Bandara Pool Villas, Phuket (ex Bandara Villas Phuket)

Amazing

I thank the staff members Nut and Christina for their service to us, and the hotel was clean; I didn't expect it to be so clean at first, but it turned out to be excellent.

We’ve just finished our stay at Bandara Villas Phuket, and while the resort has many strong points (especially cleanliness, the beach, and the spa), a few serious issues significantly affected our experience — especially one major problem in the room that ruined our sleep and, ultimately, our vacation. ⸻ ✅ What we liked • Impeccable cleanliness in the villa and throughout the resort. • Very friendly and polite staff, always kind and willing to help. • A beautiful beach with perfect sand and very clean, clear water. • A big plus: no insects at all in the resort (rare in Thailand) — only a few geckos, nothing disturbing. • The private pool in the villa was very well maintained and always clean. • The spa is excellent, with truly outstanding service — one of the best parts of our stay. ⸻ ❌ What we didn’t like (and why it matters) 1) Air conditioning was a complete disaster (it ruined our vacation) Unfortunately, the air conditioning in our villa was a nightmare, and it seriously ruined our stay. ‼️ Avoid villas 304 and 303. • The AC seems defective: no proper temperature control, no dehumidifier mode, and no real adjustment. • It basically works only ON/OFF. • Without it, the room becomes unbearably hot and humid. • With it on, you literally freeze because it blows extremely cold air (around 16°C). • We had to wake up around 20 times per night to switch it on and off manually just to keep the room tolerable. • We reported the issue three times to reception, but it was never fixed. By the end of the trip, we honestly couldn’t wait to go home just to finally sleep a full night. ⸻ 2) Half board is a big disappointment (avoid it!) The half board option was a complete fiasco. There is a separate half board menu, different from the normal restaurant menu, and it honestly feels like you’re being “punished” for choosing half board. • The half board menu has very limited and poor options compared to the regular menu. • Eventually, we decided to stop using half board just so we could order from the regular menu, paying separately for what we consumed. ✅ Our recommendation: avoid half board. ⸻ 3) The bar is rarely open The bar has a beautiful location, but it has a very strange schedule — only open from 5 PM to 8 PM. Most of the time, it feels like it’s closed, which makes it almost useless. ⸻ 4) Staff English is difficult to understand Although the staff is kind, their English is often difficult to understand, especially for tourists, which makes communication harder when you need a real issue solved. ⸻ 5) Not enough sunbeds on the beach There are far too few sunbeds compared to the number of guests, and every morning there was basically a “race” at sunrise to reserve a spot. ⸻ ⭐ Final thoughts We initially wanted to give 3 stars, but decided on 4 stars only because Mr. Excel from the reception team was extremely helpful, supportive, and kind throughout our stay — and that truly made a difference. The resort has great potential (cleanliness, beach, private pools, spa), but the air conditioning issue and the way half board is handled should be improved urgently.