Normally, I don’t go online and recommend a hotel. However my wife and I, who has just passed 60, did visit the very best hotel, we have ever visit, worldwide. At Mom Tri's Villa Royale, Ocean Wing - there are 5 suites/bungalows with kingsize double beds and the staff of 5 people alone to those suites. The staff had been there for several years and especially Net, Say and Ton was so friendly and service minded. Thank you very much. We were here for one week in February at the Pinot Noir Suite (43), which is a high quality designed suite with a great ocean view and private areas at the ocean, where you can relax and sun bath, or you can use the cozy private swimming pool, if this is what you want. It is very quiet (children less than 12 years are not allowed) you could hear the birds and in the background the ocean (no other tourist etc.), even the hotel which is probably 3 levels above the ocean. Every day, well cleaned and the bed was every evening made ready for the night with cozy decoration with swans, elephants etc. done by Bank with towels and flowers. The garden and surroundings were like to be in the nature, but with beautiful sculptures around. The food was the very best you can get, with a full both Thai and International menu cards. You have to visit their wine cellar, they had I think, over 500 different wines, especially red wines. Hotel, service, staff, surrounding, restaurant etc., I will give them 5 stars, if this is the maximum and can only recommend this hotel to anyone, who want a relaxed vacation in luxsus. No wonder that the Danish Prins Henrik has stayed here recently at the Ocean Wing.

One of the nicest boutique resorts we have ever visited and we have been to the Phuket area every January the last 15-20 years.
The setting is beautiful in a well-kept garden, the rooms spacious and decorated with considerable taste. The restaurant is super, the service very good. The staff superb!
Only drawback is the lack of a beach at the resort area. Villa Royale has three small pools one of which is saltwater. From the top floor room and down to the beach are 9-10 floors, with no lift. Part of the decent – and climb – is a narrow path which takes you to the very nice but also very public Kata Noi beach.
We spent one week at Villa Royale without ever venturing out of the resort except for several daily walks down to and along the beach and one 10 minutes’ walk to “downtown” Kata; from where we hurried back, disgusted.
We might one day be back at Mom Tri Villa Royale (not Mom Tri Boathouse, which is a very different thing)

After reading some of the reviews on this hotel I am puzzled. We spend 8 weeks encompassing all the main tourist seasons each year commencing mid December. Some people seem to encounter problems that are new to me. It is possible, that issues some people mention maybe due to expecting that the accommodation and restaurants to be a microcosm of the U.K. Expectations in a short visit may not live up to all the travelogues hype in one go.
All that I can say is that the Villas have a truly warm and professional staff covering all aspects of the tourists needs. As an example a first class Housekeeping run by Khun Dee who ensures that the first sign of the slightest problem it is sorted immediately. There was a review saying marked bedding was not changed in their 3 day stay???.
References have been made to the quality of food, but identifying the restaurant as overlooking Kata beach. The Boathouse hotel, no longer owned by Mom Tri overlooks this beach. MOM TRI's VILLA ROYALE AND KITCHEN (classed number one restaurant by trip advisor) overlook KATA NOI BEACH with suburb food and unbelievable views. I would recommend, that before reviews are posted, that the correct details of the area and restaurant are named.
Trip Advisor is a great information tool, but the usefulness is based on fair and accurate reviews.

Amazing, wonderful, immersive tropical gardens that let you feel "somewhere else".

Stayed 2 nights in a Beach Wing suite. It was very spacious, huge bed, nice sitting area.
Bathroom is also large, with maybe a proportionnally small shower that may also need to be renewed/fixed. Two little (delicious) cakes were delivered to our room during the two days of our stay - nice surprise.

Fantastic view over Kata Noi beach from our balcony (very large - with a daybed and a table with two chairs), through the trees.

The main restaurant is excellent: outstanding breakfast (with exceptional pastries) and great dinners. We had our New Year's eve dinner there: very expensive (with wine - about €100pp) but it was globally worth, considering the very romantic surroundings and well animated (discrete) atmosphere. Will post a separate review about the restaurant. Excellent service all along the dinner.

So what's the issue? No issue, but something to definitely consider: the beach and the overall daily experience. I would not suggest this hotel to spend hours during the day for the following reasons.
- there are 3 swimming pools, but they are all very (very) small, not even big enough for a swim. Nothing comparable to any of the resorts we have visited around the world. Although this is a small boutique hotel, we found the outdoor facilities, in particular the swimming pools and the deckchairs (with no mattresses) below usual 5 star standards.
- the beach (1 minute walk down the hill) not only is not private (this was clear to us) but does not even have an area reserved for Mom Tri's. It was peak season and the beach was packed with guests from the Kathathani resort, just steps away, and it was not possible to find a place to lay down. Even if we could find one, there were just too many people and too many deckchairs, too close to each other. If you want to spend some time on a beach relaxing in Phuket, there are other better choices.

The Ocean Wing part of the resort (5 min uphill walk) -newer- gives the opportunity to those who like this, to have some (interesting) secluded time for two on one of the several decks in the gardens; some of them really secluded and overlooking the ocean. No chance though to go for a swim from there. Some of those decks were not very clean, apparently not so many people use them. In my point of view, these are worth the try as the views and the privacy are pretty unusual. A (very) small swimming pool and - sadly - no shower also in this Ocean Wing area..

Very friendly and professional staff, well above expectations.