Asia Gardens Hotel and Thai Spa

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 around 3pm, we witnessed a family with young children come to the concierge because they had been turned away from the three restaurants that were open, apparently because they were already full. They were told that their remaining option was essentially to have food in their room. For a resort charging these prices, this is not an acceptable level of service or planning.

The customer service so far has also not felt warm or particularly helpful. At the pool, when asking about towels and sunbeds, staff have simply told guests to go and find a sunbed themselves rather than actively helping.

The response from the concierge manager regarding our room concerns was also not particularly accommodating.

The combination of the misleading sea-view room description, lack of a meaningful upgrade, €15 nightly parking charge, overcrowded pools, sunbed problems, noise, restricted spa access, limited restaurant availability and indifferent customer service has made this a very poor start.

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.

Our stay at Asia Gardens was absolutely wonderful. From the moment we arrived, we felt like we had been transported to Asia. The beautiful room, the breathtaking tropical gardens, the lush flora and fauna, and the stunning swimming pools created a truly relaxing and luxurious atmosphere.

What made our stay even more special was the friendly and attentive staff and the clean room.

The greatest compliment we can give is that we definitely want to come back. It felt like experiencing the very best of Asia, but only a two-hour flight from home, a truly unique getaway.

The only small downside is that you're somewhat dependent on the hotel's restaurants, as there aren't many appealing dining options in the immediate area. Fortunately, the quality of the food at the resort is fine, so this didn't take away from our overall experience.

Thank you for an unforgettable stay. We can't wait to return!