TripAdvisor Centara Grand Beach Resort Phuket

We just got back to Dubai after a 6 night stay at the Centara Grand. There were LOTS of problems.

The first problem was check in. My family were meeting at the resort for the week from various parts of the globe - Canada, Australia, Dubai - and the hotel was booked by my sister. I had a confirmation number but no "voucher" that they kept asking for, even though I was assured I was not going to need it. My friend and I were the first of the group to arrive at around 11am. First of all, check in took nearly an hour as even though our rooms were booked under individual names (there were three last names in our family party of 7) there was no booking under my name at all. They finally agreed to check us in based on the fact that my surname was the same as one of the other names there were two rooms booked for.

My sister had clearly stated months ago when she booked that we needed 4 rooms next to each other, 2 king rooms and 2 double rooms. What we got were a king and double room in one block and a king and double room in another. This didn't work for us as we were 6 adults and a 3-year-old, but my 87-year-old grandmother was also with us and she needed assistance to move from the room to the pool/restaurants etc so we needed to be all together. The next issue was that our room wasn't actually cleaned properly. My friend found a used cotton bud/Q tip on the floor of the room and ants near the doors. The third issue was that we had booked "ocean view" rooms but we couldn't see the ocean at all.

Wanting to sort these problems out before the others in the group arrived, I returned to the reception where I voiced my concerns. The reception staff were not particularly helpful and kept trying to tell me there was nothing they could do as they were at 90% occupancy. That's not really my problem so I insisted and after 3 hours (yes, 3 hours) we finally had 2 rooms in one block and 2 in another with a promise to move 2 rooms the next day so that we were all together. The next day, we called reception to see if the other rooms were ready for us to move to. We were told they were and to let them know when we were ready to be moved. I rang them and said we were ready, they assured us a porter was coming with the keys to the new rooms and to help us with our bags. An hour and 3 phone calls later we were still sitting there waiting, and I called AGAIN and the lady at reception asked if we were ready as they had been waiting for us! No communication clearly between the staff there, and no apology either!

Other issues - my grandmother's room had an AC unit that was leaking all over the hallway in her room. We called each day for 3 days and the technicians came to "fix" it. The fourth time, I complained. I might expect to have them fix something maybe twice, but four times is a joke and they need to get maintenance that knows what they're doing.

The beds in the room are among the hardest I have ever slept on, and I am used to a very firm bed. We had aching bodies and barely slept at all.

The lounge chairs by the pool are really uncomfortable to sit on and get in and out of. The towel attendants at the swimming pool will not give you a towel if you don't have your towel card. And twice we had to return towels we had just been given as they were dirty.

There is a shuttle bus to Patong twice a day but it only seats 15 people and you have to book a day in advance which I thought was ridiculous for a hotel that size.

The food. This deserves its own paragraph. What can I say, apart from that it was atrocious? We had the seafood buffet and we couldn't eat it. The breakfast had a good range but the food was constantly cold and was poor quality. The same thing every day as well; a little variety wouldn't go astray. I got food poisoning, although I can't be sure where I got it from but the hotel food was so bad it wouldn't surprise me if I got it there. I spent the last 3 days of our trip and the whole flight home in pain and having constant vomiting and diarrhea. It really spoiled our trip as I was there to spend time with my family that I don't see often and I was holed up in the room and close to the bathroom for 3 days. I also suffered on the flights home. On the last night my family ate a la carte dinner in the restaurant and the food was terrible. The kids meal took 45 minutes to come out and the fries were stone cold and obviously re-fried. The staff didn't understand what we asked for with drinks and kept bringing us the wrong things. We asked for bottles of water three times and they didn't bring us any. The service in the hotel, on the whole, is disgraceful.

My mother, sister and I had manicures and pedicures in the hotel spa. For what we paid, I expected more - I've had some bad experiences in my travels but I literally had to fix my own nails after they had done them. My mother and sister weren't happy with theirs either.

There are some positives to the hotel. The grounds are very nice and the rooms were fine apart from the maintenance issues. The balconies were nice and once we moved, the view was pleasant too. The housekeeping staff were lovely. They greeted us and spoke to us each day and were very helpful when I was sick, offering to call the hotel doctor (which I refused, but it was nice of them to offer). One particular porter was very helpful, I believe his name was Boy. And there was a lovely restaurant staff member at breakfast who was lovely to chat to but unfortunately I can't remember her name.

Whilst my family still managed to enjoy the holiday, I was so sick it spoiled it for me, and I always judge a hotel/resort based on if I would stay there again. Which I absolutely wouldn't. I have been to Thailand many times and unfortunately I think this may have been the least positive experience I have ever had. The only reason I have given it a rating of 3 is because of the rooms, buildings, facilities and housekeeping staff.

PS If the General Manager is reading this I have just received your email asking for a survey of the hotel - please consider this my constructive criticism. I am happy to assist you further with any information you may need to improve your property.