Lt Col Sarit Butnongsang of the Patong Police was called to the scene at about 10pm.
Officers arrived to find the body of the man on the access driveway to the back of the hotel. He had suffered fatal head trauma.
Hotel staff confirmed that the man*, James Billy Simmons from Baulkham Hills, west of Sydney, had been staying in a room on the 11th floor of the hotel.
He checked in to the hotel on May 14 and was scheduled to check out on May 28.
The man’s body was taken to Patong Hospital for post-mortem examination as part of the police investigation into the man’s death.
* The Phuket News originally withheld the man’s name until it had been confirmed that his next of kin have been notified.