Katherine Massage

Greetings from Phoonpon Road. Katherine Massage suits travellers who want a soapy massage in Phuket with a proper bathroom: according to its website the bathrooms were renovated with jacuzzis and love chairs, and rooms come in tiers up to two rooftop options. It also suits couples, since the rate card has couples prices at every length, and night owls, with doors open until 03:00. Skip it if you want a cheap hour: the shortest item on the card is 90 minutes at ฿4,500, and there is no 60-minute price published. Its Google rating is a middling 3.7 from only nine reviews, and the complaints are about the service not matching what was described and a reception desk with little English. Book through the website and confirm what is included before you pay.

Katherine Massage is listed as a soapy massage, the bath-house style where the session is built around a big tub and a shower room. Its website describes renovated bathrooms with jacuzzis and love chairs, and four room tiers:

• Deluxe rooms with showers
• Premium rooms with baths
• a Panorama rooftop room
• a Garden rooftop room

The website also says the Panorama room can be booked for private parties. Beyond that, little is published: there is no list of languages spoken, no payment methods and no word on walk-ins. Google reviewers more than once mention that the receptionist spoke little or no English, so a translation app is worth having open.

If you are comparing the soapy houses on the island, our soapy massage Phuket guide puts them side by side, and the Phuket Town district page lists the other shops around Phoonpon Road.

Its rate card is long and priced for longer stays rather than a quick hour. The shorter items:

• Full Service 90 min: ฿4,500
• Full Service: two therapists 90 min: ฿7,000
• Full Service: For Couples, one or two therapists 90 min: ฿7,000
• Full Service 4 Hours 240 min: ฿10,000
• Full Service 4 Hours: For Couples 240 min: ฿12,500
• Full Service 4 Hours: two therapists 240 min: ฿15,000

The card then runs to Full Service 12 Hours 720 min: ฿12,500 and Full Service 24 Hours 1440 min: ฿15,000, with two-therapist and couples versions of the 720 and 1440-minute options between ฿15,000 and ฿22,000. ฿4,500 is the lowest price on the card; ฿22,000 the highest.

According to its website there is an online booking system. No phone, LINE or WhatsApp channel is published, and one recent Google review asks the shop for a LINE or Telegram contact because it was hard to reach. Payment methods are not published, so bring cash in case cards are refused. Prices change: check the card on the day.

The address is 74/12 Phoonpon Road in Phuket Town (Mueang Phuket), 83000. There is no train or metro on the island, so the easy options are a Grab car, a tuk-tuk or your own scooter. From Patong it is a Grab ride across to town rather than a walk; if you are staying in Phuket Town itself, give the driver the street number on Phoonpon Road.

Opening hours are the same every day: 14:00 until 03:00. That makes it one of the later choices in town, handy after dinner or a night out. See the Phuket city guide for how the town compares with Patong and the beaches.

Couples and pairs of friends, first: few shops publish couples prices at every length, and this card does. Travellers who want a long, unhurried booking in a room with a jacuzzi will find the 4-hour and longer options here, and the rooftop rooms are an unusual touch for Phuket Town.

It suits fewer people on a budget. If ฿4,500 is more than you planned, the happy ending massage guide for Phuket and the Patong guide include cheaper hourly options. And if clear English at the front desk matters to you, the reviews suggest you may need patience.

Katherine Massage holds a 3.7 Google rating from 9 reviews, a small sample with a wide spread from one star to five.

The complaints share a theme. Two reviewers say the service did not match what they understood was on offer, one calling the descriptions untrue and another saying the session was shorter and more basic than promised. Two reviewers mention that the receptionist spoke little or no English, which made it hard to understand the menu. Contact is a sore point too: one recent review asks for a LINE or Telegram account, and another says an advertised happy hour was not honoured.

On the positive side, the five-star reviews mention a clean, large room with a shower and a cheerful, unrushed therapist, and one notes that more staff arrive after 16:00, so early afternoon may mean little choice.

With only nine reviews, treat the rating as a rough guide. Wish you were here? Confirm the price and what it includes before you pay.