M Social Hotel Phuket

Great location, hotel facilities. Prompt check in process and excellent coordination from Pat and Tangkwa.

My overall experience was excellent. The hotel is ideally located in a prime tourist area, with two shopping malls conveniently attached to the hotel and a wide variety of restaurants nearby. The beach is also within walking distance, which was very convenient. I thoroughly enjoyed my stay at the hotel and would be happy to stay there again in the future.

Our experience at M Social Phuket was, without question, one of the worst hotel experiences we have ever had. We deliberately waited more than a week before posting this review to give the hotel an opportunity to resolve the situation. It remains unresolved. Our tour company reserved and paid for a Stylish Double Room. Instead, we were assigned a room with a single bed and an overwhelming moldy, musty odor. The stench was so severe that we immediately returned to the front desk and requested another room. We were told that there were no other Stylish Double Rooms available and that the only other room available was an “upgraded” room, for which we would have to pay an additional 5,200 baht (approximately US$155). We were given no meaningful choice: pay an additional 5,200 baht or stay in the room with the unbearable odor. So we reluctantly paid. Within approximately 20 minutes, the hotel’s explanation completely fell apart. As other members of our tour group entered their rooms, complaints began pouring in. Several guests had also been assigned single-bed rooms despite the tour company having requested double-bed rooms. Multiple rooms had moldy/musty odors and significant humidity, and one room even had a plumbing problem requiring a plumber. In total, approximately 10 rooms affecting more than 20 guests had significant problems. And then something remarkable happened. After telling us that no other rooms were available, the hotel suddenly found replacement rooms for other members of our tour group that very same evening—within approximately 20 minutes of us paying 5,200 baht because we had been told there were no other rooms. Apparently, rooms were available after all. The so-called “upgrade” we were required to purchase was essentially a pool-view version of the room category we had already paid for. We were not looking for a complimentary upgrade. We simply wanted the clean, comfortable Stylish Double Room that had already been purchased. Guests should not have to pay an additional 5,200 baht because the hotel assigned them a room with an unbearable odor. As complaints from our group mounted, the hotel eventually acknowledged that there was a significant problem. Staff were sent to affected rooms with dehumidifiers, rooms were sprayed to address the odors, and a plumber was sent to deal with the plumbing problem. The affected guests were subsequently moved to different rooms. Within hours of the check-in fiasco, our tour leader held a group call apologizing for what had happened. She informed us that the affected guests would be moved and specifically stated that we should not have been charged the upgrade fee, because we had already paid for our room and it was the hotel’s responsibility to provide a clean and acceptable one. Our tour company immediately requested that M Social Phuket refund our 5,200 baht. Instead of simply correcting the situation, the hotel delayed responding for days. Then the billing situation became even more concerning. When our tour company continued pursuing the refund and requested documentation of what the hotel had charged us, the hotel provided paperwork showing that we had been charged 3,900 baht and that a 1,300-baht credit had been issued. There was just one problem: That did not match what actually happened. Our credit card was charged the full 5,200 baht. We had our original receipt showing 5,200 baht. And we never received the 1,300-baht credit reflected in the documentation provided to our tour company. Because of this discrepancy, at checkout we specifically requested another copy of our final hotel bill so that we could compare the hotel’s own records. Our final checkout bill also showed 5,200 baht. So the documentation the hotel provided directly to us at checkout matched our credit-card charge: 5,200 baht. Yet the documentation provided to our tour company showed 3,900 baht and a 1,300-baht credit that we never received. We asked hotel management to explain why the documentation provided to our tour company differed from our original receipt, our final checkout bill, and the actual charge on our credit card. We never received a satisfactory explanation. Our final attempt to resolve this with management was even more disappointing. On our final evening, we spoke directly with a manager. She claimed that she had personally been present during our original check-in discussion and stated that we had been offered multiple options and voluntarily chose to purchase the upgraded room. That is simply not what happened. More importantly, she was not present during that interaction. This was the first time we had seen or spoken with her. We told her directly that she had not been present during our check-in discussion and therefore could not possibly have personally witnessed the conversation she was describing. She became silent and had nothing to say. We again explained what actually happened: we were told that there were no other rooms available and that our only choices were to pay for the upgraded room or remain in the room with the unbearable odor. The manager then told us she would speak with her supervisors and call us back. She never did. We eventually had to contact her again ourselves. She continued insisting that we were not entitled to a refund. We also questioned her about the discrepancy between the paperwork provided to our tour company and the 5,200-baht charge reflected on our receipt, checkout bill and credit card. Again, we received no satisfactory explanation. Finally, when we told her that we intended to describe everything that had happened accurately in a public review, her response was: “Why do you have to say all of that?” Because all of that happened, and future guests deserve to know how this situation was handled. This was never about wanting a free upgrade. We had already paid for a Stylish Double Room. When the room assigned to us was unacceptable because of the overwhelming odor, the hotel had a responsibility to provide an acceptable room. Instead, we were told there were no other rooms and required to pay 5,200 baht to move—only to watch the hotel find rooms for other guests shortly afterward. Then came days of delays over the refund, conflicting accounts from management, a manager claiming to have witnessed a conversation she was not present for, a promised callback that never happened, and billing documentation provided to our tour company that did not match our receipt, our final hotel bill, or our credit-card charge. More than a week has now passed since our stay. We intentionally waited before posting this review because we wanted to give M Social Phuket the opportunity to correct the situation. As of the date of this review, the 5,200-baht charge remains on our credit card, no refund has been issued, and the unexplained discrepancy in the billing documentation remains unresolved. Hotels can have maintenance problems. Rooms can occasionally have problems. Mistakes happen. What matters is how a hotel responds. A reputable hotel should respond with transparency, accountability and respect for its guests—not by requiring guests to pay extra to escape an unacceptable room and then spending days disputing responsibility for the charge. Unfortunately, that was not our experience at M Social Phuket. Based on our experience and the way management handled this matter, I cannot recommend this hotel.

M Social is a very modern luxury 5 star hotel for good reason! The Japanese restaurant is a must!

A Avery beautiful place The location was so good