Arriving at the Sheraton we were greeted by the wonderful staff at the front desk. It’s the staff at this resort that make this hotel. Every staff member that we came into contact with always said Sawadeeka (which is "hello" in Thai).
The hotel is just past the hustle and bustle of crazy Chaweng Beach, which is good thing as it was a bit quieter than Chaweng. A down side is it’s not walkable to get to Chaweng, however the hotel does offer a paid shuttle service or a taxi for about 200 baht.
So let me be honest. The hotel is an older style hotel that is really in need of some love.
The hotel style reminded me of a Spanish hotel with lots of arches and levels. The Sheraton has tried to hide the age but the building colour only emphasises the age of the buildings.
Our room had a beautiful view from the balcony over the gardens and and stunning sea views. However, the rooms are in need of a make-over. The bathroom tiles are 80's mustard, with cream floor tiles that have seen better days. The room had a mish mash of blue green colours, and the thing that makes the room look dated is the white wash finishes on doors and cupboards that give a sense of aging or a poor paint job. They have tried to modernise the room with USB ports (ours didn’t work, but was promptly attended to when pointed out).
The hotel is set on a cliff so you'll get plenty of steps each day as you move around the property. There are two pools. One located near the reception building which is a more of an adults only pool. The second is a stunning beachfront lagoon style pool with children’s shallow area. There is a well equipped kids club next the pool.
I think the real asset of the hotel is the beach location. It’s a beautiful white sandy beach with no waves really and the water temperature was so warm when we were there (September). The ocean reminded us of the Mediterranean warm, clear, blue water.
Breakfast had a wide selection to suit most tastes, but for me each day the dumplings were cold as the candle heating the steamer basket had gone out. There was a lot of staff / chefs standing around but they need to be keeping an eye on the food temp.
I have to be honest and say the food was a bit disappointing. We had the Saturday night tapas and again the hotel food was cold. To the credit of the staff when I bought it to their attention they quickly removed the items and cooked new items. Once again the chefs were standing around and not paying attention to the food.
It feels as the head chef is not at this property or not coaching his staff. I have to say the restaurant serving staff were wonderful and friendly and apologetic for any food failures.
Overall, it just wasn't up to scratch and a lot of this came down to food and tiredness of the buildings. If just one of those was fixed, you'd forgive the other.
