I was here in September 2005 and couldn't see any signs that the tsunami had hit. I don't know how bad the damage was at Le Meridien, but everything looked perfectly nice and normal. That being said, I thought that the resort was a five-star, and my room was four-star and the bathroom in my room was three-star. The first room I got (no. 113) was next to the service elevator shaft (the elevator is hidden behind a staff door, so I didn't realize this until 6am the next morning, when all the noise woke me up). I moved to room no. 109 the next day, and this room was silent.
The beds are fairly hard (much firmer than a "firm" mattress in the USA). The bathroom in both rooms had 4-inch green tiles similar to bathrooms in Mexico, and they just didn't fit in with the upscale character of this resort. The bathroom was just a letdown overall, but the amenities were nice (bath gel, shampoo, etc.). There was no robe or slippers in either room (I always had them at other upscale hotels in Thailand). There is an in-room safe that's free to use, iron and ironing board, umbrella, and balcony with table and chairs. This was a garden-view room, but I actually viewed the golf driving range (a practice area with netting). A single console on the nightstand controls all the lights and air conditioning (central A/C, so no noise). There were blackout curtains that kept out nearly all the light in the morning. Included in our rate was the fabulous breakfast buffet, which had anything you could imagine and was served until 10:30am. There's a nice fitness center on the property that's free for guests to use.
Using Internet at the hotel is expensive, compared to places in town. It's $1.50 per hour in town and $7.50 at the hotel. The prices at the restaurants and bars are high for Thailand, but just walk down the driveway to the main road (less than 10 minutes walking) and you have about 15 shops and restaurants that have good prices. I saw many guests doing this (especially to get drinks at the bar). A hot dog at the hotel's snack bar was nearly $6, so I tried to eat a big late breakfast and then just have dinner either at the hotel or on Patong Beach. This is also a good place to get a taxi, or tuk-tuk, to Patong Beach for only 100 baht ($2.50). If you have the hotel call a taxi, the price will be much higher.
If I had paid $250 during high season, I would have been disappointed in the garden-view room, but they were having a "welcome back" special for $95 a night, so I felt that I got a good deal. By the way, this review is for the Le Meridien Beach Resort, not Le Royal Meridien, which is also on Phuket.