After reading some of the reviews - we arrived at Banthai a little apprehensive, with printed out confirmation in hand as recommended. Our arrival time was about 10.30am and we knew that our rooms wouldn't be ready till 2pm so came prepared with togs etc in cabin luggage ready for a dive in the pool. We had two rooms booked but one ended up being a twin not a double as requested. Upon complaining, this was changed without any hassles.
We loved the central location of the resort and very handy to shops, eating and beach. Breakfast was great each morning and was included in our package. We became regulars at the Port Bar each night and the bands soon learnt our first names and always gave us a friendly welcoming wave on arrival-must have been our singing!!! We had no trouble with noise at night as we couldn't hear the music from our rooms.
The rooms were adequate, nice and cool with the A/C going all the time. They were clean and the beds were very comfortable. It was good having Starbucks, Watson's (Chemist - cheap makeup and toiletries) and Burger King at close proximity.
The Hilfgers Taylor shop which is part of the resort was great and they made some fantastic corporate jackets - well recommended.
We didn't book any of our day trips at the resort as we went down the road and did all the booking at a Tour Desk. We found that you could barter for the trips and we received most of them at child prices.

My husband and I stayed at Ban Thai during Songkran ( Thai New Year in April ) which was great fun.Hotel is in a terrific location, tucked away in an alleyway so you dont get any street noise.Lots of eateries within walking distance and a shopping centre about 10 mins walk.Rooms were quite nice, made up each day usually by lunch time. Great shopping outside the resort,but would recommend you try the O Top market for real bargains, especially knock off handbags and t shirts. Staff didn't speak much english which made requests for things like a iron and ironing board or an extra towel difficult. Breakfast was great with plenty of choice and lots of it. Always seemed to be security guards around no matter what time of the day or night we came home.We had a deluxe room which also had pool access.Dont bother specifically booking a deluxe pool access room as they are a lot dearer and you have access to a seperate pool not the main pool.Maybe good for honeymooners.Overall a clean friendly hotel in a great location at a reasonabl;e price.Would go again

this is a really decent ,well located holiday hotel, very clean,edgeof the action , 2 mins to beach and about 7 mins walk to bangla rd, if you can afford the extra book a deluxe pool room, you have ur own direct pool acess and private jacuzzi, Mcd ,Starbucks, mexican, irish bar all part of the complex......its ageing little bit, but all in all a really good choice for Patong beach, check in and out was kinda slow, however overall an excellent choice.....

I really don't know why there are so many people complaining about this hotel, I was worried before I left home after reading the reviews, but I had absolutely nothing to worry about. We stayed here for 12 nights.

This is a great hotel, there were 10 people in our group (2 families), we had very fast and friendly check in and check out. The rooms are quite big and very clean. We never had any problems with the staff, they were always very friendly and courteous.

The air-con didn't get that cold, so I told the front desk and within 5 minutes there was someone there to fix it.

My son had an accident (not at the hotel) and I asked if he could use a wheelchair, they gave him one straight away.

The one thing I couldn't believe about this hotel was that you could go to the pool anytime of day and get a chair (I think it was because this place is full of Aussies and they don't reserve chairs) I have been to a few hotels in Thailand and this is always a problem especially if a lot of Europeans stay there.

We have stayed at the Patong Beach hotel a couple of times and at the Patong Merlin but I do prefer the Banthai.

I do, however, have one complaint and that is that the tiles going up the stairs and in the outside hallways going along the rooms are extremely slippery, and it only takes a couple of drops of water. My son and daughter slipped down the stairs, but they were OK. We saw a lady that fell down the stairs, she cut her forehead and had a black eye. I honestly don't know what the hotel was thinking to lay such slippery tiles when they would get wet on a daily basis with rain or people just using the pool.

Anyway, besides that, I would definitely recommend this hotel to anyone.