and it was quite noisy on the weekend. Rooms are nothing special, but they were clean,

My husband booked golf through the hotel and the staff were most helpful. Pool service was good and we enjoyed our stay.