My husband and I loved this hotel. Let me start by saying that I agree with some of the other reviewers... the location and resort alone will not give you a true Phuket experience. You need to get off the premises to experience what Phuket has to offer. However, as a resort hotel, it was amazing.

The service was great. As a Marriott Platinum rewards member, we got free breakfast in the Marriott Cafe each morning. The breakfast was an international buffet - one of the best I've ever experienced. The hostesses and servers remembered us each morning, and our personal room attendant left us notes and goodies each day. Karin, our concierge man, was also unbelievably helpful. He helped us with tours organized through the hotel AND with things we had set up on our own before arriving in Thailand.

As others have mentioned, the pools do get crowded, but we never had too much trouble finding a spot. The beach is also just beyond the pools.

The restaurants are of course resort prices, but the Siam deli offers reasonably priced meals at about $10-$12 each. We often ate there when dining on site.

One of our favorite things about the resort is the two elephants that wander with their trainers along the beach and past the pools. We saw the elephants daily, and they were a treat to interact with.

The only major con about the hotel is this: it is located very far north in Phuket. While this makes for a great, relaxing, non-crowded beach, it also means that it is not a quick cab ride to most of the happening places in Phuket. You either need to rent a car OR plan on spending a lot of $$ on transportation. We had four in our group, so we split taxi costs and planned our trips in order to make the most of the taxi fare we paid.

If you're going for a relaxing experience, this is the place to stay. If you want to be part of the nightlife and touristy areas of Phuket, plan to stay somewhere south.