We stayed at Le Meridien for 3 days on our honeymoon, before heading to Ko Phi Phi for a week. The staff was very welcoming upon arrival and even took us on a mini tour as we were walked to our room. The grounds are beautiful and the pool was amazing, it's enormous. Plus you can't beat the private beach, though we did see lots of trash on the beach if you walk late at night. But we also saw staff picking up trash early in the morning so I think a lot of it may be washed ashore from Patong.
The rooms were nicely decorated and the only complaint I have is the bathroom was very outdated and just poorly situated. It was very small for a hotel of this caliber, which I'm sure is just due to it's age. You don't see bathrooms that small in new hotels anymore. But that I could live with. What I couldn't live with is the fact that the tiny tub is raised, and the tiny showerhead spurts water in all directions, often times all over the floor. So I often slipped and slid all over the place getting in and out of the raised tub just to take a shower.
The breakfast buffet was fabulous, I can't imagine how anyone could complain. They had an air conditioned indoor option or you could eat outside by the pool. There was a very wide selection and the staff was very quick with the coffee and tea. In fact the only real sour spot for the whole place was the transportation. The resort is very close to Patong, yet they charge 300 Baht for a taxi. They run a shuttle several times a day for 100 Baht but we never actually saw this mysterious shuttle. Once we actually showed up 5 minutes prior to the departure time and were told it had already left because it was full. Another couple showed up the same time and said that's what they were told the night before and the shuttle was supposed to come right back after the drop off (it's a 5 minute drive) but it never showed up. This was frustrating because the resort is so close to Patong, so obviously many people are choosing it to be close to the action but to not have to be in the middle of it. I felt they were taking advantage of that with their outrageous rates.
Other than the cost factor (which is really only a complaint because of how cheap it is all over Thailand, if we had been on vacation in the US this would have still seemed like lower than average prices) the hotel was quite nice. It is actually a very beautiful building when you walk up and the pool is so impressive, especially at night. I can see this being a nice place if you have children. We were only there several nights and spent most of our time away from the hotel so my experience is limited.

We are a young professional middle aged couple, from New Zealand, who found Le Meridien, Phuket to be a fabulous hotel from the view of location, site and facilities. Our standard room was large, inviting, well equipped and aesthetically pleasing. Staff were friendly, accommodating, efficient and highly professional – with the room staff doing a valiant job. Service was fast, efficient, and plentiful and public relations with guests were excellent ....however, some language barriers hampered easy communication. Basic English training for all staff would be huge bonus. Externally we found the lush tropical gardens immaculately manicured and overall the property maintained to a high standard.

Negative points however were: (1) the tired bathrooms, which lacked natural ventilation or steam extraction and were therefore prone to mould (2) The hotel’s outrageous guest service pricing e.g. internet connection (6500 Baht per day), laundry (100 meters from Hotel one could get washing done for 50 Baht per kilo, however, Le Meridien charged over 500 Baht for a single shirt and taxis (hotel taxis charging 900 Baht to Patong while local air-conditioned taxis charged 200 Baht). It is just not a good look when paying guests are exposed to these and other uncompetitive charges. The hotel MUST review these to make themselves more in line with local pricing and practice. Maybe then, their restaurants might entice guests over local establishments in nearby Patong town, who charge significantly less for similar high standard dining and cuisine. One talking point around the pool was the hotel’s policy of charging 2500 Baht should a guest wish to bring back a local Thai to their room after dark!

On a more positive vein to finish, we would recommend Le Meridien, Phuket. We found an enchanting holiday resort with a exquisite private beach and a culturally stunning ambience abounding with activities and fabulous facilities. It is the best hotel in the Patong area. We hope you enjoy your stay as much as we did even if it takes the short walk towards the front gate to enjoy more realistic competitive prices.

J and M, Auckland, New Zealand

Spent 5 nights in this hotel and came back yesterday on June 17.
This was my third trip to Phuket but first time in Le Meridien. I was in Sheraton Laguna in past trips - once with wife only, once with wife and our small boy. So I use Sheraton as my benchmark.

Both hotel and its rooms are quite dated. I booked a junior suite, but after first night decided to change to a normal room because it just wasn't worth the money. For this price I could have gotten a Banyan Tree villa on promotional price.

Breakfast was only okay, not a wide selection (I travel for work and so am maybe a bit spoilt).

Hotel was inflexible, they didn't allow outside massage therapists to come into the hotel (we like to do massage in the room when our little boy is asleep). Sheraton was a lot more flexible, as they even made phone calls for us.

Meridien was also not willing to call for outside transport for us. They would push for their inhouse transport will is obviously a lot more expensive than outside cabs. Again, Sheraton was a lot more flexible by calling outside cabs for us.

The elephant was supposed to turn up every morning but didn't. My boy already prepared fruits from our room fruit basket to feed the elephant but it didn't turn up in the last two days, so my boy left home quite disappointed.

The kids / Penguin club was good though, quite spacious and lotsa things. Problem is it was closed for 3 days during our stay.

All in all, we were quite disappointed. The hotel is close to Patong but it gave me the impression that it wasn't making it easy for us to get there.

The hotel is a bit on the older side but is still maintained well overall with very nice facilities, generally excellent service from the staff and a superb private beach. The hotel was only a 5 minute tuk tuk ride to Patong beach, close enough but yet not close enough to walk or be in the middle of the action. Depending on what you want this could be good or not so good. It's our first trip to Phuket and while I didn't mind being a bit further away, my next trip will probably be at a hotel in the middle of town.

The baby elephant on premises was cute, the kids club was well stocked with many activities for kids. On a trip with 6 kids altogether, there was enough for them to be occupied.

One annoying thing was the hotel staff seemed pretty stingy with amenities. We had to request for hotel slippers, the tea and coffee wasn't refilled every day, I had to chase the hotel staff to fill it up, soap & shampoo seemed hard to come by. Other than that we had some rusty water in the shower but a quick chat with the front desk fixed that.

Overall though the excellent beach more than made up for the few shortcomings.