Charming

Great staff. Upon arrival, we had a concierge who briefed us on the hotel facilities and entertainment options in Phuket. Room is clean, bright and working.

Wished the cafe is bigger and offers a international breakfast buffet.

Getting to Patong Beach is easy via the in-house shuttle service or tuk-tuk (100 baht).

Dont believe the pics

I booked based on the pics as no reviews were available. I also figured that for what they were charging it would be nice.

Big mistake. Stray dogs wondering through the lobby during check in was not a good sign. I had to go up and down 10 flights of stairs to get to room as the place is built on steep hillside.

No glass in some wimdows guranteed local pests access with out charge. Room was bad, nothing like pics with support post in center of room. I had to crawl over bed to get to small closet. I had 10 days booked but stayed one. As it was prepaid they would not give ANY refund. I contacted credit card co. on return and got $$ back but payed for the night I slept there. If that's not bad enough, 6 months after I stayed they tried to sneak the charges back on my credit card.

STEEP hills mean no parking and one heck of a walk as there are no cabs that hang arond there.

Not what we expected

We liked what we saw on the hotel's website and hence booked 3 nights at Club Bamboo in Patong. Unfortunately the place didn't even come close to living up to what we saw on the website.

We booked a 'Bungalow Suite', unfortunately the photo depicted on the website has nothing to do with the bungalow suites at the resort (we were told it actually shows the 'Penthouse Suite'). The 'Bungalow Suite' had a rather worn, tired and sad look to it. Really noisy with the aircon on and the view was onto some water or sewage tanks. There was a lot of construction going on outside and within the resort, the pool wasn't the cleanest either. We decided to move somewhere else straight away, only after we were told that we are going to be charged for one night only and should contact the payment service that accepted our credit card booking for a refund of the remaining two nights.

One word of caution here - we have not (and most likely will not) see a single Baht refunded as the payment provider (--- or Reservation24) insists on their 'No Refund/No Cancellation' policy. While the hotel staff very reasonably helpful, it is disappointing that we were deliberately given wrong information regarding our cancellation. So my advice is - go there, see if you like it and pay the hotel directly. Don't use the payment service via their website - you won't see your money back if the place doesn't live up to your expectations or if you have to cancel for any other reason.

Not what we had hoped for....

We stayed at the Club Bamboo some time back for around 10 days. My family where flying in from Europe and Australia to meet in Phuket and I selected this as a straight but gay friendly hotel. My parents booked one of the two penthouse suites, my brother and his wife booked a pool side bungalow as did my partner and I. On arrival at the hotel the staff were very sweet and attentive and you find that the lobby is open air. The general look of the lobby is tired and it is not what it appeared on the website but then again it is only a lobby. We had many bags and were expecting a lift which there are none. My parents had to go about 30-35 steps up to get to the penthouse suite and we had to go about 80-90 steps down to get to the poolside bungalows. Luckily the staff carry all your bags as Phuket can be very hot.

Even so the stairs are a problem especially carrying my 2 year old nephew who either wanted to walk up every step whilst I counted them or be carried. When we were going from the poolside bungalow to the penthouse to see my parents carrying a small child it was simply exhausting and you would be sweating.

Apart from that once we saw the rooms we were again really disappointed, it looks nothing like the photos, as others have said the soft furnishings are desperately old. The towels are more rags than towels and plumbing and other such things are dated. I asked to be moved as my room was just horrible but the one I was moved to the next day was not much better. The penthouse suite was big but dated with a spa bath that was huge but looked so old that we did not even try to see if it worked. There was also a lot of dirt under the bed that had not been cleaned for some time and we only saw it as my nephews toy went under the bed. I immediately called housekeeping and told them to mop every inch of the floors.

The hotel needs to be renovated badly.

Now on the positive things, the staff were very friendly and helpful, internet is very slow but is provided. They did arrange a lovely dinner for 12 of us one evening right beside the pool and bought in flowers etc for a Thai banquet. Food prices are very reasonable as well....

I am looking at booking another family trip to Phuket in October and though of checking out Club Bamboo hoping it had maybe had a facelift but alas it has not.

I would rate the hotel 3 star and we are accustomed to 5 star accommodation so this hotel is not for us.

Check the exchange rate!

My husband and I are currently touring South East Asia and decided to stay at Club Bamboo in Phuket for a bit of R and R. It is a cosy wee resort with a nice pool and small restaurant facility set into the hillside. There are a lot of stairs - just getting around the resort is a miniature workout! The bungalow rooms are nice but in need of updating.

However, on arrival the lady on the front desk discussed our method of payment and, as we had booked in US dollars, proceeded to offer us an exchange rate of 40 baht to the dollar (at the time the exchange was 37.3 baht to the dollar). In fairness, we were only there for 3 nights but for someone staying on a longer holiday, let this serve as a warning! On departure they made us pay the bill under this exchange rate which I thought was just rude, considering that we had to do without our air-con for a day and a night. They did remedy the air-con problem but without apology or compensation.

The rest of the staff were really nice, particularly in the restaurant but the lady on the front desk didn't really appear to care less whether you had a right to pay 37 baht to the dollar or not.

Dingy

There are some good points to this hotel. It's up and out of the worst of the madness in Patong, yet anything you might want to get to is easily accessible (just a 100 baht tuk tuk ride). The staff is wonderful, truly the most affable and welcoming hotel staff I've ever dealt with.

But the room and the grounds leave a lot to be desired. The hotel looked frayed around the edges, the public spaces weren't well kept-up. Our room (the same mentioned in another review on these pages) was charmless. It had ongoing plumbing problems (sink that leaked, water that was either tepid or scalding), water stains on the ceiling, noisy A/C system. The place wasn't awful, just dingy and a bit depressing.

Great place

First class outfit, no friend visit charge, good pool, room clean, free safe deposit box, staff always happy and smiling, VG VFM.

An awkward hotel

The Thai staff is very nice but I found the hotel disappointing and I would not stay there again.

It is a bit run down. The towels in the room are worn and dingy. The hotel calls them environmentally friendly.

The tap in the bathroom was running when I arrived and would not shut off. The fixtures were attached crookedly and it ran constantly. During my stay, a hot water hose under the sink burst and hot water and steam flooded the room. The maintenance staff did come and replace the hose right away and the housekeeper mopped up the floor. The toilet also bubbled up and gurgled threateningly at regular intervals.

It's hard to put my finger on why I did not like it. Perhaps just a series of awkward encounters. My pool-side room was in a corner right over the kitchen and the balcony which partly overlooked the pool was level with some steps leading up to a supply room. Once I returned to my room mid-afternoon and opened the curtains only to see a startled cook taking a break sitting on the steps eye-level with my room.

When I checked out there were two restaurant charges to my bill that had been signed by someone else. One was for breakfast even though my breakfast was included in the room rate.

The breakfast was adequate and again the staff just wonderful.

The pool was situated in an attractive garden filled with lush tropical plants but instead of feeling like a hidden oasis, it felt a bit claustrophic. The much advertised waterfall was not running most of the time. I did see it trickle once.

There was (slow) internet access available but at 2 baht per minute it was twice the price of internet access in town.

There was free shuttle service into town and the driver could not have been more friendly. The free beach chair and umbrella at the beach was in a corner of the beach near a lot of longtail boats. I didn't find it inviting to hang out there for very long.

I wanted to like this place and was ready to relax and enjoy myself but it was just uncomfortable all around though I really cannot fault the staff. They were all quite friendly and quick to address problems. It is just an awkwardly situated and haphazardly managed hotel and I think that for the price, there are better choices.

Great place to stay on Phuket

I stayed at the Club Bamboo recently and found the hotel very pleasant. Having stayed at other hotels in the last few years in Phuket, I was interested in finding a location in the southern part of Patong Beach that was elevated up the side of the mountain. Club Bamboo is a short hop off of Na Nai road and was unaffected by the tsunami. The staff was great and personally communicated with me via email prior to my visit to confirm the bungalow with a late arrival time. The room was very clean. The bar staff kept me happy with cold drinks and towels. The front desk personel were always helpful with advice. The driver personally took me on a tour of the island to visit the temples for what I would call bus fare. The hotel is quite suitable for anyone or anyone couple or group. The online special rates for long stays afforded an even better value. I will stay at Club Bamboo again.

Tsunami Stay

We stayed in a bungalow suite at this gay friendly hotel from Christmas Eve until January 4th 05. We found the thai staff extremely pleasant - but the european management is most unhelpful and uncaring. The resort is much in need of a soft refurbishment. Towels and other soft furnishing are worn out and the place has an air of unkemptness about it. Leaves remain uncleared from the pool and most of the giant, much advertised, waterfall no longer works. It is however ideally situated on a hill away from the hussle of Patong but an easy tut tut trip down to the shops, beach and nightlife. Some more bungalows are being built in the grounds ready for the 2005/6 high season. All aside we were very grateful to be staying up on the hill when the tsunami came!