Resorts

Centara Karon Resort Phuket review: Having had the pleasure of following the transformation of this Phuket resort since 2022, one refurbishment phase was followed by yet another, and then culminating in the launch of a brand-new spa and adjacent pool villas by the end of 2025.

So here is Happy Hour Asia (HHA)’s impressions of Centara Karon Resort Phuket from multiple visits, having seen the transformation first-hand. And to sum things up, the completed upgrade has resulted in a wonderful accomplishment; a design-oriented resort with stylish rooms, and that is a true nature haven and with Karon beach at its doorstep!

In the wake of Covid-19 Centara Karon has been one of the first on Phuket’s west coast to pave the way for a strong comeback on the island’s famous west coast. HHA first explored and experienced the well-established resort in late April 2022, and its reopened garden sections, where guests seeking and enjoy blissed-out harmony, while being immersed in nature! Meanwhile, this has also been an ideal period for Centara Hotels & Resorts to revitalise the flagship resort.

Already back then the rooms had splashes of colours, especially with the room walls partly painted in a vivid green. And arriving into the guest quarter to not only find the welcome drink ‘Phuket Refreshing’, (made of Phuket pineapple juice and with hints of fresh ginger), but also an in-room do-it-yourself Negroni cocktail mix kit – was just the kind of arrival personalisation that resonated well with HHA.

Centara Karon Resort Phuket: interiors based on colour themes

Now, with the room refurbishments completed, the result looks impressive and the use of vivid colours is kept intact, using either a green or an orange variant as wall paint and room theme. And the overall transformation into a warm, cosy and stylish environment feels very inviting! This is especially noteworthy in all the blonde wood and mainly creamy-white quartz tables and floor tiles sprinkled with coloured flecks, contrasted by vivid floor carpets and modern rattan armchairs.

The bed frame of blonde wood comes with a bedhead in a beige textile wallpaper and leather-padded wall “tubes”.

The foyer comes with built-in cabinets in bright wood, including a wardrobe, a mirror and storage for the mini-bar under a marble-style curved table top with coffee maker

Next to the bed is a beige upholstered sofa with a cobalt-blue, oval table with a turquoise table top. This is for the green-blue room, where the beautifully patterned floor carpet comes in various green, blue and purple hues.

On the opposite side find a round, three-leg, white quartz table, paired with a hand-woven cobalt blue armchair and a blue upholstered stool – ideal for in-room dining. Over the table is a wall-mounted modern textile lamp, while baskets have been turned into wall mirrors as décor.

The bathroom is separated with slied doors, and it has a tiling in white and mint/nature-green, a “fragment” pattern. The wall is painted in the same hue (with a mounted freeform wooden-framed mirror), while the tub is built in with white tiles.

If instead staying in an orange room the interior changes to orange-white tiles, red-white striped pillows, and a floor carpet in hues of blue, red and orange.

The bedding comes with a thick and comfy mattress. Some rooms for families also come with bunk beds for two kids.

The rooms on the ground floor have direct garden access with outdoor seats. While rooms on floors above (accessed via passageways along the facade on the backside) have European-style white balconies – all overlooking one of the pool areas. The hotel buildings are surrounded by full-grown palms and tropical trees

Centara Karon Resort Phuket: Tropical rainforest elements

Being somewhat of a hidden secret, Centara Karon Resort Phuket (while situated behind the lively dining, entertainment and shopping area) has Phuket’s verdant jungle as backdrop. This alluring tropical getaway is also enhanced further with rainforest trees – the Couroupita guianensis, known by a variety of common names including cannonball tree – that have very large, amazing-looking flowers (tints of rose, white and yellow) for guests to admire; and three pools fringed by swaying coconut palms and other lush vegetation!

Most of one’s time as a resort guest will here be spent outdoors – where some guests will also want to visit the actual beach, which is only a short walk from the resorts, and which is wide and several kilometres long, actually in the north ending at the Centara Grand Resort Phuket. But when staying on the premises there are lots to enjoy: not least with the swim-up bars and lots to savour on the dining front! So, for Centara Karon much attention goes to its guests’ desire to be in or besides the water: on a daybed, in the water on a sunken stool at the pool bar, swimming laps or playing at the E-Zone pool waterpark, having pampering at the spa and of course enjoying the resort in-house dining.

Centara Karon Resort Phuket: zones for adults and zones for children

And Kudos to Centara for separating the main guest types based on adults, families and playground guests, so that everyone can enjoy their favourite corner in peace! Hence, there is in the Tropicale zone an adult’s only pool and bar – Tropix – which offers ample sundeck space and a swim-up bar at its lap pool short side. The wide bar offers quite many underwater seats and underwater lights, where the pool’s new bright, natural stone tiles give the water a turquoise hue.

Tropix serves snack and refreshments. The pool bars also offer happy hour drinks towards the late afternoon.

Three uniquely shaped, tree-shaded cabanas have also been added. Furnished with padded daybeds these cabanas come with tropical wood walls, glass ceilings and arched openings facing the pool. And they are really cool.

The youngsters, meanwhile, have their dedicated pleasure dome at the freeform the Lagoon, with waterpark features like a mushroom fountain and water slides. Here, parents can keep an eye on their children from poolside hammocks, at the Koh Kool pool bar, or from the restaurant, as some tables at the Escape Pool Club are close to the E-zone pool waterpark. The indoor-outdoor restaurant offers such tables on a wooden deck with seating in the form of blue sofas and vintage-style – and yet modern – rattan-style chairs shaded by white parasols. There is also some sandy flooring areas, while nearby the Chang Dee Kids’ Club is positioned on a lawn.

The escape by the pool by Centara Karon Resort Phuket

The Escape Pool Club design is similar to the rooms, with a mix of blonde wood and marine-blue backdrop walls. Other interior features: quartz tables; wooden ceiling lamps and fans; blue-padded seats; and creamy cappuccino-hued, round pillars and ceiling.

Already at our first visit in 2022 the new true Mediterranean feel was evident, with crescent sofas backdropped by wooden splint walls and lots of blue items: table mats, drinking glasses, pillows and textile cushions. Dinners can choose between various configurations, including a roof-covered section with [wall] sofas and beige rattan style chairs with blue padding; and, again, those creamy-white quartz tables with blue flecks. The restaurant also comes with a game room with relaxing armchairs and sofas and ping pong and TV games.

The Escape serves modern global cuisine and grilled specialties, to offer something for every taste bud. And forgive us for relating to a previous menu, but the food it offered turned out to be really impressive from the get-go.

For lunch, Original fried calamari (deep fried and served with spicy marinara sauce and, grilled lime) was a good-tasting perfect starter. This was followed by a Gourmet Pizza, Focaccia Luna that had grilled zucchini, eggplant, onion, mushroom and gouda cheese as ingredients. It was cut into triangle pieces, as a form of sandwich pizza. As dessert, a delicious Chocolate Lava Cake served with whipped cream, vanilla ice-cream, chocolate sauce, almond crumble and berries completes the meal leaving me more than fulfilled. At the more recent visit, the desserts on a more recent menu at the Escape are: Pina colada cheesecake, Coconut lime panna cotta and more.

Dinner at the first visit started with Cream of vegetable soup served with truffle cream and grilled sour dough bread, and with Garlic bread and grissini stick served with butter and homemade masala curry dip on the side. The chef informed that the soup also contained cauliflower, pumpkin and carrot for the recipe of this awesome soup.

As main, the Seared local white snapper (with a crispy skin) on a bed of mashed potato came with grilled mixed vegetables including green asparagus, cherry tomatoes, tempura mushroom and a curry sauce as condiments – a great-tasting dish.

A Thai dessert classic, Khao Niew Mamuang (Fresh mango and sweet sticky rice served with coconut sauce, coconut ice cream, almond crumble, berries and cold and warm pandanus), ended the dinner on a high. The Mango was cut into tiny bullets, the dragon fruit into small cubes – forming an innovative presentation of this classic.

From the new Day Menu some salads and wraps are among the highlights: Watermelon & feta salad (Fried with feta cheese, red onion, mint, basil and balsamic glaze); Crisp prawn & mango salad (Batter-fried prawns, yellow mango, cherry tomatoes and mesclun salad with honey lime dressing); Spicy prawn mango wrap (Garlic and lime grilled prawn, romaine lettuce, avocado, yellow mango, roasted capsicum and Thai island dressing, served with French fries); and Falafel & hummus wrap (Crispy falafel, fresh veggies, hummus with a creamy lemon-garlic dill sauce, served with Cajun fries)

As dessert, how about a fluffy Cheese cake, paired with Pickwick green tea!

Other Day menu sections include ‘Gourmet Hot Dogs’; featuring Chorizo & Jalapeno dog with roasted capsicum, shallots etc. Signature Thai dishes can of course also be enjoyed, including a Thai salmon ceviche (Larb Fusion) salad. In Italian tradition the pasta section offers the real deal: Mushroom and truffle, Alla pescatora, and of course the Carbonara.

House cocktails can be enjoyed at all outlets, here presenting ‘Pool club’ (aperol, vodka, lime juice, ginger ale), and Thai-jito (made with Thai rum).

Not a single meal lets us down when it comes to taste or the picture-perfect presentation at Escape Pool Club, a venue that also promises guests lively and festive vibes, packed with pool parties and other “interactive activities.”

The resort also has lawns and walkways snaking between the buildings, and the SPA Cenvaree, where parents can also enjoy personal moments, including therapies. Also find an upgraded and fully-equipped TechnoGym fitness centre.

Bistro Grill & Bar breakfast, buffets and all-day dining

For breakfast as well as all-day dining Bistro Grill & Bar presents a range of international and Thai favourites throughout the day. This restaurant offers both indoor and alfresco (but roof-covered sala buildings) dining and comes with interiors in keeping with the rest of the resort, and where wickerwork ceiling lamps lends more Thai character to the dining rooms that also come with brown pillars and wooden latticework walls. Add to that table mats, built-in padded wall sofas, quartz tables and built in padded wall sofas – all in orange or with elements of orange.

In one zone square bar with curved corners and leisurely style wooden bar stools takes centre stage and offers guests the opportunity for pre- and post-dinner drinks – and also here with special House Cocktails: Karon Punch (rum, watermelon juice mango juice), and New World Long Island Ice tea. For beer lovers there are some Thai micro-brewery choices: Salawan and Sayplay.

Upon the visit a themed evening buffet replaces the a-la-cart menu, while we can disclose that some of the dishes include: Sea bass En Papilotte (baked En Papilotte with white wine, fried herbs…), Burrata Peach Caprese (Pugliese burrata cheese, heirloom cherry mix, rocket salad, balsamic dressing and basil oil), and Prawn Saltimbocca (King prawn saltimbocca with oven-roasted tomato, rocket, raisins and pine nuts). Can’t wait to try those tempting dishes at the next occasion!

The experience seafood buffet includes, among other dishes, Spicy seafood salad, Sushi
tuna roll, Crispy fried squid Deep-fried Phuket fish cakes, Stir-fried spaghetti seafood, Grilled squid turmeric, Grilled crab, prawn and more.

At breakfast, and with the buffet presented in multiple zones dishes, some of standout individual dishes include: homemade Bircher muesli, pink noodle soup, Stir-fried tofu with broccoli, and egg benedict – which gives you an idea of a more than ample selection!

Centara Karon Resort review: The Terrace’s

The last zone to turn our attention to is The Terrace’s, which is the resort’s high-rise tower that is more like a traditional hotel, but still featuring balconies with views of the beach town or the sea. And the Terraces’s really shows that Centara Karon Resort Phuket really lives up to being tailored to the needs of every guest.

The tower also houses the third pool area with the Splash pool bar, accessed via multi terraces, and where some red daybeds placed, and around the pool.

And inside Terraces’s this resort also houses the debut of Centara Hotels & Resorts new social space Pink Social. This lounge, which you may guess comes with splashes of pink, is multifunctional: co-working, social, and pre- check-in and post check-out hangout.

And to complete it all guests can opt for those one-, two- and three-bedroom Pool Villas, that are spectacular sanctuaries with outdoor pools and a dedicated check-in area.

All things combined – the spacious and nicely designed guest quarters, awesome tropical surrounds with pools and swim-up bars, and the excellent dining – makes this a highly recommended resort experience.