We booked the kata poolside resort last minuet.
I whizzed through other reviews, looked at the price and decided I'd take the risk (as this place has a lot of negative reviews, albeit mostly the older ones)
I had called and asked them to arrange a taxi from Phuket airport, the taxi was waiting for us as requested, this was a blessing as Phuket airport at 3pm was absolute chaos.
We got to the hotel and we were greeted by wonderful reception staff, hugely helpful, fantastic English, and very knowledgeable.
When we were shown to our room the guy who had took our bags for us explained everything, the air con, safe etc. He was lovely.
The room was huge, and bed was comfortable, we were pleased to see the bath and shower option too.
The tailor that so many people have commented on was a nice guy, he greeted us every time he saw us and was pleasant while trying to sell his services.
The tailors on the streets are a lot pushier, intimidating and irritating.
Hotel restaurant was nice, great pizza & seafood. 10% off voucher for hotel guests too BONUS!
Anyone who has been in Thailand more than an hour will have noticed that 90% of the place is in need of either repairs or modernisation. The kata poolside resort could use a little modernisation and some new beach towels but the whole place is spotless, functional and pleasurable......what more could you ask for for the price?? And the fact you even get special towels just to take to the beach or pool is a great free addition (even if they are a bit tatty)
The hotel is set back behind the restaurant and so is very peaceful and quiet which is refreshing as when we went in March the beaches and streets were very busy with tourists.
We wish we would have paid the tiny bit extra and booked a poolside room but we never and we're still impressed.
Our balcony view was a fence but we had the white sands and clear waters of Thailand 2 minuet walk away and so we never had chance to spend any time on our balcony to neither notice or care about the view.
We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at kata pool side resort, I'm sure our lovely room wasn't a one off (because I popped my head into a couple of empty rooms that the maid was preparing once and the rooms are all pretty much the same)
Great value for money!