The Secret To Choosing A Nice Hotel In Phuket

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The Secret To Choosing A Nice Hotel In Phuket

By Tuk-Tuk.net, Thu Dec 8th

Phuket is Thailand's biggest island. The water itself may not beas breathtaking as Phi Phi or Similan island, but it's still beautiful. My suggestion is you stay at Phuket and then take a boat to Phi Phi, Similan or other smaller nearby islands for a snorkeling or diving trip.

Phuket Thailand becomes lively during the night -- with all the pubs, bars and restaurants opening until midnight or later. You can choose to stay at your Phuket hotel and have romantic dinner there. Or you can choose to take a stroll at Phuket's popular Patong beach for some night scene. Phuket has dozens of beaches. Each has tens, if not hundreds, of hotels. If you don't like a crowded beach with hundreds of restaurants and bars, stay away from Patong beach.

Looking to find a nice Phuket Thailand hotel that's just perfect for your budget? No problem. I'll recommend some nice hotels for you. Well, if you don't mind a very huge lagoon next to the beach and a very big resort hotel, then stay at the Laguna Phuket. Actually at the Laguna Phuket, there are five hotels(yes, it's that BIG -- Allamanda, Banyan Tree, Dusit Laguna,Laguna Beach, and Sheraton Grande Laguna). They're all beautiful and luxurious. So, expect to spend from $100 to over $300 a night, depending on the resort you choose.

And there's this secluded private hotel that I really --really--love... The Chedi Phuket. For me, the price is just right too. It's a little over $100. But you'd be glad to pay a lot more than that for a hotel room this cozy. And let me tell you, the private beach right in front of the Chedi is a lot more beautiful than other beaches in Phuket too.

Most foreigners (especially Westerners) I know like to stay at Mom Tri's Boat House. I don't know why. I haven't stayed there, so I can't tell you. But I just know for a fact they really like to stay there. The price is around $70. This Phuket resort hotel is designed by a well-known architect of Thailand. So 70bucks a night is a steal.

Now if you're willing to stay off Phuket island, then I suggest you stay at the Racha on Racha island. It's only 20 minutes away from Phuket. It's a private and totally gorgeous resort island. The beach is white, sandy and just beautiful. The resort itself is beyond explanation. Plus, the price is just a few bucks over$100.

PHUKET THAILAND

Phuket is Thailand's biggest island. The water itself may not beas breathtaking as Phi Phi or Similan island, but it's stillbeautiful. My suggestion is you stay at Phuket and then take aboat to Phi Phi, Similan or other smaller nearby islands for asnorkeling or diving trip.

Phuket Thailand becomes lively during the night -- with all thepubs, bars and restaurants opening until midnight or later. Youcan choose to stay at your hotel and have romantic dinner there. Or you can choose to take a stroll at Phuket's popular Patong beach for some night scene. Phuket has dozens of beaches.Each has tens, if not hundreds, of hotels. If you don't like acrowded beach with hundreds of restaurants and bars, stay awayfrom Patong beach.

Looking to find a nice Phuket Thailand hotel that's just perfectfor your budget? No problem. I'll recommend some nice hotels for you. Well, if you don't mind a very huge lagoon next to the beach and a very big resort hotel, then stay at the Laguna Phuket. Actually at the Laguna Phuket, there are five hotels(yes, it's that BIG -- Allamanda, Banyan Tree, Dusit Laguna,Laguna Beach, and Sheraton Grande Laguna). They're all beautifuland luxurious. So, expect to spend from $100 to over $300 a night, depending on the resort you choose. And there's this secluded private hotel that I really --really--love... The Chedi Phuket. For me, the price is just right too.It's a little over $100. But you'd be glad to pay a lot morethan that for a hotel room this cozy. And let me tell you, theprivate beach right in front of the Chedi is a lot morebeautiful than other beaches in Phuket too.

Most foreigners (especially Westerners) I know like to stay atMom Tri's Boat House. I don't know why. I haven't stayed there,so I can't tell you. But I just know for a fact they 'really'like to stay there. The price is around $70. This resorthotel is designed by a well-known architect of Thailand. So 70bucks a night is a steal.

Now if you're willing to stay off Phuket island, then I suggestyou stay at the Racha on Racha island. It's only 20 minutes awayfrom Phuket. It's a private and totally gorgeous resort island.The beach is white, sandy and just beautiful. The resort itselfis beyond explanation. Plus, the price is just a few bucks over$100.

PHUKET COMMENT

Some people might look for complete solitude during a tropicalisland vacation to get away from it all, but no matter howblissful beach holidays can be, some long for great night lifeas well.

For those of you who wish to go to an island where there arealso some exciting night life activities, check out this list of5 of the world's top tropical destinations where you cansunbathe by day and party by night.

Ibiza, Spain

This is the Place to go for the best night life and partyscenes. From its bars, to its clubs, to its fun-loving people,Ibiza has long been the world's best destination for parties andmore parties.

So what do you do in Ibiza? First, remember that there's alwayssomething new going on. So know first what's hot for the day orthe week you're visiting and make sure you make the best of anyevent in town.

If you'd rather not do this research and prefer to bespontaneous, then just go to any of its many clubs and you'repractically guaranteed a great night out.

True to almost every night hangout in Spain, life doesn't reallystart until the bell strikes 12! So make sure you get a siestain because with everything that Ibiza offers, that's about theonly sleep you'll get!

Phuket Thailand

The exotic splendors of Bangkok's palaces may not grace Phuket,but if you want to be by the beach all day and party all nightin Siam, then Phuket is a great place to be. For those who really want to party, Patong is where the island'sbars, clubs and discotheques are. If you've got the kids withyou, you might also want to visit Phuket Fantasea on Kamala Beach, which is the islands version of a festival and culturalevent -a place to sample Thai theater, eat great Thai food, playgames, and go shopping.

On the other hand, if you want to go some place a bit tamer, Karon Beach is an excellent place for restaurants with some goodfood and great cocktails . And if you want a classier and MUCHquieter ambiance, go to Bangtao bay.

THE EAST COAST OF PHUKET ISLAND

Tin mines and docks take up a lot of Phuket’s east coast, which is thus neither scenic nor swim able. East of Rawai, the sizeable offshore island of Lone Island pretects the broad sweep of Ao Chalong, where many a Chinese fortune was made from the huge quantities of tin mined in the bay. Ao Chalong tapers off eastwards into Laem Panwa, at the tip of which you’ll find the Phuket Aquarium, 10km south of Phuket town and accessible by frequent songthaews. Run by the island’s Marine Research Center, it makes a poor substitute for a day’s snorkeling, but not a bad primer for what you might see on a reef. The research center is also involved in the protection of marine turtles; there’s a hatchery on the premises, although it’s out of bounds to casual visitors.

Around the other side of Laem Panwa, the island’s main port of Ao Makham is dominated by a smelting and refining plant, bordered to the north by Siray Island, just about qualifying as an island because of the narrow canal that separates if from Phuket. Tour buses always stop here to spy on Phuket’s largest and longest-established chao ley community.

THACHATCHAI NATURE TRAIL

41km north of the Thalang intersection, just 700m south of the Sarasin Bridge exit to the mainland, a sigh east off Highway 402 brings you to the Thachatchai Nature Trail, part of the Sirinath National Park which covers the west-coast beaches of Hat Mai Khao and Hat Nai Yang. Although probably not worth a special trip, the trail does combine nicely with a visit to Hat Mai Khao or Hat Nai Yang – and it’s free. Any bus running between Phuket town and the mainland will drop you at the sign(it’s across the road from the old headquarters of the Sirinath National Park, now moved to Hat Nai Yang),

HAT RAWAI AND ITS ISLAND

The eastern side of Laem Promthep curves round into HAT RAWAI, Phuket’s southernmost beach and the first to be exploited for tourist purposes. Twenty-five years on, the developers have moved to the softer sands of Kata and Karon and returned Rawai to its former inhabitants, A few bungalows still open here, but most visitors come either to eat seafood in one of the open-air seafood restaurants on the beachfront, or hire a long-tail out to the islands offshore. Of these, Khai Nok Island, Hai (aka Coral Island), Racha Yai Island and Racha Noi Island are good for snorkeling and diving – the visibility and variety of the reefs around Racha Island in particular compare with those off Similan Island further up the Andaman coast, and make a popular destination for Phuket’s diving centers.

HAT NAI HARN AND LAEM PROMTHEP

Around the next headland south from Kata Noi, HAT NAI HARN -18km Southwest of Phuket town – is generally considered to be one of the loveliest beaches on the Phuket island, given character by a sparkling saltwater lagoon and dominated by the luxurious hotel, the Phuket Yacht Club.

Follow the coastal road 2km south and you’ll get to a small bay which has coral reefs very close to the shore, though the currents are strong and the sewage pipes uncomfortably close. A further 1km on, you reaches the southernmost tip of the Phuket at the sheer headland of Laem Promthep. Wild and rugged, jutting out into the deep blue of the Andaman Sea, the cape is one of the island’s top beauty sports: at sunset, busloads of tour groups get shipped in to admire the scenery – and just to ensure you don’t miss the spectacle, a list of year-round sunset times is posted at the viewpoint. Several reefs lie just off the cape, but it’s safer to snorkel from a boat rather than negotiate the rocky shore.

AO KATA YAI AND AO KATA NOI

Peaceful AO KATA YAI is a few minutes drive around the headland from Karon (17km from Phuket town), but both prettier and safer for swimming thanks to the protective rocky promontories at either end. The northern stretch of Kata Yai is completely given over to the unobtrusive buildings, and then it’s a lengthy trek down to the rest of the accommodation at the southern end, where you will find the restaurants, bars, mini-markets, tour operators and transport rental outlets. A headland at the southernmost point divides Ao Kata Yai from the much smaller AO KATA NOI, which is an attractive little gold sand bay, very popular and so quite crowded with parasols and deckchairs. Kata Noi has its own small cluster of businesses including a mini-market, several restaurants and bars, transport rental and even a tailor’s shop.

AO KARON

20km southwest of Pheket town, AO KARON is only about 5km south from Patong beach, but a lot less congested. With the help of a healthy scattering of café-bars, restaurants and relatively inexpensive guest houses, Ao Karon generally tempts the younger couples and mid-budget backpackers away from its increasingly manic neighbor. Although the central stretch of beach front is dominated by large-capacity hotels, the beach itself is completely free of developments, and elsewhere you’ll find mainly low-rise guest houses and bungalows, some of them set around gardens, interspersed with stretches of undeveloped grassland.

While long and sandy, the beach offers very little in the way of shade; south of the Phuket Arcadia it feels quite exposed because of the road that runs right alongside it, and it almost disappears at high tide. That said, it’s a popular place to swim, and local entrepreneurs rent out parasols and deckchairs on some stretches. Be warned that the undertow off Ao Karon is treacherously strong during the monsoon season from May to October, so you should heed the warning signs and flags and ask for local advice – fatalities are not uncommon. For the rest of the year there’s plenty of scope for water-sports here; windsurfing is good all year round, and the reefs around the tiny island of Ko Pu, just off the headland separating Karon from neighboring Ao Kata Yai to the south, make for enjoyable snorkeling. The tiny bay just north of Ao Karon – known as Karon Noi or Relax Bay – is almost exclusively patronized by guests of the swanky Le Meridien hotel, but non guests are quite welcome to swim and sunbathe here. For inland entertainment, you could do a round at Dino Park mini-golf, next to Marina cottages on the Kata/ Karon headland, which is part of a pseudo-prehistoric theme park comprising a dino burger bar, a dino restaurant and an erupting “volcano”; or try the House of Horror theme park on Patong

NIGHTLIFE AND ENTERTAINMENT ON PATONG BEACH

There are too much of Patong’s nightlife is packed into the strip of open-air bar-beers along Soi Bangla and the tiny sois that lead off it. The gay entertainment district is mainly concentrated around the network of small sois and dozens of bar beers in front of Paradise Hotel on Thanon Raja Uthit. If you’re looking for something else with your kids in the evening, the recommended place is House of Horror theme park on Thanon Prachanukho at the southern edge of Patong beach (daily 5pm-2am), where an old hospital has been converted into sixteen horror chambers, each inspired by a different horror movie and populated by role-playing actors to get you spooked. Alternatively, survey the nearby transvestite Simon Cabaret, or the spectacular show at Phuket Fantasea.

HAT NAI YANG

The long curved sweep of HAT NAI YANG, despite also being part of the Sirinath National Park, 5km south of Hat Mai Khao and 30km north of Phuket town, has become fairly developed, albeit in a relatively low-key way, with around thirty open-air restaurant and small bars set up along the beachfront road and the track that run off it, tour agency, transport rental, mini-markets and internet center. The beach is a pleasant place to while away a few hours, ideally around lunch or dinner time when you can browse the restaurant menus at leisure – barbecued seafood and wood fired pizzas are the local specialties. The very popular Sunday pastime with local Thai families is eating out here in the shade of the trees that run along the bay. The beach is fairly clean and fine for swimming, shallow reef about 1km offshore from the national park headquarters, which are a 15 minuets walk north of the tourist village. The recommended place where you should visit when you’re staying here is Thachatchai Nature Trail, more convenient if you have own transport.

HAT NAI THON

Go to south of Hat Nai Yang down is the next bay is HAT NAI THON, small, one of the least commercialized beaches on the Phuket Island. The 500m long gold-sand bay is shaded by casuarinas and surrounded by plantations of coconut, banana, pineapple and rubber trees. There are not too many places to stay at the beach, a few jeeps for hire and a restaurant attach to each hotel. But there’s good snorkeling at reefs that are easily reached by long-tail boat.

HAT KAMALA AND LAEM SINGH

Sandwiched between the beach and the inland Muslim village of Ban Kamala, small of HAT KAMALA, about 200m west of the main Patong-Surin road and 26km northwest of Phuket town. Hat Kamala has an almost Mediterranean ambience and is one of the most appealingly low-key resorts on Phuket, with cheerfully painted houses, no high-rises or big hotels. Aside from the accommodation which is clustered either side of Thanon Rim Had has several restaurants and bars, transport rental, internet access center, mini-market, health center, post office and tourist operator. The Phuket Fantasea entertainments complex is about 1km northeast of Hat Kamala on the main Patong-Surin road. A few hundred meters north of the cemetery, a couple of steep paths lead west off the main road and down to LAEM SINGH cape, a pretty little sandy cove that’s a picturesque combination of turquoise water and smooth granite boulders. It’s nice for swimming and very secluded.

AO SURIN (AO PANSEA)

The bay south of Ao Bang Tao, beyond Laem Son cape, favorite haunt of royalty and Hollywood stars is AO SURIN (sometime known as AO PANSEA). Nearly always a peaceful spot, it boasts Phuket’s most indulgent resort, the Amanpuri, part of the super exclusive, Hong Kong-based Aman chain, where luxuries include a personal attendant, a private Thai-style pavilion and unlimited use of the black marble swimming pool. Also here are the delightful traditional-style thatched villas at The Chedi, whose published prices start at a slightly more reasonable.

AO PATONG

The most popular and developed of all Phuket’s beaches, AO PATONG 5km south of Ao Kamala and 15km west of Phuket town, 3km long good sand and plenty of shaded by casuarinas and parasols beach. There’re the densest concentration of top hotels, restaurants and bars including the island’s biggest choice of water-sports and diving centers. On the downside, a congestion of high-rise hotels, tour agents and souvenir shops disfigures the beachfront, and limpet-like touts are everywhere. Entertainment plazas are mushrooming all over Patong beach, each one packed with hostess bars and strip joints that make this the most active scene between Bangkok and Hat Yai. Before long, this might be a second Pattaya.

Patong beach just keeps on growing outwards and upwards, which can make it hard to orientate yourself. But the resort is strung out along the two main roads – Thavee Wong and Raja Uthit, that run parallel to the beachfront, spilling over into a network of connecting sois which in turn have spawned numerous pedestrian only “plaza”, while the landmark sois connecting them have become established entertainment zones: Soi Bangla and its offhsoots throb away at the heart of the nightlife district, while the more sedate Soi Post Office is dominated by tailors’ shops and small cafes and restaurants.

AO BANG TAO

The 8km long of AO BANG TAO is effectively the private beach of the up-market Laguna Resort, an “integrated resort” comprising five luxury hotels set in extensive landscaped grounds around a series of lagoons. There’s fee transport between the hotels, and for a small fee all Laguna guests can use facilities at any one of the five hotels which include 15 swimming pools, 30 restaurants, several children’s clubs, a couple of spas and countless sporting facilities ranging from tennis courts to riding stables, windsurfers, and hobie-cats to badminton courts. There’s also the 18 holes Banyan Tree golf course, the quest Laguna outdoor sports center and a kid’s activity center called Camp Laguna, with activities for 8-18 years olds ranging from abseiling and rock climbing to team games and arts and crafts workshops.

PHUKET TOWN

Thought it has plentiful hotels and restaurants, Phuket Town stands distinct from the tailor-made tourist settlements along the beaches as a place geared primarily towards its residents. Most visitors hang about just long enough to jump on a beach-bound songthaew (local minibus), but you may find yourself returning for a welcome dose of real life; Phuket town has an enjoyably authentic market and some of the best handicraft shops on the island. If you’re on a tight budget, the town is worth considering as a base, as accommodation and food come a little less expensive, and you can get out to all the beaches with relative ease. Bear in mind, though, that the town offers little in the way of nightlife, and as public transport to and form the more lively beaches stops at dusk, you’ll have to either rent your own wheels or spend a lot of money on tuk-tuks.

Aside from a manically bustling market on Thanon Ranong there’s not a great deal to see, though a two-hour wander around the streets will take you past several faded colonial-style residences built by Chinese merchants at the turn of the century. Recognizable by their doors and shutters painted in pastel pinks, blues and greens, a string of these elegant old mansions lines Thanon Talang: the carved lintels and brightly painted shutters of the building next door to the Chinese temple are definitely worth an upward glance. You’ll find relics of other historical buildings on Thanon Yaowarat, and on Thanon Ranong, Thanon Phang Nga and Thanon Damrong.

Kids usually enjoy the Phuket Butterfly Farm and Aquarium, located a couple of kilometers beyond the northern end of Thanon Yaowarat at 71/6 Soi Paneang in Ban Sam Kong, but though there are heaps of butterflies of various species, and a few reef fish, there’s a lack of specific information. There’s no public transport to the butterfly farm, but a tuk-tuk from the town center is available. If you have your own vehicle, follow Thanon Yaowarat as far north as you can and then pick up the signs for the farm.

HAT MAI KHAO BEACH

Phuket’s northwest coast with the longest and least-visited beach, the 12km Hat Mai Khao Beach, which starts a couple of kilometers north of the airport and 34km north west of Phuket town, and remains almost completely unsullied by any tourist enticements, with to date just a couple of discreet budget accommodations hidden behind a sand bank at the back of the shore. Together with Hat Nai Yang immediately to the south, Hat Mai Khao constitutes Sirinath National Park, chiefly because giant marine turtles come ashore here between October and February to lay their eggs. Mai Khao Beach is also a prime habitat of a much-revered but non-protected species – the sea grasshopper or sea louse, a tiny crustacean that’s considered a great delicacy. While you’re at Mai Khao beach, you might want to make a trip to the Thachatchai Nature Trail, which also comes under the protection of the Sirinath National Park, but is actually on Phuket’s northeast coast, very close to the Sarasin Bridge and about 8km north form the Hat Mai Khao beach accommodation.

AROUND PHUKET ISLAND

This account of the island starts at the top of Phuket’s most appealing coast and follows an anti-clockwise route around the perimeter, through the chief tourist centers. The west coast boasts a series of long sandy beaches punctuated by shear rocky headlands, unprotected form the monsoons and consequently quite rough and windswept from May to October. Shadowed by the mainland, the east coast is much more sheltered and thus makes a convenient docking point for ships, but is hopeless for swimming and sunbathing.

List of Beaches around Phuket Island

Phuket Town

Hat Mai Khao Beach

Hat Nai Yang Beach

Hat Nai Thon Beach

Ao Bang Tao

Hat Surin Beach (Ao Pansea)

Hat Kamala and Laem Singh Beach

Ao Patong

Ao Karon

Ao Kata Yai and Ao Kata Noi

Hat Nai Harn and Laem Promthep

Hat Rawai and its islands

The East Coast of Phuket

PHUKET ISLAND

The country’s largest island, most populous, most visited island, a whirl of color and cosmopolitanism that’s a province into itself, Phuket Island is dubbed by the tourist industry. The coastal terrain of the 810 sq.km island encompasses broad, sandy bays, rocky peninsulas, limestone cliffs, forested hills and tropical vegetation while the interior has rice paddies, rubber, cashew nut, cacao, pineapple and coconut plantations, as well as Phuket Island’s last bit of island rainforest. Although Phuket Island is connected to Phang Nga province by a causeway, most visitors arrive via the island’s international airport located near its northern tip.

There is a lot to do in Phuket Island, and consequently, a lot to spend your money on. There are also more tourists in Phuket Island than on any other Thai Island, though most flock to three beaches on the south-west side – Patong beach, Karon beach and Kata beach. The beach towns themselves are quite built up, and have all the amenities and entertainment one could wish for. This is the area to visit if you’re looking for a lively, action-filled vacation.

Nai Han beach, near the southern tip, and Kamala beach, on the western coast are relatively quiet, in spite of major tourist development at both, while Nai Thon beach, Nai Yang beach and Mai Khao beach to the north remain mostly untouched. In general the northern half of the island, both along the shore and in the interior, has not been swept up in the development wave, and thus offers quiet beach retreats and chances to explore rural inland areas.

Development on Phuket Island has been influenced by the fact that it is connected to the mainland by a bridge, and hence it receives much more vehicular traffic than any other island in the country. Phuket Island’s high per-capita wealth also means there’s plenty of money available for investment. A turning point was reached when a Club Med was established at Hat Kata beach, followed by the construction of the more lavish Phuket Yacht Club on Hat Nai Han beach and Le Meridien on Karon Noi beac (Relax Bay). This marked an end to the decade-long cheap bungalow era, which started in the early 1970s when a 10B guesthouse was attached to a laundry on Hat Patong beach. The cheapest have long since been bought out and replaced by all manner of hotel and bungalow developments, some ill-conceived, others quite appealing.

The era of going for quick money regardless of the cost to the environment has passed. Most beach resorts are now looking towards long-term, sustainable practices – not all of them, but a far greater percentage than on Samui Island, Pha Ngan Island, Tao Island, and even Chang Island. For the long term outlook, the Phuket Island visitor pays a premium in terms of somewhat higher prices.

Beach Around Phuket island
Getting to Phuket Island