Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa, a Royal Hideaway Hotel

We have been to this hotel many times and it never disappoints. We stayed for 3 nights in a suite and it was as good as ever. The rooms are spacious and clean. The pool for suite guests is great, peaceful and pretty private so that was something we really enjoyed. The breakfast was excellent with a fantastic selection and the food was as good as it has always been. One thing I noticed was the prices were very reasonable compared to similar places I’ve recently stayed at in Europe so that was great. Highly recommend this hotel for a luxury stay in real comfort with excellent food.

Unfortunately, our experience has been disappointing so far. We had a 4.5-hour wait for our room and weren’t allowed in until 4:30pm, which is a terrible start to a holiday. There also seemed to be very few staff around to help, and the hotel feels noticeably overbooked. There are a lot of rules and restrictions, which makes it difficult to properly relax. We booked half board expecting some choice, but it is actually limited to just one restaurant, which was very disappointing. The adults-only pool is also tiny, with no nearby toilets and not enough sun loungers, so even that area doesn’t offer the relaxing experience you would expect. Overall, the hotel feels overcrowded, restrictive and poorly organised. After such a long wait just to access the room, we expected the rest of the experience to make up for it, but unfortunately that hasn’t been the case.

We had a fantastic stay at Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa, but the real standout was the food. Every meal felt like an occasion — from the beautifully presented breakfasts to the exceptional Asian and Mediterranean dishes at dinner. The quality, variety, and attention to detail were far beyond what we expected. The setting is peaceful and lush, but it’s the dining that truly makes this place special.

This has been a terrible experience from the moment we arrived, particularly considering we have paid around €2,200 for five nights. This review is being written on the first day, so it reflects the experience at check-in and during our first few hours at the resort. The hotel is located in what is essentially a residential area, although the entrance itself is quite impressive as you arrive through the convention centre. Unfortunately, the initial welcome did not match the surroundings. The reception and concierge area was not air-conditioned, and the check-in process was poor. There was no discussion about a potential room upgrade or the $100 Virtuoso credit that should have been addressed on arrival. Room 8210 Our room, 8210, required a very long walk, including passing through two separate lobbies, to reach it. The room itself is acceptable, but for the price and the category advertised, it does not feel particularly luxurious. Most importantly, it was described by the booking as a Deluxe Sea View room, but there is no meaningful sea view and you cannot hear the sea. Instead, the view is largely of Benidorm and surrounding vegetation. This was sufficiently different from what we expected that we returned to the concierge and spoke to the manager. We were offered the possibility of paying the difference for another room category, but there was no Virtuoso upgrade, which was disappointing given the booking benefits. Parking is also €15 per night. This is worth knowing in advance, particularly given that the hotel feels as though it is in the middle of nowhere. Pools & Spa The Angkor Wat adult pool is far too small for a resort of this size, with very limited sunbeds around it. The Langkawi pool was particularly disappointing. It was extremely noisy, with people shouting to each other, children and considerable background noise. The pools don’t flow directly into each other either; you have to swim to the end, get out and walk up stairs before entering the next pool. There are also some safety concerns. The first step into the pool slopes downwards quite sharply, creating a potential trip or fall hazard. The biggest issue, however, is the sunbed situation. There are green towels displayed in various areas, suggesting that the hotel is trying to manage the reservation of sunbeds, but there was seemingly no effective enforcement. Dozens of sunbeds had towels placed on them, leaving very few available for guests who actually wanted to use them. Eventually, people were lying on the grass because there was nowhere else to sit. For a hotel marketed as a spa hotel, it was also surprising to discover that the spa facilities are not freely accessible to hotel guests. Access to the spa requires you to book and pay for a treatment. This should be made much clearer when booking, as it is reasonable to expect at least some access to the spa facilities when staying at a resort that promotes itself as a spa hotel. Service & Customer Experience At

Wonderful stay, all exceeding expectations. However, one incident needs to be mentioned in the hope that in future this can be avoided: My daughter wanted to buy something from the shop next to the Reception. It was closed and the receptionist told us somebody will come in 10 minutes to open it. Nobody came for 20 minutes and it seems the receptionist didn't make any phone call or anything to attept finding the person responsible for the shop. After 20 minutes I asked the receptionist how much longer we shall wait. While we were talking, a female guest approached the receptionist in French. The receptionist said she doesn't speak French and asked the guest if she speaks English. When the guest said "no", I offered to translate. At that point the receptionist said "it's ok, I speak French". Unbelievable! This happened on 4 August 2026 at about 8 pm.