We stayed at the Cape Panwa for 12 days In October. We knew that we risked having wet weather but it turned out that for the first 9 days any rain was mostly in the evenings. It was very hot and I burned quite badly on our first day.

The staff was wonderful with special mentions for Thamarat at the main restaurant. He was a star! the staff at the Otter bar and The Lightgouse pub were also excellent. Happy hour at the Otter bar 6.30 to 7.30 and Lighthouse from 9.30 to 10.30.

There's a resident 3 piece band that plays at the restaurant from about 6pm and then at the Lighthouse from about 9pm, the Otter bar had it's own girl singer and pianist.

We did a few excursions while we were there, arranged for us at half the cost of what the rep was charging. Go to the beach and a couple of the waiters will help you out.

Our room was spacious with a sea view, nice balcony and was kept very clean by the daily maid. The water in the bathroom was extremely hot. Please be careful and heed the warnings in the bathroom about the water.
There's a mini bar in the room as well, prices aren't much different from the bars.

There's a free courtesy but that goes back and forth to the village a couple of minutes away. The hill is very steep, so unless you are very fit, the bus is the best choice. This takes you to the sister Kantary Bay Hotel. there's a small supermarket in the village, as well as a very reasonably priced restaurant. there's also a ATM machine which takes all cards including prepaid maestro and visa cards.

There's free wi-fi internet access in the public areas, but you can get access from their pc's at a cost.

The beach was nice and quiet with a snack bar serving cold beers, soft drinks and meals. Towels provided free of charge (also at the main pool) you just sign for them. There's also a pool with jaccuzi at the beach as well as the Panwa House restaurant. Theres a tram that takes you up and down to the beach or there's a couple of walkways it's quite steep though so we used to walk down and get the tram back!

We loved it and will definately return.

Not long returned from 12 days at the Cape Panwa, the perfect location for a relaxing family holiday with a quiet private beach, which made it very safe for our children.

Disappointing

After a warm welcome at the hotel we were disappointed when shown our room as there was only 1 double bed for us (2 Adults & 8yr old Daughter), I straight away asked to be moved but was told the hotel was fully booked, so we had to have a very hard & uncomfortable camp bed put in the room which made the room quite small. We then found that the safe did not work and took 3 days of continuous chasing before it was fixed.

The first night we ate at Caf

This was the third time we had visited Phuket and the second time we had stayed at the Cape Panwa. On our first stay at Cape Panwa (2004) we travelled as a couple and fell in love with the place and the people, so much so that we went back but this time with my wifes parents, brother and sister.

On arrival we were very pleasently surprised that many of the staff who were there on our previous visit remembered us and from then on we felt like we were treated like royalty.

The place hasn't changed much and the food at the Cafe Andaman was as good as we had remembered. The hill hadn't changed but we had to prove to ourselves that we could still walk it, and we did.

We all thoroughly enjoyed our stay and were sad when the day to leave came. Our travelling companions are still talking about the holiday now. (Over a month since we returned!) We will definitely be going back.

Brilliant hotel, just as good as first visit in 1989 when it had just opened. It is a taxi ride away from most of the hotels and nightlife, so not ideal for everyone, but if you want a beautiful private beach and two gorgeous pools (one on the beach) then this is the place to be. Tranquil setting, delightful hotel.

Lovely food with masses of choice. Don't however, book the full board option if you have a child. They pay the full amount but only get half the credit. We managed to cancel and it was OK.

We've stayed in many great hotels all over the place but this is the one I would choose to go back to for a relaxing break. Wish I was there right now....