First of all, it's important to say that I've arrived to Phuket after staying at Krabi, so I was quite spoiled by much more quiet and friendly environment, cheaper (well, yes) hotel prices and better service level.

I chose the Blue Ocean Resort based on the reviews on this website and booked it through Hotels.com One thing you should know about booking through big bookers' websites, is the way they actually work. Such bookers make a preliminary agreement with a hotel, saying that they will provide, for example, 5 visitors every month. So when you make a request at peak season and get negative answer from a booker, it doesn't actually mean that the hotel is fully booked. Big bookers very often look at their inventory only and don't bother to even call the hotel asking if they happened to have a vacant room.

So what happened to me is I tried to book three nights at "Blue Ocean Resort" in December. Hotels.com didn't have this hotel in its inventory for December and automatically suggested February. I was not quite aware of the month switch and booked the hotel instantly...

...I only realized I made a mistake upon arrival to the hotel. Hopefully, the hotel had some rooms available apart from those they "sell" to big bookers. So I could stay. In order to fix the wrong dates, I contacted the Hotels.com. Apparently, it was not possible to change the dates of the reservation, because the free room was not the part of Hotels.com "own" rooms. Instead I was offered to cancel the reservation without a cancellation fee, and pay to the hotel directly. Since this was the only choice and it was finally my mistake not to check the dates twice, I accepted.

Regarding the hotel, it's something that you may like or hate depending on your previous experience. If you are used to "Holiday inn" level, this will be much under your expectations. Although the room is quite spacious and well decorated, there are a few cons. Fist of all, it's the smell. Our room was located on the ground floor next to the pool (which is very nice). The room smelled of some kind of plastic and the smell was very strong. I got used to it eventually, but some people might never do. Also, the room's furniture was quite dates.

At the same time, I must admit that the hotel's stuff was very friendly. They were kind enough to wait for a few days during my negotiation with Hotels.com. Overall I must say that we liked the place a lot. Of you are booking this hotel for a few days only (3 nights in our case), it's a good choice. But don't make it your residence if you spend all your holidays in Phuket and don't even close if it's your honeymoon - there are much better places for such days.

A few tips at the end. Ordering a taxi to the airport costs more if you it through the hotel. I was offered 700 Bath and the price got to 1000 Bath because my flight was early in the morning. I found a better way to book the same transportation at an internet cafe on a parallel street for just 550 Bath. The extra 50 was for the early departure, otherwise it would cost you typical 500.

Just returned from a twelve day stay. All the Blue Ocean staff were fantastic, very friendly & helpful. Hotel is in a great location, very convenient for shopping, beach, bars, restaurants, nightlife, markets etc. Would recommend Superior room, excellent value, "waterfall shower" very unique, although pool is not huge, it is perfect to cool down & relax in away from all the hustle & bustle of Patong. I will stay there again.

The Blue Ocean is a budget priced small hotel and is reasonably appointed with average room size and quality considering the Low cost. Some travellers have critized this hotel but if you want twice the quality - you should expect to pay twice the price. Myself and family booked two rooms in the peak season. Everything in Phuket was expensive compared to the rest of Thailand and geared to the GB pound and Euro, so spending Aussie dollars was a bit hard. Anyway besides a few things like missing curtain rings and some basic maintenance required everything else worked. Blue Ocean is very well located being ten minutes walk to the entertainment areas and five minutes to the beach. It is surrounded by shops and Thai massage, money exchange, tourist bureaus and restaurants a plenty etc (but is remarkably quiet.) It has a small pool and spa which are well maintained. The bathrooms are a bit quirky with a stone waterfall with water cascading down upon you as a shower. Sometimes the water pressure was low to non exsistent but after a few minutes it returned to normal. While we were there it was fully booked with people walking off the street for accommodation. The prepaid Internet price is genuine. Off the street price was 500 baht a night more than we paid and there was no shifting on the price. The staff were friendly and provided every assistance without question and were ready for a chat or to share a joke.
Overall, Location, Location, Location at a good price, if you want a firm bed, an aircon that works and Oh! yes Location.

To sum up how bad it was I stayed for a total of 40 minutes before walking out & getting another hotel. It started by not being given the correct room. The room I was given was filthy & had a dead cockroach on the floor. I was moved to another room, which I was told I would only have for 3 days, after 20 minutes in this room the electricity went off.
Also they want 2000 baht deposit for a safe key. The safe looked like it made by a 6 year old child.