Sometimes what looks and smells good is not a rose as we think.

Trust me, if you close your eyes and smell a can of air freshener you could be mistaken that it’s a rose, that’s until you open your eyes and realize the difference.
Case in hand with our findings on guest houses here in Karon Beach Phuket.
We decided that now we had completed our dental surgery at the Bangkok Hospital in Phuket
(yes its called Bangkok and its in Phuket) it was now time to move on and get a little closer to the beach and check out the tourist spots on the island.
We had traveled extensively during the first few days here, from one end to the other around the island to get a real feel for the place. We knew that we didn’t want to be in the heart of Patong as the acton at night wouldn’t suit us.
The hotel we stayed at in Old Phuket Town was great.
Name – Samkong Place Boutique Hotel
 
 Samkong Place - Phuket
 
Here’s a breakdown of expenses
  • Room (size was big and king size bed)
  • Separate shower toilet and your own private balcony with patio setting
  • Breakfast – included (Toast and Jam, Coffee, Tea, Hot Chocolate)
  • TV (cable)
  • Refrigerator
  • WiFi in room (with password)
  • Laundry Service
  • Cost per night – 800THB
  • Motorcycle hire – 400THB per 2 day hire
  • Cost of petrol per tank 100THB
  • Time to get to Patong – 25/30 minutes

 

Advantages
Lots more street vendors at night for cheap dinner.
Quiet off street location
Samkong Place - Phuket1
So with all of this in our heads we still decided that we would have a go at finding a place near the beach.
Settling at Karon Beach as a destination we walked around a few of the local guesthouses to get an idea of what 800THB would get you.
After walking through a few we quickly came to the conclusion that we needed to be prepared to raise our spending price to 1000THB if we were going to find anything that we would consider staying at.
We came across one place that seemed to tick a few of the boxes.
I had really on question and that was doest the room have WIFI?
As this is something that Elena and I need to be able to communicate with our friends.
The very helpful lady assured us that they had WIFI.
Not having a TV was not a major concern as we would be out in the evening anyway.
The kind lady showed us a room (as did all the others trying to secure our business).
The room was big enough and seemed to be the best at the rate that we had set in our minds.
We got the room for 800THB
Another bonus was that the sister hotel had a pool that we would be able to use, the second hotel was a 15 minute walk away.
This all sounded pretty good, so we decided to take a room and organised to check in a couple days time.
We departed from Samkong Place and were sad to go as this had been our home since arriving in Phuket some 10 days earlier, but the lure of the beach was calling.
Arriving at Karon Beach Guesthouse we soon discovered that there were no large rooms as offered a few days before and were now faced with taking a smaller room at the same price.
We were told that we would be up graded the following day should a room become available. Faced with either hunting for another room or accepting what was on offer we decided to take the room.
Karon Guesthouse - Phuket
Upon entering the room Elena noticed that the wastepaper basket was full of rubbish, including a used condom. It only made us wonder how clean the rest of the room was.
Trying to connect to the WIFI proved to be hopeless, even though the router was literally 3 rooms down the hall the signal could not be picked up by either my HTC mobile or the Nexus 7 Tablet.
We made a decision that in the morning  we would check out and find another hotel.
I thought if we hired a motorbike we could scout around and the beach for a more suitable room.
I asked how much to rent a motorbike and the cost offered was 250THB for the day.
The cost of breakfast in a local restaurant was going to set us back 185THB per person
Elena and I made the sobering decision that we had made a huge mistake.
Samkong Place maybe further away from all the tourist traps, but value for money its fantastic.
Hiring a motorbike and riding over the hill is all part of the days activities.
Look let’s face it, Phuket is an Island that’s 45km long and 25km wide. In 10 days I’ve ridden right around the place. Its an easy island to navigate and the natives are friendly should you get lost, hell… That’s half the fun.
Come to Phuket, if you want price and quiet and good service from a small boutique hotel, you’ll find it at Samkong Place.
Oh, you’re probably wondering were we stayed at the beach?
We didn’t….
We went back to the good thing we had in the first place.
Post-note…. After a trip to a small island for our last four days we recommended Samkong Place to 2 couples that we had shared a day trip with, both were highly impressed.