Cape Panwa Hotel

My husband and I have recently returned from a stay at Cape Panwa. We were sceptical as it was our first visit to the Far East. We needn't have been. After seeing the view from our room on the first morning, I knew we were going to love it. The people are the friendliest, helpful, happiest people we have met. The gardens were lovely, even though we had to climb 80 steps from the beach each day! The food was good in all restaurants, our favourite was Panwa house - the temperature of the food could've been hotter at times. The top of the reef was lovely for a change from thai food, although a little more expensive. Our only error, we purchased the advanced meal vouchers, although cheap (approx £9 each) we discovered we could've halfed this if we ate in the village, but we were a bit wary, although fellow guests had no complaints and most did this (we soon realised why the restaurants were half empty! The prices in the top of the reef our a bit dearer, so you may have to add to your voucher. The only expensive item was wine, but a small price to pay. The little bus took us over the hill to the village, where the sister hotel, a few shops, aquarium and a cash point is. Here you can get a taxi if require, it is all very safe, and we often took a walk through the village. We can recommend the elephant trekking, speedboat trip to the islands, phi phi is beautiful. Yes you have a secluded hotel with private beach, but we like that, you can get a shuttle to patong, with rows of hotels, restaurants, cheap shops and girlie bars, but thats not for us. Please visit Cape Panwa, you will love it.

My family and I have just returned from a week at the Cape Panwa, and everything about our stay was perfect. We had thought long and hard about some of the other resorts on the island...would an international 5* name like Marriot or Sheraton be better? Would a location closer to the "action" be more convenient? But in the end we decided on the Cape after reading the other reviews here, visiting the hotel's own excellent website ((-)capepanwa(-)), and deciding that for the R&R we were looking for that a little extra distance between ourselves and the "action" was actually a good thing. Whatever...we have since decided that this place needs no reason or excuse - it is simply superb. Yes, the tide does go out mid-afternoon, but both we and our children loved being able to swim in the morning and explore the coral reef and sand banks on foot in the afternoon. The views out to sea from the beach are idyllic and tranquil. And as the Cape has a truly secluded private beach (accessible via a charming tram down the hill from the hotel), there is literally no-one to share the beach and the views with except for other hotel guests, and there are no hawkers to bother you. Both the main pool and the beach pool are lovely. The service all around the resort was friendly yet unobtrusive, and the F&B was very good. We stayed in a one-bedroom suite, which was well laid out (except for a double-sink outside the bathroom arrangement which was not always the most convenient), comfortable and more than enough for my wife and I, our 9 yr old son, and 5 yr old daughter. The balcony was spacious and afforded beautiful views through the palm trees and out to sea. When it came time to leave our son asked if we could come back at Easter, and our daughter simply said that she wanted to stay for the whole year! My wife and I felt that they both made a lot of sense.

The previous reviews say it all, it is still as good as ever, a quality hotel in very private location, if you want to do everything it will be made available, if you want to do nothing its the perfect place, quaity of food, service & genuine charm from the staff is superb, room upgrades take you into the Thai Royal Family & film star world @ a price you may not see again, just go & enjoy, 2 days is good 2 weeks is better.

We visited the C P (as we fondly call it) for the 4th time in April 2003 My sister and her husband flew in from Oz and met us there. We have booked in for April '06. The staff are wonderful..beautifully positioned hotel..isolated beach.We go for 2 weeks and don't become bored. Don't tell everyone ;they'll all want to go.

We chose the Cape Panwa for our first visit to Thailand, changing our plans to (hopefully) help the people recover a little more from the Tsunami. Arrived about 9pm after the long flight from the UK, got a room in building F with a view over the bay and gardens. Ate and went down to the beach at midnight. Excellent breakfast, with more than you could possibly want laid out for you and eggs cooked when you wanted. 3 restaurants on site, we did not use top of the reef as the menu was not to our taste when we wanted to go. Panwa House on the beach - brilliant Thai food. I am not a hot/spicy food lover and there was something for me, my wife loves it and had the set meal. Andaman restaurant overlooking the pool - good set meals, didn't need to try the a la carte. The only bad point was I got an upset stomach on the last night after eating some smoked salmon. Other restaurants under the umbrella of the hotel are Leam Panwa (Thai and barbecued fish) and Uncle Nans (Italian) in Panwa Bay village (a 5-10' walk up then down a 1 in 4 hill, or a free shuttlebus!). Both were very good. The hotel had not been available the last week in November, and was still pretty empty when we were there, about 20% full. Service excellent, rooms good sized and comfortable. Hotel minibus into Phuket town OK - would have been more useful if there was another trip to give you more than 90 mins or less than 7 hours! At the top of the hill is James restaurant - an open air terrace with smashing views of the sunset and very cheap. It is also an information/taxi place - we had a taxi from there to Kata beach on the Saturday for 700 baht return with 4 ½ hours there. Only thing I would say which was not made clear in the tour operator brochure - you can't swim in the sea at low tide as there is a reef just offshore. Great for chilling out!

Had a great time. Stayed at the Cape for seven nights. All rooms have views of the sea and the islands in the distance. The beach is beautiful and well looked after and Jennifer at the bar on the beach is lovely. The service is great and went to the Top of the Reef restaurant for our last night and had lobster - very tasty. The pool is also lovely and refreshing after a long day sunbathing on the beach. Only drawback is it is a long way from the nightlife of Patong. To get there costs about 800 Baht - great shopping at the markets there and also going to the great sea food restaurants just along Patong beach.

We stayed at the hotel for 4 days in November whilst the Princess of Thailand was styaing there. Apparently, the princess stays there quiete a few times and that should be the recommendation that cannot be bettered. A hotel truly fit for royalty. It is lovely and quiet and the beach is superb. My girlfriend almost cried when we walked into the suite as she was overwelmed.

We spent a wonderful 8 nights at the Cape Panwa. The hotel is lovely, the facilities great. All the staff were lovely, they made us feel really welcome, even taking the time to learn our names. The private beach is paradise, clean and well maintained. Only downside is there is not much to do outside of the hotel so if you like a bit of nightlife you do have to travel... I wouldn't bother with Phuket town... but Patong is lots of fun. The hotel offers a shuttle bus service to Patong or you can easily get a taxi from the hotel.. It's a good 30 minute drive but definitely worth it. Taxi costs about 400 bhat from the hotel. Bargain! Would not hesitate to go back to this hotel. It's a great place to stay.

What a fantastic hotel! I only came back yesterday and am already planning my next trip back! This hotel was not affected by the Tsunami at all but is desperately in need of customers, as they are all over Phuket. Great service from all the staff right from check in through to check out, they couldn't do enough to make sure we had a great stay. Although it is a quiet location, it's only 30 minutes and 100 bhat (just over a pound) from Phuket town and 45 minutes and 300 bhat (about 4 pound) from Patong beach so great for quiet days and lively nights! There's enough facilities at the hotel for you to spend your whole stay there. As it's set in a hilly area the hotel provide a shuttle bus down to the Bay Village and the Bay hotel which only takes 3 minutes, so no need to tackle the hills! There's a great restaurant called the Sawasdee down in the village which i'd definately reccommend, we were only paying about 6 pounds for a 3 course meal with drinks! Beach area at the hotel is beautiful but we spent most of our time up at the main pool as there was only usually us and a few other people there, so it was like having your own pool, and again, the staff were great, especially Somporn who had sunloungers and towels ready when we got there and drinks all day! I cant' say enough about this hotel, go there and see for yourself!!!

My Wife, myself and my 13 year old Son stayed at Cape Panwa during the 1st 2 weeks in April and I can only agree with all other reviews. Cape Panwa is a good 40 mins cab ride away from all of the "busier" resorts and is a true getaway for a peacefull, and relaxing holiday in beautifull tropical hotel grounds, set in a coconut plantation. On the first day we said hello to "Jenny and Sandy" (as one of the other reviews suggested) at the beach bar, and from then on they and the other Beach bar staff made our holiday one to remember their attentiveness, service and friendliness was incredible and quite like anything we have experienced in other parts of the World, from day 2 they welcomed us by name onto the beach set up our sunbeds themselves and made sure each day was special, also say hello to Sithapong! The Food..was sensational! both in the Hotel and in the near by Bay Village..The Hotel's Thai restaurant at the Grand House on the beach front and the Diamond Thai and Royal Indian restaurant in the bay Village were our favourites and presented food to die for! having said that we never had a bad meal anywhere, and the prices were unbelieveable (inexpensive) both at the Hotel and in the Village..just jump in the shuttle bus over "cardiac hill" and there are loads of places to choose from.. We were lucky enough to be there for Songrat (Thai New Year) and what a day that was..the biggest water fight in the world, the hotel was transformed on the beach to a festival of colour, partying, eating, games and of course drenching! we were wet all day and everyone joined in to make it a magical experience...My son and everyone we spoke to had the most amazing day The Hotel has some special guests..and on our first day we were amazed and delighted to see a family of Monkeys who took Bananas from the guests on a daily basis, the Mother has a very young baby and was a joy to watch her...at one point we had a baby elephant on the beach..however I must point out that this was part of a wedding ceremony. As mentioned before, the Hotel is set amongst coconut trees up on a slight hill and makes for a very photogenic place.. The rooms were excellent and the views from the balcony are outstanding Night Life..Dining with Family and new found friends and the lighthouse Pub, which has a live band every night, and thats it..so dont stay here if you are expecting a rave up! thats the reason we went, to relax! however there is a hotel shuttle bus that can take you to the likes of Phuket Town or Patong Beach by night if thats what you want..(Flesh pots I think someone refered to) Trips:- Elephant safari, Coral Island from the Hotel, Jmes Bond Island. all superb days out What else can I say!! We had a fantastic holiday, one I will remember made special and in summary by:- Beautifull Hotel and Grounds, Friendly warm people, excellent food and service which was second to none. We are definately going back and I would recommend this place to anyone..go and enjoy, especially as the Thai People need the tourists back right now...this hotel was completely unaffected by the Tsunami. I have approx 350 photos i took a sample of which are on this review..If anyone wants me to send them some or wants more info on the place email me:- paul_mossop@yahoo.co.uk only to happy to share my experience.