Hi

A couple of questions:

1. What is the weather like in Phuket in the second half of September and the second half of October. I've seen the weather charts but prefer a more personal review.

2. I'm thinking of staying at the Seaview Hotel - http://www.seaviewphuket.com. It gets good reviews on Trip Advisor. Any experiences with this hotel or any suggestions for 3 or 4 star hotels.

Thanks for your help

Seaview is not a bad choice, it's at the sound end of patong so not so crowded ( though it won't be in septe / October anyway ! - mote on that later )

There's the beach road running in front, you can walk into the busy area for bars, restaurants, shops and nightlife, fairly long walk but do-able and easier than negotiating with a tuk-tuk. If you can get a seaview room would be nice.

Sept is rainy season, I lived several years in Patong, October rain tends to drop off but for example this year it was rain well into November.

You can get lucky and get solid sunshine, maybe it might rain for a few mintes, maybe a few hours, or, it could be a torrential monsoon storm, but if you choose to go 'in the monsoon' season then you take the gamble, that is why the hotel rates are so much lower than during the dry season.
Shops, restaurants and nightlife are all open, in fact it's a lot better than when it's packed in peak season, just do appreciate the rates are low for a reason, and that's the rain!
It's a gamble.
Sept / Oct should be about THB 2,300 for a double with tax, service, breakfast, that's around the USD 60 range. That price of THB 2,300 is about 4,000-5,000 in the dry/budsy season, so you see the difference.
Coconut Village also in south part but a few minutes walk down to the beach is about THB 1,250 that time of year, so roughly half the price.

If you are going for sunshine and beach take into account the weather, if the weather doesn't matter to you then you will get cheap accommodation and not nearly as busy all round, which is good.

There are 70-100 places to stay in Patong, and a good 30-40 could fall into the 3/4 star range ( though official ratings are only now coming in ), better if you can describe the sort of place you want, whether you want to be right in the busy area or you want quieter, whether you want to be along the beach road or you don't mind a walk, easier to give a price amount as in ' you don't mind spending up to USD/THD ?? per night', that makes it easier, if you want 'right on the beach' then the Impiana has the best location, but it is expensive. Graceland is another possibility. Another could be Club Andaman, it all depends what sort of place you want, large/medium/small and whether location takes more importance than style/quality etc.
http://www.patong-beach-hotels.com is a start, includes Seaview and lots of others, a general list http://www.patong-beach-hotels.com/patong/list.html or go to the full Phuket list including all those Patong beach places
http://www.r24.org/patong-beach-hote...phuket/hotels/

This is all of course based on you wanting Patong in particular. October end would be better chance of good weather than September.

Awesome answer James! Helps me heaps. Thanks for taking the time. Cheers.

If you go in September, you might explore Ko Samui instead of Phuket. The weather will be much better on the Gulf side. As JamesA has said many times, October is an iffy month weather-wise on both the Indian Ocean and the Gulf.

If you do go to Phujet, take a look at the Old Phuket Hotel in Karon Beach. It's a 3 star that is charming. We just stayed there.

Yup, it is iffy wherever you go, ( as I am reminded by my lawyer I often say ) if it has to be September then better chance in the Gulf, if it's November better chance Andaman side, but there was rain in Phuket a few weeks back but not so much, but that period is always a bit of a gamble. Plus side though is low season sept/oct everywhere so it is perhaps one time you can afford to keep your options open, there is no real need to book way ahead, if you plan on a few days in bangkok first no reason why you can't check the weather on arrival and then book from there, within the country you can get places booked online within a couple of hours.

We spent six days in Phuket this Sept (12th - 17th) and were lucky to have heavy rain only early one morning and late one afternoon, a few hours each time after which it quickly cleared. However, there had been more rain a few weeks before we arrived (a super typhoon in the Pacific) and heavy rains about three weeks after we left.