Hotel: Thavorn Palm Beach Resort

Location: Karon Beach, Phuket, Thailand

Room: Lagoon Pool Access Deluxe Terrace

Perfect for: Couples, or Family with one child

Category: Luxury

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Located at the beautiful Karon Beach in Phuket, Thavorn Palm Beach Resort is situated on the beachfront and a short stroll to everything Karon has to offer. In addition, you can easily get to Kata Beach in around 10 minutes and Patong Beach in around 15 minutes.

From Phuket International Airport, it will take about 1 hour 20 minutes to get to the hotel so factor this into your arrival planning (or at least be prepared for the lengthy journey post flight!), especially if your flight lands in the evening.

We stayed at this hotel for 5 nights in July 2025 – Monsoon season! We were expecting quite a lot of rain, however were extremely lucky to not get any rain during the holiday – sunshine, warmth and a lovely breeze.

This short video takes you through the hotel grounds.

Our welcome experience…

We had pre-arranged transfers from the airport to take us to the hotel. The process at the airport was clear and relatively seamless.

After arriving at the hotel reception quite late at night, our 6 year old was asleep and we were juggling getting our passports for check in. Whilst the staff were friendly upon our arrival, we were asked to provide proof of payment of the hotel room, despite the booking confirmation saying it was paid in full. We had to spend some time pulling up bank statements, so they could take a copy of this for their records. They advised it was a requirement. It did make the arrival a little frustrating after we’d been in transit for around 20 hours by this point. We did not have this issue at our second hotel, so I am still unsure why it was necessary!

The Room…

We booked a Lagoon Pool Access Deluxe Terrace for the three of us. The room was set up with a single bed for our son to sleep on.

There is direct access to the lagoon pools and a private terrace with sun beds to relax and enjoy the afternoon sun. Immediately behind the pool is the road that separates the hotel to the beach, but you can see the ocean which was lovely.

The room comes with a mini bar and safe and the usual amount of storage that you would expect in a hotel room.

Tip: If you are booking one of these rooms, I would suggest asking at the time of booking to have the access room at the pool area with the swim up bar access. Whilst we had lagoon access, we did have to exit our room and walk around to be able to utilise the beautiful newly built pool with swim up bar. You could get there from the lagoon pool outside the terrace, but with towels, inflatables and swim toys for the kids – it made it too tricky. You can see the different types of pool access from the images on their website.

To take a walk through the room – check out our short video.

Meals…

Ocean Rhyme Restaurant – Our package included breakfast each morning. Located at the main pool area, there was plenty on offer in the form of a buffet. It is pretty much what you would expect from a resort style buffet. You can also enjoy lunch and dinner at this restaurant.

There are several pool bars available to purchase food and drinks while enjoying the sunshine and pools.

Beach Pool Bar – A 10/10 for the adults! Located around the corner from the hotel’s main pool, this newly built pool is stylish, has an awesome vibe and has it’s very own swim up pool bar with a delicious menu. Would highly recommend spending your days in this pool!

Blue Heaven Pool Bar – located at the main pool where the water slides are. This was our most visited lunch spot for our son – he loved the wood fire pizza! It was a win win for him.

Chaba Swim up Pool Bar – This is the same menu as the Blue Heaven Pool Bar, but you can order it from the pool bar and eat your lunch without getting out of the water!

Ciao Pizza and Grill Restaurant – Located at the hotel, but accessible from the street, Ciao Pizza & Grill provides an alternative dining option. We enjoyed dinner there one evening. The food was good and it was an easy option when we didn’t want to think about where to go.

There are other options as well, like in-room dining, ice cream and a coffee shop.

Hotel Grounds

The resort is part of a 12 acre tropical rainforest garden – it makes for a very lush and tropical feel. Being such a large hotel, you may have quite a walk, depending on where you room is, to get from reception to your room or to the pool. But – we all need that incidental exercise when enjoying the delicious food and drink that Thailand has to offer! Despite feeling like you’re surrounded by a rainforest, you are conveniently located right on the doorstep to Karon beach.

The Pools: There are 4 pools, yep that’s right – FOUR!! As if one isn’t enough. We chose this hotel because of the water slides. They were an absolute hit with the kids. This pool also has a section suitable for small toddlers making it very family friendly. The pool directly behind is one of the pools with a swim up bar and next to that is the third pool which we used when we hired some of the fun pool equipment! The fourth pool, the one we loved the most was the newest addition around the corner (which adjoin the lagoon access rooms) which was stylish, awesome vibe and a little quieter (as there are no water slides!). This is also the best swim up bar at the resort.

Tip: Bring your own inflatables or pool toys if you can! If not, you can pick one up at the local markets. It helps keep the kids entertained whilst you an relax and enjoy the sunshine.

Petting Zoo: There is a complimentary petting zoo which is open at two timeslots each day. It is a huge hit with the kids (and adults!!). Located at the far side of the resort on the beach front, the kids will absolutely get so much enjoyment out of patting and feeding the animals and holding the birds!

Health and Fitness…

For those who like to stay active on holidays, there is a gym onsite.

Good to know…

Water – The hotel provides glass bottled water in your hotel room. This is complimentary each day. We were not advised of this when we checked in, so did choose to purchase bottled water from the local supermarket.

Convenience Store: There are several shops in the next street where you can buy bulk bottled water, snacks and anything else you may have forgotten!

Tuk Tuk, Taxi and ride share (Grab/Bolt): There are the famous Tuk Tuk’s to get around in Thailand. They are fun and certainly an experience. But, they can be expensive for a short journey. You also have the option for a taxi and you’ll find plenty of them all over the island. However, if you are wanting to go somewhere a little further away (e.g we went to Freedom Beach) we ordered a Grab (which is like the AU version of Uber) and it was significantly cheaper than the taxis. We showed the taxi drive the price in the app and they still refused to take us for the same price. You’ll need to download the apps for Grab and/or Bolt.

Tip: We used Grab / Bolt for our return journey to the airport as you can select how many people and bags you have, ensuring you have a car that will fit everything in!

Beach: Depending on the time of year you visit, will depend if the beach is safe for swimming or if it will be too rough. This trip, we visited in July which is Monsoon season. The winds are higher, which created much bigger swell on this side of the island.

Other activities & suggestions

On the Rock Restaurant: A short walk from the hotel, you will find yourself at this most incredible restaurant in the rocks, overlooking Karon Beach. I would highly recommend you make a reservation and ensure you pick a time so you are there to enjoy the magical sunset!

There are plenty of activities to do whilst in Thailand. This includes fun activities like going to the Muay Thai Boxing, hiking down (and up!) to Freedom Beach, visiting an Elephant Sanctuary, enjoying the most amazing Phi Phi Island and Maya Bay and not forgetting the Canoeing at James Bond Island!

Checking out…

This was a simple and quick process. We then ordered a Grab to take us to our next destination at Patong Beach!

Above and beyond…

Nothing to note here.

The not so good…

Our only negative experience was at check in when we had to locate bank statements as proof of payment.

The verdict…

We enjoyed our stay at the Thavorn Palm Beach Hotel. The location was excellent, close to the beach, restaurants, local markets and supermarkets. We have stayed in a variety of hotels on Phuket – it depends on what sort of holiday you are looking for as to what hotel would be best for you.

You can take a look at all of our Thailand posts here.

I also recommend one of the other hotels we’ve stayed at during our time in Phuket.

Avista Grande Phuket, Karon Beach

Pullman Phuket Arcadia, Naithon Beach

Avista Hideaway Patong Beach

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