Patong Beach is a fascinating place. We saw the good, the bad and the ugly all within 8 days! I highly recommend staying at the Novotel Coralia Phuket—it overlooks the entire beach and it is also a recognised Tsunami Evacuation Route (meaning that if there’s any trouble, you’ll be safe at your hotel!). The beach does smell a bit of sewage (poor plumbing, methinks) and you DO see a lot of 40+ year old men toting around with their young girls/ladyboys, but the locals are really friendly and some of the taxi/tuktuk drivers have fascinating information on the history of the area. By all means visit this place, but I wouldn’t take kids (especially if you’re like us and spend many a night down Bangla Road..!).