Удачный по расположению отель, только слишком наполнен русскими Good location hotel, only too full of Russians

So we visited in early December 2013 for the fourth time in Thailand and the second time we lived in Ibis. We were there for the first time in December 2010, a detailed review was left by me earlier - immediately upon returning from my first trip to Paradise! We always fly to Phuket and stop at Katya or Karon. This time the choice was made in favor of Ibis due to the fact that the hotel is located near Kata beach, not far from the nomadic market and the agency of our friend Benimo, whose help we resort to every time we are there. Also next to the Ibis is our favorite massage parlor, where my favorite massage therapist works.
Here I will dwell a little more in detail ...For the first time in Kengom (this is the name of my massage therapist) we met on our first arrival in Phuket, we went to the MOOK massage parlor, which is located to the right of the Ibis by the road (not to be confused with the massage parlor, which is located directly at the very entrance to this hotel, we once visited more than one salon and stopped at the MOOC). At first, we were given other masseurs, but when they gave Keng, then all subsequent times I made an appointment with him in advance. He is a master of his craft and very diligent in giving massages, be it a regular Thai massage or the foot massage I used to get. By the way, this time, impressed by the story of some tourists and from advertising on TV, I booked a trip to the Mukda Spa. According to reviews, this is definitely worth doing, because in simple massage parlors you will not get such relaxation and pleasure.
The trip cost me 3.000 rubles for three hours (I had fellow travelers with me, the guys Olya and Dima from Samara, so they bought these vouchers at a travel agency on the street, something like Matryoshka, they are there at every turn and they cost them less, what I paid according to the official price list of the Mukda SPA, keep this in mind, and they and I had a free transfer in a comfortable foreign car with air conditioning). So, this trip brought us new wonderful friends, with whom we later rode bikes around the island and had a wonderful time, but as for the massage, it was a waste of time and money. For this amount, I could go to Keng exactly 10 times (by the way, when you are very satisfied with the work of the master, I recommend not to regret and give them a tip, at least 50 baht). In general, I went for a massage twice a day. Once - to Kangu for a foot massage, and the second time - for a facial massage (after lunch).

Rather, this is not even a facial massage, but a whole range of procedures for the face and neck, which are done on Katya in one of the massage parlors for only 399 rubles (if memory serves). There will be steaming of the face, and soft painless cleansing, and facial massage, and masks, and creams. All this pleasure lasts one hour, you also have time to sleep, you fall asleep somehow imperceptibly for yourself. The hands of the girls are surprisingly tender and sensitive. I would highly recommend to all tourists, regardless of gender, to go 10 times for such procedures, you pay for all 4000 rubles (baht), at home you go once for this amount. This massage parlor is located right on the road, if you exit the hotel and go to the right, then it’s a 5-minute walk, there is a panoramic front wall (made of glass) and you can see couches, lamps above them and information about the cost hangs on the glass. Highly recommended, thank you later. The same beauty salons are located in the Jangceylon shopping center in Patong.
When I was not on Katya (last years), I went to Patong for these procedures, the prices are the same.
Now let's get down to information about the Ibis. To be honest, it got worse. If earlier noisy Chinese used to come on weekends, now they are not there at all, because they were forced out by our fellow Russians. The hotel is full of Russian tourists. Well, the price is low and the location is not bad, so it is wildly popular. When we checked in, there were almost no empty seats, we got a room on the 5th floor at the very end of the left corridor with a balcony on the road (this is the very last room in the hotel, it is not even listed on the elevator floor plates). At first we were upset and wanted to go and ask for another one with a balcony to the pool, but then we decided to stay, look around and in the end we lived in it to the end.
We even liked it, the balcony was directly opposite the parking of bikes and cars, no one passed by our room and no noise, it was always quiet and calm. And we stayed in the room for a very short time, we only came to spend the night. The rise was early, at seven in the morning, had breakfast and went to the beach. Usually it was Kata Noi beach or went to see friends in Karon. We never even swam on Katya. Most of all I liked Kata Noi, it is much cleaner and calmer there, there are few people.
The bike was taken from Benimo, as always, again our beloved Honda PCX, they are always in excellent condition from Ben and you can not be afraid for your life and health, but our new friends from Samara were not lucky - they got a gouging bike, which every now and then deaf and rattled as if it was about to crumble into pieces. We rented a more powerful bike for a day, called “T-MAX” (where Ben also told us where to get it), this is a real admiral’s liner compared to ordinary bikes.

Although the PCX is very cool, the TiMax exceeded all our expectations, it is a pleasure to ride it both for the driver and for me as a passenger. We rode it in comfort for shopping at Outlet Premium.
Now let's talk about the places where we liked to eat. Usually this topic is of most interest to tourists, I myself look for such information before the next trip, and print it out so as not to miss anything.
The first thing I recommend is not to go to expensive restaurants and cafes, which are full on the main streets along the beach and across. ))) But this recommendation is only for those who are not too concerned about the comfort of the cafe and the presence of waiters. From the first visit, we have chosen a cafe where a local family prepares food and where locals eat. The food there is always fresh, cooked right in front of you and inexpensive.
Now it has become a little more expensive, but it’s still very cheap: a portion of rice with chicken or seafood will cost you 60 rubles (a very large portion), a portion of Tom Yam sum is 100 or 150 rubles (I don’t remember exactly), but this one will be a large bowl of soup (we took for two) and very tasty, I did not eat tastier in other places. I really like the big steak of fried fish in vegetables. By the way, now there is a menu in Russian with pictures for us. The cafe is located directly opposite the BAAN KARON RESORT 3 * hotel, the tables are usually covered with oilcloth with Pepsi-Cola symbols. I think you can easily find it. Walking from Ibis takes about 20 minutes, on a bike - a couple of minutes.
My next recommendation for catering is, of course, the fisherman's market on Rawaii Beach. We went there for dinner. Drive 12-15 km, you can drive along the coast (more picturesque and calmer road, but with steep hills and turns), or you can go through the Chalong ring (a little shorter, straight road, but with busy Thai traffic).

If you don’t dare to rent a bike, then don’t be lazy and don’t regret 400 rubles and take a taxi or tuk-tuk (the cost is the same) and be sure to go there. Right on the shore there is a trade from stalls with freshly caught fish of all stripes and colors, as well as all kinds of oysters, mussels, lobsters, shrimps. All of these come in different sizes and prices. Keep in mind that they trade well. Prices for everything were discounted, only they didn’t give up on oysters, they are quickly sorted out, so they don’t always happen. Buy whatever you want, just try to determine how much you really eat, because we never managed to do this, as a result, after eating it was very difficult from overcrowding in the stomach, and what we took with us to the hotel was not eaten later, because it was already cold it was also stale. Don't make our mistakes if you can. ))). In any cafe in this market, you can cook anything from your products.
I really like medium sized mussels and shrimp, they are all called tiger shrimp, really even small by their standards - huge for us! ). I didn’t like the lobster, it’s big in size, but there’s nothing to eat, and the taste is so-so, apparently this is an amateur business. Oysters - I had enough to eat once, by the way, then I had a very bad stomach, we are not accustomed to such delicacies. )))
We love to eat sushi and rolls at the ZEN restaurant in the Central Festival. The price tag there is not cheap compared to other catering, but according to our observations, there are no such delicious rolls anywhere, so on every visit we cannot deny ourselves the pleasure of having lunch there a couple of times ! ! !
Directly behind the Central Festival is the newest Japanese restaurant "TORI". You pay 500 rubles and stay there for two hours.
At first it seems that you can’t figure out how to order and cook everything there, but after looking around and listening to the teachings of the workers of this restaurant, you completely understand what to do here. I really, really liked this place. A large selection of all kinds of rolls, Kaiso salad, salmon, tuna, all sorts of ingredients for making salads, mussels, quail eggs, some soups, aspic, jelly, cakes, many, many different fruits, drinks. You can absorb all this in unlimited quantities for two hours. There is also food to order. It is difficult to describe it, you will understand everything faster on the spot - you choose different meat or fish or both, different vegetables, sauces, give it to the chef with instructions on how to cook it and in about five minutes you have it on the table. I've probably never eaten so many salmon at once! I also highly recommend picking up the ingredients for the soup that you will cook on your table, the broth is just gorgeous!
We cooked it from pork, beef, chicken, fish, corn, and something else tasty - and all this was cooked at the same time!

From time to time, we also visited Katya at the establishment of one family (husband, wife and granddaughter), where they cook grilled dishes, absolutely awesome meat - they have pork, and beef, and fish, and not only the meat itself, but also ears and tails and some kind of insides - we tried everything and we really liked everything. You choose with tongs what you like, they weigh it, cut it into pieces and wrap it with you or invite you to sit down at the table, served with two different sauces - sweet and spicy. They are located to the left of the Kata market (if you look at the market with your face). Ben also told us about them (thank you very much!!! ). Directly opposite them, across the road, there is also a good cafe, next to them there is a pillar on the ground with the inscription "All for 59 baht. " There is a menu in Russian. The service is also fast and everything is delicious. You won't leave hungry or dissatisfied.
We went on an excursion with friends to a coral island, bought a day trip from Ben, also took a trip to the Flight of the Gibbon from Ben, had fun and got adrenaline in the company of tourists from different countries, tourists from Israel were especially funny, they went on their own bungee jump ( 50 meters), my husband jumped, and I was a videographer from the ground.
By the way, the breakfasts at the hotel are more or less normal, we went early in the morning, there were already a lot of people, we had to chase fruits, because they laid out a little, and there were much more people who wanted to. At 12 o'clock in the hall from time to time baked pancakes with fillings to order, they cost like 100 baht. Delicious, similar to those that are sold on every corner from the macaroons. By the way, to the right of the hotel (two hundred meters) in the evenings, a young chubby guy bakes such pancakes, he usually has the longest queues, because he does not spare the filling.
We went to eat ice cream almost every day in Patong in Jang Ceylon, our long-time favorite soft ice cream "DQ", whoever has not tried it yet - be sure to do it!
Wi-Fi catches throughout the hotel and in our room also caught well, just don't forget to take the passwords at the reception, it's valid for a week, then take a new one. There is no longer a Russian-speaking worker at the reception and this is very inconvenient for Russian tourists, of whom the hotel is full. My husband had to be an interpreter more than once when a difficult communication situation arose at the reception and we were not far away - the workers pleaded with the eyes of my husband to help. It is a pity that they removed the Russian worker.

At the airport upon arrival, do not forget to take a SIM card for free. They give one piece for one family, so come up with your husband separately so that you have two SIM cards in your hands, the cost of negotiations is inexpensive, it seems that 100 rubles were enough for us all the time, they also called home.
Pegasus also gives one SIM card per family, but we preferred to use one operator. We did not go on a sightseeing tour from Pegasus - there is nothing to waste time there. If you have a bike, then you yourself will ride around and buy whatever you need, and pillows, and souvenirs. I recommend visiting the night market, which I wrote about in detail in the last review.
Phew, I'm tired of typing! I may have missed something, if so, I'll add it in the comments. I hope my review is useful to you. Write questions and comments.