I had to go to Phuket for a wedding. A short stay that I started at the Meridien Beach Resort Phuket for practicality reasons. If the hotel was very good in the absolute it is absolutely not my cup of tea and I had planned to spend the last two days of my stay at Naka Island where I had already stayed a few years earlier with the memory of an enchanting stay.
Let’s see if this second stay has confirmed my impressions or, on the contrary…
- Booking
- Location of Naka Island Phuket
- Arrival and Check In at Naka Island Phuket
- The Villa with Pool and Sea View at Naka Island Phuket
- The general style of Naka Island Phuket
- Fitness, pool, beach and spa
- Restaurant and bars at Naka Island Phuket
- The staff and the service
- Check-out
- My opinion on the Naka Island Phuketa
Booking
As the Naka Island has few rooms and mainly villas you should not expect any kind of upgrade if you book a standard room, although this can happen as I have experienced at the St Regis Bali.
Since I was only staying a short time and wanted to maximize my experience knowing that I hate Phuket and that Le Meridien was just a stopover I decided that I wanted to leave with a good impression so I booked directly a villa with pool and sea view.
I did it as usual on the Marriott app to ensure the best price.
Location of Naka Island Phuket
Naka Island is located on the island of the same name in the north-east of Phuket Island.
You will immediately understand its interest: you are in Phuket without being in Phuket which is for me the typical example of everything I want to avoid when travelling. The hotel shares the island with a fishing village, so you won’t see anyone but its guests and you’ll avoid the main island’s clientele, its noise…
The hotel has its own boat shuttle that provides transportation between the marina and the island.
Arrival and Check In at Naka Island Phuket
The day before my arrival I contacted the hotel’s customer service via the Marriott app chat to arrange my transfer.
I had to wait half a day for a reply telling me I had to send an email to the transportation department. I wonder what the point of customer service is if it’s not to coordinate everything.
24 hours later the transportation department has not replied to me and I am starting to get annoyed. Then I wait another half day to get confirmation of my pick-up time, which I will only get in the evening the day before my arrival. It had been much more organised and smooth during my previous stay.
The next day at the agreed time the car is there and waiting for me.
And here I am, well settled for the hour or so drive to the marina.
Once at the marina, the driver drops me off, greets me and leaves. The previous time he had taken me to the boat. I find myself unaccompanied in the car park and use my memory to find first the access to the Marina itself and then the place where the shuttle is moored. And of course I drag my suitcase myself. For a luxury hotel it’s average and I think the service has deteriorated a lot over the years.
But let’s stay positive, the boat is here and I’m going to one of my favourite hotels of the last 5 years.
We leave the Marina and I get ready to tackle the best part of my stay (apart from the wedding party of course…I say that in case the groom visits this blog 😉 ). For information, the shuttle runs all day for guests who want to go to Phuket but if it is free for the high status of the loyalty program it is not free for the other guests except for the transfers.
We arrive at the island barely fifteen minutes later and electric buggies are waiting to take the shuttle occupants to check-in.
I don’t know how it works for the occupants of the “normal” rooms, but for the villas the check-in takes place in the villa.
I am listed the many benefits I have as a Titanium Elite member of the loyalty program. This ranges from significant discounts at the hotel’s bars and restaurants (20%), to the Spa, to free cleaning of two pieces of laundry per day and the free shuttle.
I have my photo taken so that the staff can identify me as a “VIP” customer. I might as well tell you right away that it won’t change my experience or I didn’t notice anything.
The staff are very friendly and check-in is remarkably smooth. This helped me to forget the transfer bug for a while. And a nice note from the management was waiting for me.
The Villa with Pool and Sea View at Naka Island Phuket
Unsurprisingly my villa is a clone of the one I had a few years ago but symmetrically opposite.
Once through the door a small path leads me to the villa.
In front of the town there is a small swimming pool for cooling off and all the space you need to have a good time in the sun. Of course its size is not exceptional but totally within the standards for this type of facility even if it is below that of the St Regis Bali.
The view is very beautiful even if when the sea recedes it is less paradisiacal. I didn’t have this view of a seaweed field in my previous villa about 100 metres away.
Also very pleasant at night.
Then we enter the room: it is spacious and comfortable. Very good bedding.
The view is not to my displeasure modulo the same remark I made above with the view at low tide.
For the night the room is prepared with a mosquito net.
A corridor leads to the bathroom.
Please note: the corridor and the bathroom are not air-conditioned, unlike the bedroom. It didn’t bother me but you might as well know.
There is a large wardrobe with a large space with two basins. There’s plenty of room.
Then a shower that also doubles as a steam room. In this heat and humidity I don’t really see the point, but hey…
Then you enter the inner courtyard. There is an open-air shower.
There is also a very large outdoor bath.
Really nice and very intimate.
Honestly, there are worse ways to spend a few days in peace! You can easily live in your villa without seeing a single guest, although it would be a shame given the rest of the facilities. It’s nice and comfortable, but you can either love the style or not… I’m fine with it even if, once again, the St Regis Bali is not matched.
I only have one regret: as I said, once the sea recedes the view is not as pleasant but perhaps my judgement is biased because my previous villa overlooked a sandy part of the island’s shores, the direct extension of the beach, without seaweed
The general style of Naka Island Phuket
It’s hard to talk about style when you’re talking about a hotel made up entirely of villas and where the only buildings are the restaurants and bars with a small office for the reception and concierge. Everything else is open air.
As for the style of the rooms, you have seen. As for the rest, it’s in the same taste without being linked to a particular style, in any case nothing local.
For the rest, the “centre” of the hotel with all the common parts, reception, spa, fitness, swimming pool, restaurants etc is located at the bottom of the island not far from the landing stage. Then “roads” lead to the higher villas. You can walk there or ask a buggy to take you there.
Fitness, pool, beach and spa
Let’s start with the gym. It is located in the “living” centre of the complex, not far from the spa.
Well, here it is:
Small and poorly equipped. Ridiculous for a hotel of this standing and at this price. But one day someone will have to explain to me why, as soon as we are in beach and leisure oriented resorts, the gym is generally neglected and the clients hardly use it.
The Spa covers a large area and you walk from the reception, to the wet zone and treatment rooms by walking from one building to another. Rather pleasant.
The “wet zone” has a sauna, a hamam and an ice cave which did not work. A jacuzzi would have been welcome. The facilities are beautiful, but you get bored quickly.
The treatment rooms are very beautiful and the care is of high quality.
Overall, the welcome and service are excellent.
The hotel has a beautiful multi-level infinity pool.
It overlooks a fairly large beach, neither beautiful nor ugly, but only a small part of which is equipped with sunbeds. In any case, between the swimming pool and the villas which have their own private areas, the area is never overcrowded.
At least it looks authentic and not full of concrete.
However, on the second day of my stay the host hosted a wedding in the late afternoon and evening. The “improvement” work took place around the pool and the beach from the middle of the day, making the area noisy and unpleasant. Then the customers were simply asked to leave (well, those who had not already been driven away by the noise and disturbance). Unacceptable. It is understandable that a hotel would host such events but when it means so much encroachment on areas essential to guests it is very limiting on an island there is no alternative but to return to your room.
Restaurant and bars at Naka Island Phuket
The hotel has 2 restaurants, a bar and a bar/restaurant with a simplified catering offer. All are grouped around the swimming pool and the bar which is at the tip of the island.
The most pleasant bar is the one at the tip of the island. The most pleasant bar is the one at the tip of the island.
The cocktails are not exceptional, a little too light, lacking taste and personality. Basically, water. But unfortunately this is the norm in many places, especially in these regions.
On the other hand the staff is very friendly.
One negative point, however. The first night I wanted to go for a drink. I arrived at 7pm and was told that the bar was privatized. I ask until what time, I am told at least 10pm. And all this for a group of about fifteen people. Again, in an isolated property where there are not many options, this is limiting.
Let’s turn to the two restaurants. There is a Thai restaurant and a grill.
The first evening I wanted to go to the Thai restaurant but I found it closed so I fell back on the grill where I ate remarkably well. I’ll have a tuna tartare and a grilled fish which will be delicious.
Absolutely nothing to complain about. I ask why the other restaurant is closed and am told that some days one is open, some days the other and some days both. It’s not as if on an island we are not captives… In short, on a single evening 50% of the offer was unavailable to customers.
The next day I would like to try the Thai restaurant. But it is closed because of the wedding which takes all the space between the swimming pool and its terrace. So let’s head for the Grill. Also closed because of the wedding.
Only the bar remains, with a reduced and simplified menu. It was good and simple but inevitably disappointing when you wanted something more ambitious.
Moreover, the wedding was noisy, very noisy. With the speeches and the music, it was as if I were at their table…or that they were at mine. Several guests abandoned the idea of dining at what was the only restaurant available in the hotel and some cut their dinner short because they were too inconvenienced. At the price of the night this is totally abnormal.
So my experience can be summed up as excellent grilled fish, places where I was not allowed to dine or have a drink and a hellish dinner 50m away from a wedding which also prevented me from enjoying the beach and the pool.
The staff and the service
As much as during my first stay I had some reproaches to make with the service which I had found sometimes a little too approximate and light as there it was perfect. Reception, restaurant, spa…perfect.
However, it must be said that I was not much “served” since every time I wanted to do something it was closed. And that’s where it goes wrong.
I didn’t like the somewhat casual attitude of the staff announcing that a bar was closed or a restaurant closed. It was a bit of a ‘we took a big cheque to privatise and fuck off because we’re not even sorry’ mode.
Beyond the staff, it is the management that is to blame and the choices they have made and obviously not been appreciated by the customers. When, once again, you have a limited offer and the client cannot go to dinner outside the hotel, you don’t deprive him of 50 or 75% of the offer, you don’t deprive him of the beach and the pool for half a day.
I understand the commercial logic behind it, but there are properties where it is possible to annoy “normal” customers and others where it is not.
And I’ll finish with one last bad note…the check out which I’ll tell you about right away.
Check-out
My transfer to the airport was arranged as soon as I checked in, so I didn’t have to think about it. At the appointed time the buggy comes to pick me up with my suitcase.
Just before leaving the room I do my “mobile check out” on my mobile. That’s it, I’ll get the bill later today and I can go straight to the boat.
I was surprised when the buggy stopped at the reception. I say we can go straight to the boat but they insist “it’s for check out”. “But I did it”. “It’s for the check out”. I start to get a bit annoyed and go into the reception. You have noted that the advantage of the “mobile check out” is that you don’t have to go through the reception again, right?
Then a person said to me “here is the bill, would you like to use the card you gave as a guarantee to pay”. Me : “no way I’ve already done my checkout and it will be charged so thanks and goodbye”. She “you must sign and pay”. Me: “never”. She “you must sign and pay”. MOi: “No way. It’s the principle of the mobile check out, I’m not going to pay twice”. She looks at me with astonished eyes Me: “you know the mobile check out”. She ” Mobile what ?”. I looked at the driver of the buggy: “I’m fed up, we’re going to the boat…are you taking me or am I going on foot with my suitcase”. The poor guy doesn’t understand what’s going on, looks at his colleague with an apologetic expression and takes me away.
Lack of knowledge of processes? Poor organisation. In any case, this is the first time this has happened to me in several years with the mobile check-out and I’m a bit annoyed at having lost 20 minutes for nothing.
The boat will take me to the marina and there, contrary to what happened during my previous stay, no accompaniment to the car. I had to manage to get to the car park (fortunately I had very little luggage) and find the car that was meant for me among the mass of those waiting for tourists. Super service !
My opinion on the Naka Island Phuketa
So you understand that I am not happy at all with this stay. Shoddy transfers where the guest is a bit abandoned, hotel facilities and restaurants inaccessible for various reasons (again the hotel doesn’t offer much choice basically and it’s on an island…), the check out mess. When you claim to be a 5* luxury hotel and charge 700€ per night, it is totally irrelevant and unacceptable.
This would have been my first stay at Naka Island and I would have been very disappointed, but to compare it with a previous experience is simply unacceptable.
As much as I was enchanted by my first stay (and I’ll let you read my article to stay on a good impression), here I am disappointed as rarely. At this price it is a disgrace and there will not be another chance.
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