Kata thailand
9 / 10
The hotel is located up a sliver of a side street on the rocky cliffs of Kata, a clean-cut resort town, popular with the yachting crowd, on the south west coast of Phuket. The twin beaches of Kata Noi and Kata Yai are around a 10-minute walk from the property and along the route there are plenty of laid-back bars, restaurants, shops and massage centres to mooch in.
Style & character
Squared-off terraces clinging onto the cliff-side for dear life give this boutique hotel a dangerously modern vibe. The only real public area is the bar, restaurant and pool, a minimalist cube with lots of white-on-white action – white umbrellas shading white sunbeds beside a white-tiled pool – all very Ibiza-esque. The furnishings are sleek and Italian-made but there is no mistaking that you’re in Thailand with that attention-grabbing Andaman Sea view. Elsewhere, the Infinite Luxury Spa lives up to its name with eight treatment rooms housing everything from zany energy pods to light-emitting treatment beds, which combine beautifully with Ila products and traditional Thai wellness philosophies.
Service & facilities
7 / 10
I visited during the soft opening stage and although staff were plentiful and always smiling, there was a sense that they were still finding their feet; my room service order was wrong, breakfast service was slow, and I sat by the pool for more than hour without being asked if I wanted a drink. The team will need to quickly up their game if they want to compete with Phuket’s other high-flying five-stars.
- Bar
- Fitness centre
- Laundry
- Parking
- Pool
- Restaurant
- Room service
- Sauna
- Spa
- Wi-Fi
Rooms
8 / 10
There’s nothing as mundane as rooms here, instead 43 one, two, three and four-bedroom sky villas are stacked across the hillside. Big, bright and beautiful, they come with fully-fitted kitchens, living and dining areas, and floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors opening onto private infinity pools, each of which is a minimum of seven-metres long (although only about one-metre deep so more for splashing than swimming). Less than luxurious were the non-branded toiletries and lack of international TV channels (along with a £10 charge for pay-movies).
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Food & drink
The poolside bar and restaurant has an amazing view, out over a glassy green Andaman sea dotted with yachts, traditional longtails, and fishing boats twinkling in the night. The Mediterranean and Thai-leaning cuisine has been good enough to draw crowds from across the island already – particularly for the boozy three-hour long Sunday lunch. It’s worth stopping by for sunset drinks or a meal, even if you’re not staying.
Value for money
Double rooms from £470, including breakfast and airport transfers. At just shy of £500 a night, Kata Rocks is undoubtedly expensive. However it is one of the most spectacularly-located, design-orientated hotels on the island so there’s little doubt that it will succeed at luring in the jet set. Better deals can be found if you stay for more than two nights when some dining and spa treatments are also included. Free Wi-Fi.