Phuket resorts review and spas

A detailed guide to Phuket resorts, wellness escapes, and child friendly hotels, with a Khao Lak resorts review and a look at the best beaches up the Andaman Coast. A grab-bag of aromatic Phuket spa resorts, budget hotels and the occasional pouting transvestite.

by Vijay Verghese

See also Small meetings in Asia | Phuket guide | Bangkok hotels | Bangkok shopping | Koh Samui resorts | Chiang Mai guide | Thai spas | Golf | Resort weddings | Brunei guide | Vietnam Resorts | Isan, Khao Yai guide

IF YOUR idea of an exotic Asian holiday is having yourself photographed with baby elephants, screeching jungle birds, and iridescent lizards that will perch comfortably on your shoulder cocking bulbous eyes enquiringly at the camera, call David Attenborough. But if you want the whole ensemble, this time with a transvestite thrown in, draped in little more than a pink feather boa and perhaps a snazzy, if fake, Dior clutch bag, head to Phuket, Thailand.

Patong, the neon-emblazoned nightlife strip and budget paradise, is alive with feral promise, chatty t-shirt vendors, burnished bodies, and that ultimate barometer of commercial health, fake DVDs. Take your pick of cut-price knock-offs, from Harry Potter to the intriguing Shaving Private Ryan. It’s all here. Without further ado, our guide to Phuket spa resorts, luxury hotels and small villa hideaways to suit all budgets and tastes, with a beach sampler to find the whitest sand around. Stretching geography a wee bit we look as far afield as Khao Lak before moving on through the island of Phuket, thrumming with construction and resort projects by the mile.

Khao Lak resorts are burgeoning by the day with several good spa hideaways and family-friendly options. In north Phuket beyond the airport, a new crop of luxury resorts have arrived, creating a welcome counter-magnet to the overcrowded development in central and southern Phuket.

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JW Marriott Khao Lak villa/ photo: Verghese

For the purposes of sanity this Phuket resort review will run in a straight line north to south, tracing the western coastline from Mai Khao Beach in the north beyond the airport to Promthep Cape in the south where romantics huddle to watch the sunset beneath lazily spinning wind turbines. But first, an hour or two north of Phuket to start with our Khao Lak resorts review, where the damage from the Boxing Day tsunami is now indiscernible. Khao Lak is in full swing, albeit in its laid back, rustic style, with a campy drag show or two, and new resorts, shops and vendors are busily in evidence. With international resorts providing a much-needed nucleus and greenback-waving tourists, commerce, like water, has found its own level. If anything, Khao Lak is now better developed, planned and organised than before with newer resorts keeping a keen eye on their green eco-friendly credentials. It also has its very own elephant camp and monkey show so it has certainly come of age in the Thai scheme of things. Still, ubiquitous signs caution, "Entering Tsunami Hazard Zone" with a stylised image of a monstrous wave. The area is an hour's drive from Phuket, about a 100km run. Remember to fill up on petrol. There are several petrol pumps around Kokloi a small town en route.

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Khao Lak resorts review and hotel guide

The latest resort to throw open its doors, is the manicured and sprawling 298-room JW Marriott Khao Lak, far to the north along a secluded and pristine stretch of beach formerly occupied by the Rixos Premium, which in turn supplanted the ill-starred Sofitel. The post-tsunami transformation could not be more dramatic and vividly underscores the progress the area has made in recent years. This manicured, verdant estate incorporates four low-rise hotel wings set around a 16,000sq m lagoon pool that offers the possibility of a 3km swim if you're up to it.

South Sea Grand/ photo: hotel

We'll begin our JW Marriott Khao Lak review with a description. The buildings are laundered white Mediterranean with timbered balconies and gleaming shingle Thai-style roofs that glint in the bright sun. As many as 148 ground floor rooms have direct access to the swimming pool. Wade right in. Rooms offer 40-inch LCD TV screens with a useful WiFi keyboard that you can use to surf the Web. Wondrously, Wi-Fi will not cost you a cent and coverage extends right to the beach.

In-room expect a DVD player, multi-pin plug sockets, iron and ironing board, a touch-screen phone that calls up the weather, and a see-through glass partition separating the bathroom with its rainshower, weighing scales and tub. Rooms start at 55sq m with a breezy balcony. The safe is somewhat anorexic but can manage a notebook. When not watching big sunsets and soaking in the beachfront Jacuzzi, guests can indulge at the spa with its 15 treatment rooms each with a private sauna or steam room.

This verdant, manicured retreat plans to be among the top Khao Lak spa resorts when it gets into its stride and gets high marks on our Khao lak resorts review. Ankle-biters and typhoon tykes are not neglected either. There are a series of playrooms catering for different age groups offering everything from a pool table to video games and diapers. Excess adrenaline can always be burned off on the squash or tennis courts unless cycling or water sports appeal more.

The Thai-style Takolaburi presents itself as a "cultural, spa & sport resort" that pretty much covers all bases. This is on the turnoff leading to the Apsaras resort and sits just off a small road running along the beach. There is not much traffic on this deadend street so kids should be okay crossing to the sand.

Le Meridien Khao Lak villa/ photo: hotel

The wooden villas feature Thai murals on the walls and tasteful wannabe decor. Expect satellite TV, DVD player on request, mini-bar, and Broadband Internet. There are several swimming pools including one for kids, and a spa. Takolaburi is a neat, laid back option for families looking for style without wallet-pounding rates. The villas are set amidst water pools and rustic, rambling gardens. At the end of the road is the Apsaras Beach Resort & Spa (with direct access to the beach) and along the same strip is the lowrise and simple, but neat, South Sea Grand Phang Nga resort with a large pool, children's pool, Jacuzzi, babysitting services, and a wellness spa. As with Takolaburi, South Sea Grand is across the street from the beach. South Sea is a reasonable, hassle-free child-friendly Khao Lak resort with contemporary decor and an unfussy feel.

Two other Khao Lak resorts that should be considered carefully are the boutique Sarojin and the larger 243-room Le Meridien. Farthest up the azure coast, the Le Meridien Khao Lak Beach & Spa Resort offers rooms featuring 42-inch plasma flat-screen televisions and an array of goodies including Wireless Broadband, beefed up conference facilities, yoga for New Agers, Playstation contests for kids, the rejuvenating Le Spa (with eight spacious spa treatment villas) and, of course, a splendid beach. In addition to rooms, the hotel offers a selection of plush Thai-style villas, some with private pools. The Ocean Front Pool Villas perched at the edge of the sand have their own small garden and a 25sq m pool. Villas have wooden parquet floors, plump beds with silk runners, flat-screen TVs with DVD player, and larger ones come with outdoor showers with an indoor tub and twin vanities so there's no argle-bargle between Him and Her.

Never a dull moment at the Le Meridien Khao Lak – choose from kayaking, snorkelling, trekking, fishing, mountain biking and elephant safaris. This is a breezy open complex with plenty of garden. It is a child friendly Khao Lak resort with a separate lagoon-style pool for kids complete with sand and a range of activities. The free-form swimming pool is large and fronts the ocean. The hotel fronts an excellent beach with long views around the arcing bay. Spread out over several acres the resort offers ample stretch space for walkers and joggers.

Sarojin beach/ photo: hotel

The 56-room boutique property The Sarojin Khao Lak, also offers the Pathways spa within its 10 landscaped acres, a pristine beach, lotus ponds, tranquil walks and bicycle paths for those who prefer pedal power. Pathways is an interesting Thai spas option with two double and two single treatment rooms with outdoor "tree showers".

Designed in a contemporary Asian style with modern looking "residences", this hideaway Khao Lak resort is arrayed around a large garden area that leads on to the sea. There is a lot of space and the central lawns can be a sizzling hot expanse in summer. Sarojin has complimentary WiFi and Broadband Internet if you absolutely must stay in touch, but the emphasis is clearly on relaxation.

You'll also have use of a laptop in the library with an Internet hook-up. A thoughtful touch.

The resort is aimed at an older set and honeymooners who might enjoy a round of croquet when not looking deep into each other's eyes. Grown-ups only. Children under 12 years are not permitted at the Sarojin. The Sarojin Guest Residences feature private gardens, spoiling baths, sundeck, rain-showers, DVD/CD player, in-room safe and TV.

La Flora Resort & Spa, is neat, compact, bright and welcoming, if a tad predictable and busy. It has neat lines, trim lawns and fronts the beach. Not too much walking here. The pool is right on the the beach and is a good spot for sunsets and tans. Dive into the two lap pools. Or unwind in the Jacuzzi while the kids wade in the children's pool. Deluxe rooms and Sea View Villas feature modern Thai design interpretations and for long, lazy afternoon's there's the Spa La Flora with herbal steam baths, yoga and meditation. This is one of the safer choices among Khao Lak resorts and is a child-friendly option.

Khao Lak Resort villa/ photo: hotel

The Ramada Resort Khao Lak is surprisingly pleasant with its clean lines and lowrise layout. Several rooms have good ocean views. Find a large swimming pool, a spa, 84 rooms, extensive gardens, and meeting facilities. The hotel is keen on Thai wedding ceremonies to so if you have the money and the moxie...

The modern Khao Lak Laguna Resort, Phang Nga, is just off the main drag in town close by shops, supermarkets and restaurants. It occupies several acres of landscaped grounds and fronts a broad swathe of beach. The hotel is clean, and smart and sports a laundered white-washed appearance with red-tile roof that is welcoming and bright. Expect a large beachfront pool, the Chiva Spa, and games to keep all ages occupied. This among the hotels closest to Phuket airport, with the secluded Le Meridien, the farthest.

The pleasant Khao Lak Resort slopes down a hillside to a 400m stretch of beach with a choice of bungalows and villas, several with private pools, some with Jacuzzis, and 46 hotel-style rooms, all with balconies from where guests can take in the sunsets. The hotel rooms are set higher up the hill closer to meetings and fitness facilities. This is an elegant, understated, Thai-style establishment,

Closer towards Phuket, the Khaolak Merlin Resort is an unassuming hotel-style lowrise occupying a hillside leading to a 190m stretch of sand. The property covers 15 sloping acres with 209 rooms and a few villas with their own private pool. Families and larger groups will enjoy the three swimming pools, a children’s pool, kids’ club, tennis court, tailor shop and health club. All rooms have satellite TV, a mini-bar and coffee and tea-making facilities. When the giant tsunami waves swept through the area, the Merlin was pretty much the last man standing.

JW Marriott Phuket/ photo: hotel

There is also the Baan Krating Khao Lak Resort (with a sister property, Baan Krating Phuket, near Rawai beach in the south of the island). That sums up the main contenders in our Khao Lak resorts review.

North Phuket and East, Mai Khao, Nai Yang, Nai Thon, Yamu

Driving south down towards Phuket from Khao Lak, about a 20-minute drive from the airport, is the Aleenta Phuket on Natai Beach. Accommodation is in Pool Villas, Pool Suites or Pool Residences. The resort is well finished and stylish with rooms offering an iPod dock, large LCD TV, soft cotton linen, spoiling toiletries and plunge pool. Expect clean lines, white cubist design and grand views mixed in with spa treatments, yoga and cooking classes. Driving into Phuket across the bridge you'll spot the Royal Phuket Marina (www.royalphuketmarina.com), a luxury lifestyle development that is posiniong itself as a venue for meetings, conferences and weddings with a 2,500sq m Exhibition and Conference Centre.

Overlooking Po Bay on the northeast coast of Phuket Island is the Supalai Resort & Spa Phuket (formerly Best Western Supalai Resort & Spa) with 144 sea-view rooms, 38 poolside villas, a spa, a humungous 1,000sq m pool with a Jacuzzi at one end and a 450sq m ballroom for conferences and meetings. In this area too is the Mission Hills Golf Resort & Spa where it’ll set you back Bt3,800 to play a full 18 holes, more than the cost of your Deluxe Room. There’s a pro shop and a driving range of the pool and spa are not sufficient distraction. And along the secluded non-touristy east coast shoreline of the island a country road snakes out towards Cape Yamu, a quiet hamlet with a gravely beach, a few private villas, a laid-back rustic air, breezy sea views, and the chic cubist lines of the Baan Yamu Residences by Twinpalms, the smart Surin hideaway that continues to set the pace.

Baan Yamu Residence/ photo: Vijay Verghese

The “Twinpalms Club @ Baan Yamu” concept includes 22 villas with private pools and nine executive villas. Pick up a home away from home starting at US$700,000 and going up to US$5m. Notwithstanding the lack of a swimmable beach, this is a great spot for a family holiday and there is a two-floor Kids Club.

The U-shaped development encloses within its “arms” a stretch of lawn and a long infinity pool that runs almost the length of the estate, its blue contrasting with the pastel grey and creams of the units. Expect straight clean lines, palm trees, giant earthen urns, painstaking symmetry, and a minimalist Zen approach at this low-rise and starkly modern development.

On Phuket Island, perched along the as yet undeveloped northeast of the island, is the Absolute Chandara Resort & Spa. Expect a two-deck swimming pool, watersports galore, cycling, cooking classes and thatch-roof Pool Villas and Jacuzzi Studios set in manicured gardens overlooking a broad stretch of beach on Po Bay. And of course, the Chandara Spa for a wellness workout. There's lots of stretch space. A Studio Pool villa starts at 140sq m while a Family Villa goes up to 225sq m. Swing an elephant by the tail if you want. The group has a few other Phuket lodgings including the AbsolutePatong Ville & Spa.

Crossing the Sarasin Bridge heading down into the island of Phuket, the first resort, still well north of the airport along a secluded stretch of Mai Khao Beach, is the sprawling JW Marriott Phuket Resort & Spa. As yet unmarred by the frenzied development that has turned vast swathes of Phuket into higgledy-piggledy concrete, the area is a quiet enclave. It is so discreet you might easily miss the turn off.

Aleenta pool suite/ photo: hotel

The Marriott is huge, not so much high as vast. Its three-floor structure (with 265 rooms) radiates out in two wings amidst lush gardens and engaging water features. There are now three swimming pools and with room enough to swing several elephants by the tail, recreation options are practically unlimited from horse-riding and mountain biking to diving, snorkelling, sailing, tennis and jogging. Rent a bicycle (Bt250 for two hours) and work off excess calories. The hotel will equip you with a helmet, a map, a bottle of water, and a mobile phone which, alas, you'll have to return.

The Little Turtles' Club offers tiny tyke distractions from 9am to 5pm in the form of toys, computers, big-screen TV, a pool table, table tennis, Sony PlayStation and Internet. Escape to the health club for a spot of "muay Thai" (Thai kick-boxing), then dine Italian, Japanese or Thai. A wellness sala offers meditation, yoga and pilates lessons if you need a good stretch. The bright and attractive rooms at the JW Marriott Resort and Spa have nice residential touches including a steam iron and ironing board (perfect for soggy cottons or flabby bellies), a 29-inch flat-screen TV, a DVD player and a reading alcove that easily doubles as a kid's “bedroom".

All rooms offer plug-in high-speed Internet while public areas and meetings rooms are Wireless enabled. The dedicated Mandara Spa conjures visions of bliss, at a price, with its aromatic private rooms for couples, plunge pools and lap pool. Try assorted wraps, a coffee scrub or get waxed. Ouch!

Located within the Sirinath Marine National Park, the JW Marriott Phuket has earned kudos for its conservation work with marine turtles. No, there's no turtle soup on the menu. Still, at Ginja Cook, the new cooking school at JW Marriott Phuket Resort & Spa, you may bone up on traditional Thai cooking, or opt for Indian or even Japanese. Soon you'll give Jamie a run for his money.

Sala Two Bedroom Pool Suite/ photo: hotel

Also set on Mai Khao beach (at the end of the road leading on from the JW Marriott) is the very chic, cubist SALA Phuket Resort and Spa, which opened in December 2007. The resort offers 79 smart villas and suites with contemporary design blending black-tile water pools, clean lines and gardens with beige-white exteriors in an unobtrusive lowrise setting. The overall appearance is quietly welcoming without any of that mad Disneyland clangour of megaresorts. Garden spaces and trees blend in with discreet buildings. The design works because perhaps it does not try too hard and, while sophisticated, it is user-friendly.

Sixty-three villas and rooms have private lap pools, and rooms feature outdoor bathrooms with freestanding bathtubs, chandeliers, in-room WiFi, and daybeds. For families and larger groups there are 13 one and two-bedroom suites. There are three beachfront pools, one for kids, and the SALA Spa offers a range of treatments with five indoor treatment rooms and three massage venues by the beach. The pool fronts the gardens with their shady casuarina trees, which in turn lead on to the sand. If you're shopping for a Phuket resort wedding on the beach, SALA is a place worth checking out. This Phuket luxury resort occupies a secluded strip in an undisturbed patch and rates high on our Phuket resorts review. We certainly like the vibes here.

Close by SALA is the new chic minimalist zen Renaissance Phuket Resort & Spa (opened April 2010) that truly breaks the mould for the group, following on the heels of the Renaissance Bangkok. Walk past the wood-screen porte cochere into an airy lobby with a design focusing on light and symmetry. Grey stone and pale wood contrasts with the bright cushions, and water features dominate the central area leading to the beach. The resort runs in two low-rise three-storey arms enfolding the gardens and villas and pointing towards the sea. These house the rooms and suites. There are 180 rooms in all including four one-bedroom ocean front villas, 21 one-bedroom pool villas and one three-bedroom ocean front villa.

Renaissance Phuket villa/ photo: Verghese

Be prepared for a pleasant surprise. The courtyard style villas are enclosed within walls with green spaces and a plunge pool set alongside a natural-timber-floor patio. The high curved pale-wood ceiling is very Japanese in effect, if not in intent, the bedroom bright, with natural light streaming in through the floor-to-ceiling glass windows and colourful green-blue furnishings. Expect flat-screen TV, DVD player, large terrazzo-chip bathtub, twin vanities, digital clock, Internet access and WiFi at Bt642 per day (complimentary if you’re paying the full rate in a villa), a data port, a narrow work desk behind the bed, a notebook safe, and an iron and ironing board. From the outside, the curved shingle roofs are reminiscent of a conquistadore’s helmet.

Deluxe Rooms are similarly bright with 44sq m of stretch space, a see-through glass partition for the bathroom, a separate tub and shower, orange wall lamp, plump bed with lime green runner, flat-screen TV, small round multi-purpose table, data port and two multi-pin sockets. The end result is funky, clean, inviting and contemporary. This resort features a Quan Spa, a fitness centre, a kids’ club, bikes for rent, non-motorised water sports and even a karaoke room to exercise vocal chords. The attractive black-tile pool is set along the beachfront, again minimalist and simple, but effective. Staff, much of it imported from Bangkok, is friendly and responsive. A definite thumbs up for this Renaisance Phuket review though the resort will need some time to settle in and unwrap its full inventory.

Cheek-by-jowl with the JW Marriott, is the new and somewhat eclectic Anantara Phuket Resort & Spa with 83 one-bedroom pool villas featuring large bathrooms and an outdoor soaking tub for couples. In-room expect iPod and docking station, flatscreen TV with DVD player, daybed, outdoor sala, and WiFi. Timbered floorings add gleam and class contrasting with the plump, starched white linen beds, gauzy drapes, and bright silk cushions and throws. Step out of bed and wade right into your own private pool and then step right back into the bath for a wash and lazy tub soak.

Anantara pool villa/ photo: hotel

Fittings and finish are tasteful and well executed as you might expect of a Thai luxury villa resort. Despite its high-end appeal, Anantara remains a family-friendly hotel with a well-equipped Turtle Club to cater for the younger set. The resort is a 15-minute drive up from Phuket Airport and close to the green mangrove lungs of Sirinath National Park. This hideaway features the group's signature ochre brick entrance, luxury villas with quality Thai flourishes and lotus ponds accessed by a rather tight driveway. Service is good and accommodation is more than comfortable.

If work has got you in a hole, pack your bags and head to the Mother of Holes, the Canyon Course Hole No. 17, described as one of the “Top 500 holes in the world”. A splendid sight for sore eyes is seamless green of the Canyon Course (Bt5,600 for 18 holes) and the Lakes Course (Bt4,000 for 18 holes) at the 720-acre Blue Canyon Country Club just minutes from the airport on Highway 402.

This refreshing, verdant escape offers rooms blending into the hillside, residential condominiums for longer stays, and a breezy clubhouse that commands unimpeded views of the greens which have hosted some sumptuous Johnnie Walker Classics.

Plunge into a Jacuzzi, enjoy a muscle-working massage, or sip a tall cool drink. There's even a professionally-run school to help you improve your swing. During those quieter evenings when you’re done chasing balls, retire to The Spa at Blue Canyon Country Club for soothing Ayurvedic, Thai and Swedish treatments. Therapists are on hand to suggest the most appropriate balm. A full 18 holes on the Canyon Course will set you back around Bt5,600 for green fee and caddie and the Lakes Course, reopening after substantial redesign and upgrading, is a less pinching Bt4,000. The invigorating environs and fresh air make Blue Canyon Country Club an extremely popular choice for golfers, families and resident expatriates.

Indigo Pearl pool/ photo: Vijay Verghese

Just south of Phuket Airport on Nai Yang Beach is the reincarnated Indigo Pearl. Step into the crystal and metal-works lobby with its surreal blue lights and glass, and embark on a pleasant hallucinogenic trip. The imaginatively designed resort offers double-size rooms featuring huge trendy bathrooms, stone walls, timber-slat headboards and a chic tin-mine feel. There are three swimming pools (with bars), acres of manicured garden and a lagoon. Deluxe rooms come with balconies overlooking the gardens while private villas offer courtyards and alfresco showers. At the upper end of the scale are pool suites and high-ceilinged luxury suites with their own private plunge pools.

Indigo Pearl has stretch room galore – both an attraction as well as a drawback for some who prefer not to walk - with lush gardens. Nai Yang beach rates well. In season, the water is exceptionally clear, to rival the best. Wacky flourishes engage the eye, making it clear this is no run-of-the-mill beach resort.

Amidst its eccentric outpourings, it exhibits definite personality, style, and class. Versatile conference facilities and the Indigo Spa complete the mix. Get a mud, grean tea or oatmeal wrap and finish up with a skin-firming massage. With its tall rubber trees and lazy roads winding through hills and paddy fields, this district is one of Phuket's prettiest and well worth a drive to explore.

On Nai Yang Beach, a few kilometres out on the curve of the bay, is the Adamas Resort & Spa Phuket (formerly Arahmas Resort & Spa). It is a spread out low-rise getaway with a vast central pool offering open sea views and cooling breezes. Gravelled walks lead from the main hotel building to the pool and on to the beach lined by sun umbrellas and wooden deck chairs. There is a spa at hand for those in search of pampering. Otherwise, laze, catch some rays, and open that book.

Andaman White Beach/ photo: hotel

A relaxed, simple, and unfussy place with a few service quirks. Not for the discerning traveller but fine for an untaxing family getaway or honeymoon escape without overly stretching the wallet.

The gorgeous and unpopulated Nai Thon Beach is worth a look-see at any time. The Naithonburi Beach Resort is across the road from here a short stroll from the sea. This is a simple but attractive hotel-style compound with 79 rooms in contemporary Thai decor and a swimming pool.

But it’s down the road that you'll stumble across a real gem – the Andaman White Beach Resort. Opened a few years ago and largely undiscovered, this Phuket beach resort's villas, connected by wooden walkways, spill down a lush hillside through coconut groves to meet one of the island’s most perfect white sand beaches with gauze-draped sun loungers, tables for diners, and hammocks. The combination of rustic dark-wood, cream stone and white-sand beach is visually arresting, and the curving picture-postcard bay is wonderfully private.

The smart, minimalist villas (with parquet flooring), toilets (with a sunken tile bathtub) and general décor are Thai-chic, if unfussy even bordering on rustic in parts. A small gym and the Dala Spa (with Thai and Swedish massages and salt and tamarind scrubs) complete the ensemble. The rooms have been upgraded and the top-line Beach Front Pool Villas offer gleaming parquet wood flooring, full length glass windows and a private plunge pool.The seaside pool features Wireless and this facility has been extended into all public areas and the beach. Dine Italian with a view, or grab a hot pizza right on the beach. This is an idyllic spot for a Thai beach wedding and the resort can cater for most requirements.

Absolute Chandara/ photo: hotel

Discover the place before the parasails and jet-skis do. Andman White Beach is a charming getaway with a several quirky edges admitedly but it manages to remain pleasantly distracting and reassuringly homey in a non-cookie-cutter way. The indefatigable Italian general manager is a cheerful and chatty presence with a can-do attitude that has seen this place grow in recent years. He spends his time getting staff to march in step with him, not always a successful endeavour.

The Layan Beach Resort & Spa Village occupies a quiet hillside in this area above Layan Beach. A restaurant, spa and meditation rooms are set close to the beach but the resort itself is a hike up the hill. The 52 rooms are simple and basic but do include a safe, minibar, TV and a small verandah.

There are a fair number of steps so be prepared to walk. The Layan held promise once but comes across now as a Plain Jane with desultory, if friendly, service, and gleaming ceramic tile floors in-room where you may drip as much water as you like. The beachfront Layan Spa Village provides aromatherapy, reflexology and a spa pool.

Adjacent is the villa complex of Bundarika Villa Phuket with its 21 villas, each sporting 29” flat-screen TVs, a DVD and CD player, and a private 8m pool. There is WiFi on the grounds and a library with DVDs and CDs for guests as well as an ayurvedic spa. The Jacuzzi Suites start at 56sq m while a Beachfront Suite Pool Villa offers an expansive 280sq m of elbow room. Villas are mod and minimal but with old-fashioned box TVs while the pool villas are a bit more fancy. Service while friendly may be patchy. If you don't expect too much of this place and have minimal needs, it will work out fine. If you have high expectations or are activity oriented, look elsewhere.

Trisara Pool Villa/ photo: hotel

Next up, clinging to the curves of a scenic headland, are the large pool villas of the Trisara. There are open undisturbed views of the rippling Andaman Sea in all directions. This 40-acre Phuket luxury resort is a quirky oriental amalgam when it comes to architecture. It is also lot more spread out than your average cosy hideaway. The villas offer panoramic views with a nice infinity pool. The sumptuous interiors feature silk and timber with amenities like free Broadband, 37-inch plasma TVs, spacious bathrooms and an outdoor rain shower.

There’s free WiFi in public areas, at the pool and in the Library. You will need a buggy to transport you up and down. The resort spills amiably down to the sea and a long lap pool near ocean-fronting restaurants and a well-stocked library with Internet and DVDs. Music can be downloaded onto iPods which Trisara will happily lend you at no charge. There is a wine cellar and cigar room as well. The Trisara Spa comprises six private treatment suites, each over 100sq m. There are also some privately-owned villa residences running from 750sq m to 1,500sq m with generous pools. The private villas feature kitchens with live-in maids and cooks. You can get two to five bedroom arrangements.

Service is excellent. The newly revamped restaurants and bar are by the same designer who branded the well-known Ku De Ta in Bali's Seminyak. These are great chillout spots for a sundowner or more. The closest villas to the beach, if you don't want to hoof it, are 101 and 102 and, on the other side of the pool, 408 and 409. There is a kids club for tiny tykes. The latest addition is a jetty to accommodate, and expand, cruise business. Not for the Queen Mary perhaps, but for boats much slimmer and classier.

The landing is dismantled during the monsoon season, and water sports are abandoned, perhaps sensibly, May-October. And for a romantic cruise, a newer addition is the Queen of the Andaman, which can board up to eight persons in four cabins.

Pavilions Phuket, ocean view/ photo: hotel

Bang Tao Beach, Laguna, Resorts and Hotels

Just before Bang Tao Bay, perched atop a vertiginous hill is the chic, small and intimate The Pavilions, Phuket (formerly Phuket Pavilions) with 25 pool villas. The views are astounding, the setting romantic and the breeze enough to dry your hair in an instant, but it is a steep climb up to get here. You will need to buggy up a vertical road and then down again. This may be problematic for some if you have game knees, but exhilarating for others.

Pavilions is a resort experience rather than a beach romp. In this respect it does not disappoint. The 105sq m one-bedroom pavilions are capacious and comfortable with spoiling infinity pools from where on a clear day you can see forever.

The 310sq m Oceanview Pool Villas offer a large living room and kichenette, rain shower, CD/DVD player, complimentary WiFi, and past-the-horizon sea vistas. The three-bedroom pool villas are 595sq m, far more than an average Hongkonger will enjoy in his entire life, and that’s reason enough to visit. There is Wireless Broadband, and pampering in-room spa treatments and aromatherapy are available. Expect friendly and attentive service at this somewhat different Phuket luxury resort. It's more home than hotel. The resort is now a member of Relais and Châteaux.

Once a scarred moonscape of tin mine excavations where Neil Armstrong would have felt quite at home, Laguna Phuket is a marvel of reconstruction and a worthy mini-destination. This green oasis with its lazy lagoons, sheltered drives, blossoming plants, broad recreation facilities and child-friendly attitude is a favourite with families, and golfers.

Staking their claims here are some of the best Phuket luxury resorts and the pantheon includes the sprawling Banyan Tree Phuket, Allamanda Laguna Phuket, Sheraton Grande Laguna Phuket, the Dusit Thani Laguna Phuket and Laguna Beach Resort.

Banyan Tree DoublePool Villa/ photo: hotel

The all-suite Laguna Holiday Club Phuket Resort is for the exclusive use of members and guests of the Laguna Holiday Club. This is a family friendly resort overlooking the golf course with a Kids' Club, swimming pool, Wireless in the lobby and Internet access in rooms. The suites can mange anywhere from four to six persons depending on the configuration.

Occupying a generous spread at one end of this development but not directly on the beach, is the Banyan Tree Phuket, a spread-out villa-style estate redolent of Thailand with rich motifs and design flourishes, encompassing the resort and the added luxury of a highly regarded spa and golf course. Electric buggies will ensure you are not overly exercised negotiating the distances. Each sumptuous villa is an all-in private hideaway for honeymooners, couples, or holidaymakers needing that little extra.

There are various villa categories to choose from – including Deluxe Villa, Pool Villa and Spa Pool Villa – now supplemented by the all-new DoublePool Villa, a rarefied escape featuring up to 2,185sq m of space, infinity pool, jet pool, and garden. From the bedroom, tiptoe into the wading pool and plonk down on a submerged chair to enjoy a cool evening cocktail. Guests staying at one of the 22 DoublePool Villas will be whisked from aircraft gate through immigration and customs straight to the resort where a personal host awaits.

Of course the jewel in the crown here is the Banyan Tree Spa, which offers a smorgasbord of selection from full-day workouts to customised scrubs, massage, aromatherapy, hydrotherapy and treatments like the three-hour Thai Ginger Healer incorporating yogic massage and steaming hot herbal pouches applied to tired limbs. Expect to be shelling out about US$200 plus for assorted pampering.

Allamanda/ photo: Vijay Verghese

The Laguna Phuket Golf Club is an 18-hole delight meandering through lagoons and verdant greens. Not quite ready? Try the driving range, putting green and practise bunker. There is professional instruction available should you require it. If you’re still bored, and single, get married. Banyan Tree Phuket will roll out the red carpet for a resort wedding with Buddhist monks, blessings, candles, dance, music and romantic locations by the acre.

Across a lagoon and again some distance from the beach is the neighbouring rebranded Best Western Allamanda Laguna Phuket. The resort is popular with families and it is not hard to see why. The rooms and suites (up to two bedrooms) are spacious with separate living and dining areas as well as a kitchenette. Some look onto golf greens. Some general kids activites and areas have been trimmed but the hotel welcomes families.

Rooms are bright and cheerful, the staff welcoming. Enjoy volleyball, yoga, or kayaking. There are two swimming pools to dive into and a Jacuzzi. Allamanda Laguna Phuket is not just for toddlers and doting parents. The hotel also pitches strongly for business meetings with varied resort conference and banqueting facilities. If you have typhoon tykes in tow, or a large family gathering planned, this is a child friendly resort in Phuket that is worth a closer look.

The Sheraton Grande Laguna Phuket is on a scenic isthmus with its 423 rooms and villas rimming the lagoons. Newly added are the spoiling private Pool Villas & Residences, a luxury villa complex owned by private individuals and managed by Sheraton. These top-end villas are closer to the golf course and feature private pools. The Sheraton Grande Laguna Phuket has ample restaurants and a snaking 323-metre-long swimming pool providing ample distraction for kids along with the VIK (Very Important Kids) Club for four-to-twelve-year-olds. The resort fronts a broad stretch of Bang Tao Beach. Rooms feature sunken bathtubs, some with Jacuzzis and a bath menu including a "chill out" for guys with a sprinkling of camomile, cedarwood and sandalwood accompanied by a Montecristo cigar and a vodka martini.

Sheraton Family Room/ photo: hotel

Balconies offer wonderful open views. There are more business meeting and conference facilities at this Phuket luxury beach resort than you can shake a stick at. The largest meeting room can seat up to 1,000 guests. In-room, look out for roomy baths, kitchenettes, irons and ironing boards and rollaway beds. There are rooms as well with easy access for handicapped travellers. For those with laptops, some good news. The resort has WiFi.

There are one-bedroom over-water Lagoon Villas. The smart Island Villas offer two-bedroom layouts with two work desks, lots of three-pin (square) plug sockets, Broadband access, two shower rooms and a host of in-room amenities. The safe can manage a video camera but won't house a laptop. Rm 1203 fronts the pool. Book and wade in. Or opt for a colourful 45sq m Family Room with deep carpeting, open views through floor-to-ceiling windows and 25-inch flat-screen TVs.

Next up is the Dusit Thani Laguna Phuket with a free-form pool, beachfront gardens and a low-rise Thai-style design. There is a spa here as well. The resort has undergone considerable redevelopment and upgrade with the Dusit Pool Villas comprising the youngest jewel in the crown. Wireless coverage extends up to the beach and most rooms offer plug-in Broadband. The hotel has discretely reworked everything, block by block, to gradually upgrade rooms and bathrooms (which now feature glassed-in shower cubicles and other amenities). The smart Dusit Club Rooms on the ground floor face the pool area and sea with a small sunning patio with deck chairs to catch some rays. The Thai and Italian restaurants have been remodelled and enjoy open views of the gardens. The Dusit Thani Laguna Phuket resort is a child friendly resort for families. Its Kids Club caters for tots to teens with activities and crafts. Kids enjoy special menus and assorted freebies. This is also a useful address as if you're shopping for Phuket conference hotels or have a small corporate meeting in mind. Or check out the Angsana Spa.

Dusit Thani Laguna/ photo: Vijay Verghese

The privately-owned Dusit Thani Laguna Pool Villas were launched mid-2008. Most have a lagoon view though some offer a sea view too and enough room to swing an elephant by the tail. This was a smart move up for a resort that was until recently, a good Phuket family hotel and useful conference choice.

The Laguna Beach Resort is an attractive, neat, and stylish enclave featuring an inviting swimming pool with elephants carved into the stone enclosing walls. This is very much a beach playground for adults as well as kids. This former Pacific Islands Club offers vibrant colours, style, and the second largest ballroom in the Laguna Phuket area after the Sheraton. Business meetings and conferences are, unsurprisingly, well catered for. In-room expect friendly ceramic tiles underfoot, lots of dark rattan furniture and bright splashes of Thai silk. Kids will be kept entertained with a 50m water slide and a Kids Club (for those between four and 12 years) while divers-in-waiting can avail of a Scuba pool. Or hop into the Jacuzzi. Or try sailing, or kayaking...

There are WiFi hotspots in the lobby, several rooms have plug-in Broadband, free, and the rest have access to dial-up services. The ubiquitous Angsana Spa is on hand in a quiet beachfront corner to offer Thai herbal wraps and coconut scrubs. Laguna Beach Resort also offers a versatile Thai Wedding Package packed with goodies should you be in the mood for a beach resort wedding, anniversary or blessing.

For those in search of Phuket shopping discounts and dining bargains, the Laguna Phuket Plus Card is available to guests in the Laguna Phuket (www.lagunaphuket.com) development offering steep discounts on restaurants, green fees at the golf club and substantial price reductions at the Canal Village shopping area (open from 10am to 8pm).

Laguna Beach Resort/ photo: Vijay Verghese

If you are headed for nuptials, explore arrangements at the dreamy, lagoon-setting wedding chapel. The chapel seats up to 50 and Thai as well as Western ceremonies are available. Phuket is a popular choice for Asian resort weddings. Laguna Phuket is a resourceful and imaginative group that handles activities as diverse as corporate training and team building to sweaty triathlons.

On Highway 4030, between the Laguna turn-off and Surin Beach, is a desolate stretch of scorched red earth with a sign for the Amora Beach Resort Phuket.

Despite the rather unpromising entry, the road through this wilderness leads to the surprisingly pleasant Amora (formerly Rydges) offering 255 simple but comfortable rooms, some with balconies overlooking the Andaman Sea, in a lowrise complex.

Facilities are available for both children as well as businessmen and incentives groups so, if you're a fraying wife, here's an ideal opportunity to dump everyone and relax. This is affordable luxury in a nice location at the bottom end of Bang Tao Beach.

Also fronting Bang Tao Bay but closer to Surin is the large lowrise hotel complex of the Best Western Premier Bangtao Beach Resort & Spa. The resort features two restaurants, two pools, one kids’ pool, and a generous spread of beachfront with garden area. There is an Internet café for quick-fingered teens, a modest business centre for pin-stripers and a spa. The 199 deluxe hotel rooms are neat, with cool ceramic tile underfoot.

Surin, Pansea Area Resort Guide

Amanpuri/ photo: Vijay Verghese

At Surin Beach turn off right to a private headland to find the elegant Amanpuri Phuket (Amanresorts' first) whose signature Thai-style pavilions spill unobtrusively down through a mature and scenic coconut grove to a lovely white-sand beach. As with other Amans, it has the ambience of a gracious home without the fuss of excessively intrusive service. The central midnight-blue pool is set high above the bay with steps leading down to the sea. There is the tempting Aman Spa, set on a private headland, where you can peruse a diverse menu of treatment from Kinesiology and Bowen Therapy to Reiki and sound healing.

Amanpuri also runs an extensive fleet of cruise boats and luxury yachts that cater for everything from romantic picnic outings to blue-water cruises, in style. At the far end of the resort is an exclusive enclave of privately-owned villas (managed and sublet by Amanpuri) that offer an ever greater degree of privacy should you require it. You’ll need to bring along your own shades and paparazzi, of course. This is the original Aman that set the luxury villa resort benchmark in 1988. It is still being cloned by competitors. To find out why, drop in. It will cost you, but, what the heck. (The Amanpuri features in our exclusive by-invitation Top Asian Hotels Collection, featuring the best Asian hotels, resorts and spas in a printable A4 page with stunning visuals.)

Just before the Amanpuri and sharing the picture-postcard Pansea Beach is The Chedi Phuket. This is a charming property with 108 thatch-roof cottages set along the headland connected by stilted walkways. Run by Singapore-based GHM Hotels, The Chedi Phuket fronts the beach and some cottages are right on the sand. There’s a lot of walking up and down, however. It can be invigorating or killing depending on your point of view. I quite like the breezy open plan, the privacy and the mesmerising sunsets. The rooms feature wooden parquet floors, louvred shutters and smart black-slate tile.

The Chedi Phuket/ photo: hotel

A dedicated spa is available as are meeting facilities for small groups. Several beach villas have been reconstituted and are back, bigger and better, as Beach Studios and Beach Suites with stylish interiors, enlarged bathrooms (with soaking tubs), flat-screen TVs and a couple of iPods for him and her to really get connected.

Beach Suites have Wireless Broadband and there’s WiFi in The Chedi’s public areas too. Rooms are going through gradual upgrades. The Chedi Phuket offers an excellent location with warm service. Its beach is a major selling point and the polygon black-tile pool is a big draw.

The stylish Twinpalms Phuket is located a short stroll from the beach and offers contemporary chic in a secluded but extensive compound. Distinctive Thai-style architecture combines with lots of flowing water and clean modern lines for an atmosphere of elegant simplicity.

Oriental Spoon restaurant displays interesting art and fills up every Sunday for its throbbing brunch buffet, while the swank but laid-back Martini Bar has your evening covered. Picturesque Surin Beach is just across the road and down a short garden path. Enjoy a twilight, beachfront drink at Catch Beach Club, before lazily strolling back to the hotel, your way lit by huge tree lanterns.

Catch Beach Club enjoys 50m of soft sand beach with landscaping, frangipani trees, refreshments and an open kitchen. Outsiders are welcome at a small fee for two sunning chairs, umbrella, fruit, towels and newspapers. Chill out and enjoy the cool lounge tunes.

Twinpalms pool/ photo: Vijay Verghese

The 76 rooms and suites are large, minimalist and open plan with the bedroom seamlessly merging into the bathing area with sliding shuttered walls. In-room features include an oversized bathroom with rain showers, large beds for a comfortable late-night sprawl or more (but keep the noise down), DVD player, and butler service. The rooms are arrayed around an attractive central pool and winding leafy walkway. There is free Internet access with in-room Broadband as well as WiFi in the pool area and at the restaurants.

Top of the range are the new Twinpalms Residence Suites – 21 units in a one and two-bedroom configuration with over 150sq m of honeymooning space. Expect private plunge pools, roof gardens, wine cellars and home theatres with surround sound. Within each high-ceiling hideaway find a 46-inch flatscreen SONY TV, iPod and dock, a DVD player and an extensive work desk with as many as seven three-pin (square) electric sockets to keep ALL your appliances charged. There is WiFi throughout and Broadband is free.

A well stocked complimentary mini-bar is replenished daily. The highlight of the bath is the moulded Korean granite tub that resembles a futuristic half-egg. Ask for Room 102 to squeeze in a little sea view and sunset. For those in need of a rubdown and more, the Palm Spa has treatment rooms.

Or try the Hair Spa and go Michael Jackson. Need waves? Take a trip out on the Catch One power cruiser. One of the most endearing features of this stylish and intimate Phuket luxury resort is the effervescent can-do attitude. Have a problem? They’ll solve it. Have a funky request? Give it a go. Funkiest of the lot is the kiss car. Watch out for this little perky set of wheel doing the rounds in Phuket, lavishly smeared with blown-up lipstick kisses, supplied by the equally lovely female members of staff. (Twinpalms features in our exclusive by-invitation Top Asian Hotels Collection, featuring the best Asian hotels, resorts and spas in a printable A4 page with stunning visuals.)

Courtyard Surin/ photo: hotel

The new Courtyard Phuket at Surin Beach is a reconstituted affair in an attractive location, close by a good beach, and 20 minutes from the Patong nightlife strip. There are 256 rooms and around 1,800sq ft of meeting space plus a fitness centre. In-room expect iron and ironing board, pull-out sofa bed, cable TV, DVD player, large fridge, a laptop-size safe, and Internet access. Bathrooms have showers, not tubs, with an intermittent flow on the high floors. Broadband costs Bt642 for 24 hours. Family rooms come with connecting doors and pullout beds.

A one-bedroom suite offers a fair bit of space with a comfy bed and spare divan that can double as an extra bed. The balconies look onto the courtyard pool area – the resort encloses the pool and the views are inward. Expect a good hairdryer, decent safe and TV in both the bedroom as well as the living area. There is a generous outdoor freeform pool and a fitness centre. The solitary MoMo Café serves international fare and does a HUGE breakfast that runs till 11am.

This is a smart and family-friendly resort – it has its own Kids World for the young set – and is set a little away from the beach, which is a two-minute walk across a field. In high season the Courtyard runs a beach club restaurant. The hotel is recessed and set back from the road making the environs a tad quieter. The good news for motorists is there is ample parking. And the service is very welcoming and friendly.

Next to the Courtyard is the interesting The Chava Resort, a wannabe Phuket boutique hotel that in some respects, manages to pull it off. Launched in April 2008, the resort sports a smart cubist exterior with ground floor units offering plunge pools and apartments going from two bedrooms and up. Expect a decent kitchenette, cream or black sofa sets with bright cushions. Block A has the largest pools, with a patio and sun chairs. The Chava has one cafe that serves Thai food. The starting category is a two-bedroom deluxe.

Ayara Hilltops: Breezypool/ photo: hotel

Next door is the new and classy-looking Manathai Resort Phuket emulating a Chiang Mai village feel. Its woody Thai-Euro restaurant is right at the entrance and rooms and suites feature wooden floors and ample lashings of rich silk. The design and decor are appealing. There are 55 rooms in all at this compact place that sits about 200m away from Surin Beach. Manathai aims to be a Phuket boutique resort and has a lot going for it, not least its location in one of the more genteel happening areas on the island. No drag shows or cabarets here.

The surprisingly decent Surin Beach Resort has sneaked into this posh neighbourhood, rubbing shoulders with Twinpalms. It offers lots of family action including high-speed water slides. You would never have noticed all the commotion from the quiet and gracious entrance. It’s an offbeat choice at reasonable prices if you want to be on Surin without too much fuss. There’s Thai massage too and access to spa facilities at sister hotel Kamala Bay Garden Resort.

Ayara Hilltops (formerly Treetops Arasia) occupies a breezy perch on Surin hill, overlooking Surin Beach and the Andaman Sea. Treetops is a villa-style luxury boutique resort with 48 suites. Look forward to some panoramic views and a range of spa programmes and therapies. The Ayara Hilltops spa speciality is individually tailored spa retreats to suit specific needs. There is a swimming pool – with a kids' pool – and a speciality Thai restaurant with indoor and alfresco dining options.

Kamala, Kalim, Nakalay Beach Resorts

Driving south past Kamala Bay, take the beach turn off just before the road climbs up again. On a quiet headland is the small Kamala Beach Estate with a choice of lowrise apartments or villas. All units come with kitchens, separate living and dining areas and balconies. The resort is perched on a rocky headland and there is not much clear beach in the immediate vicinity.

Andara main pool/ photo: Verghese

The Andara Resort & Villas, on a Kamala Bay hillside offers panoramic sea views from its plush villas and residences. The Andara Pool Villas are expansive with up to six bedrooms, some running to 2,000sq m. Expect a generous private pool, floor-to-ceiling windows, a detailed kitchen manned by a chef, a family room, gleaming wood underfoot, large flat-screen TVs, DVD player, car park, walk-in closets, big bathtubs, twin vanities, large safe and complimentary Wi-Fi. The long pool is set in a garden area with to-die-for sea views.

The Andara Residence Suites are again screamingly large with Thai touches. There is the de rigueur flat-screen TV, BOSE sound system, the Andara mix of gold and green, one-press mix-and-match lighting combinations, large bathtubs and 200sq m to 400sq m of horse-swinging space.

The resort has a 40m pool, spa, gym, and tennis court. Andara is a high-end Phuket luxury resort, very Aman in much of the execution, but you will find activities for kids too. The ensemble is engaging on the inside. A pity then that the Cinemascope views of the main pool area with its wooden chairs and bright yellow cushions are not available upon arrival in the lobby.

The greeting area is smart but small and somewhat dull despite the best efforts of all the burnished wood, large statues and soaring wooden columns. Service on the other hand is outstanding. You will need to buggy up and down to your room as the hill setting involves climbs. It is worth noting too that the residence cluster and the villa enclave each have a separate entrance from the road. The resort is not on the beach but operates a Beach Club at Kamala, a short saunter by foot, car, or cycle.

Andara Pool Suite/ photo: Verghese

Farther south after the mountainous hump are Nakalay and Kalim beaches. There are sections along here that are totally out of bounds for swimming especially at low tide due to rock and old coral. This is particularly true of Kalim. On Nakalay Beach is the tucked-away Thavorn Beach Village & Spa, almost entirely crafted of dark-wood. The tastefully decorated Thai bungalows are set in lush green gardens and around a lovely swimming pool area. A health spa is available as well. A unique offering here is a floating sundeck and restaurant called, well, The Float @ Nakalay.

Just beyond, both the Novotel Phuket Resort and the Diamond Cliff Resort & Spa are set on the hillside away from the beach. Both have fine views but the construction is a touch dense and the walk up is steep. The Novotel Resort features a three-stepped swimming pool, a kid's club, Thai massage and a sauna. In the same area, the simple but homey and clean Patong Lodge is a useful Phuket budget hotel option.

The new Courtyard Phuket at Kamala Beach is positioned as a top Phuket family resort with a selection of two and three-bedroom suites with generous kitchenettes, ideas for long stays, and an all-new Kids World for ages four and up and the Siam Adventure Club. Expect wood parquet flooring, flat-screen TVs, in-room Internet access and Wi-Fi in public areas, working desk, iron, hairdryer, a MoMo Café, pool, and fitness centre.

The resort is good for kids with splash slides and a range of activities. This Courtyard is not on the beach – set towards the hillside – but is a leisurely stroll or a minute's ride down to the bay with its sand, shops and food.

Patong Hotel and Resort Guide

Phuket Graceland/ photo: hotel

The clutter-and-clatter of Patong is not for honeymooners or doddering retirees in search of calm but there are pockets here and there of relative peace. You will be excused for rubbing your eyes when you confront the Quixotic Phuket Graceland Resort & Spa. It’s hard to describe the place, a mad mix of Euro kitsch and Lifestyles Of The Rich And Famous vigorously shaken and plonked down in a Thailand beach resort. The endeavour clearly is luxury with business facilities in a five-star setting. And business facilities are ample. The hotel can handle conferences of up to 1,000 persons, and the smart rooms have plug-in Internet access. The 460-room Graceland is an odd, if busy, presence. It is rescued by generous lawns and a decent pool. Kids will love it and place can be fun. You need to cross the beach road to get to the sea.

The Millennium Resort Patong Phuket arrived in January 2008 billing itself as an alternative "urban resort". Located in the hip Jungceylon mall-and-lifestyle complex close to the bustle and neon of Soi Bangla, the hotel offers a 197-room Beachside Wing and a 221-room Lakeside Wing. Expect two pools, a spa and fitness centre. In-room find a safe, Internet, work facilities, iron and ironing board, hair-dryer, and coffee-making facilities. Lakeside Superior rooms offer the added indulgence of a balcony. Or opt for a 40sq m Cabana Room with its own sunning terrace. Step from here straight into the pool. This low-rise, bright and well featured Patong hotel is in a busy and bustling part of town a short walk from the beach, past traffic.

An unfussy family option is the neighbouring high-rise Club Andaman Beach Resort set in extensive gardens and, as with many properties, separated from the beach by a main road. Club Andaman also has some 40sq m "Lotus" cottages offered as a "resort within a resort", set away from the main building. Or try their Anda Spa. Adjacent is sister-property The Andaman Beach Suites, a modern high-rise with big balconies and lower rates. An oasis in the bedlam and an attractive Patong choice is the beachfront Impiana Resort Patong, Phuket. It offers boutique flourishes and fine food.

Burasari, Mocha Spice/ photo: hotel

The La Flora Resort Patong offers a contemporary experience with a combination of rooms and some beachfront villas. Expect a spa, two lap pools, fitness centre, business centre, WiFi, and babysitting facilities.

The resort re-emerged post-tsunami with redesigned and vastly-upgraded rooms, a new name (formerly Phuket Cabana) and new management. Along with trendy and tasteful décor you get air-conditioning, ceiling fans, in-room safes, hair-drier and a private balcony. The pool is literally by the sea and young kids can splash out in their own wading pool. For rejuvenation, there’s the Swasana Spa. The most compelling feature of this resort is the location, an oasis of calm in the heart of throbbing Patong, and right on the beach. It is among a handful of resorts in this area actually on the beach and not separated by a busy road.

The Holiday Inn Resort Phuket is a brisk, cheerful child-friendly Phuket hotel. Both the Main Wing and the stylish Thai-style Busakorn Wing – featuring spacious villa and studio rooms girdling an attractive pool – have had fresh licks of paint and design upgrades while the Aspara spa tends to aching muscles. The Busakorn Wing is unlike any Holiday Inn you may have seen. If you have any misgivings about mid-market American chains, this is the one to visit to dispel any worries. Expect satellite TV, CD/DVD player, high-speed Internet access, and in-room video games.

The Busakorn Villa Pool Access rooms are the apex accommodation here with wood flooring, large work desk, flat-screen TV, elegant Thai furnishings in a contemporary mould, and smart decor that could give any sniffy five-star a run for its money. In keeping with its family-friendly reputation, the Holiday Inn Phuket also offers Family Suites, KidSuites, its Club 12, and the Kids Club with ample distractions like PlayStations, Internet, art and craft, and even karaoke. There is a toddler’s pool and another pool for older kids as well with water slides and more. The hotel is just across the road from Patong Beach.

Holiday Inn, Patong/ photo: hotel

Close by and projecting a jaunty, carefree appeal is the trendy Burasari Patong. Burasari is a comfortable, playful option right next to shopping and nightlife and a quick stroll from the beach. As a hotel it's pretty straightforward but the small design flourishes and use of colour make all the difference. The place continues to make a name for itself and it certainly breaks the mould. Why on earth should all rooms look the same? Well they don’t. Not here.

There’s a nice pool, a gauze-draped lobby and bright splashes of tropical colour and art at every turn. The 90 rooms offer Cable TV, small but funky toilets, a tiny safe (that will accommodate a video camera), a simple minibar and free WiFi. The whole property is a Wireless hotspot. Pick from a simple Classic or Premier, or move up to an Elite room, some with elegant four-poster beds, Premier Pool Access rooms that allow you to simply wade right in, and Mood rooms with eccentric design and colour themes like Blue Breeze, Mocha Spice and Thai Elegance. Burasari Patong is over the top, bright, surprising, always different, and fun. The hotel draws inspiration from its energetic young owner, Lily Udomkunatum, who worked at fever pitch to restore the property after the tsunami waves receded. The endeavour has repositioned Burasari Patong in the four-star bracket with a funky Floyd’s Brasserie run by celebrity chef Keith Floyd and the addition of Spa Burasari. This is a fun Phuket hotel packed with whimsy that will appeal to families and honeymooners alike.

The 400-room Patong Merlin Hotel is large and well-managed with tour groups bussing in and out. It is set away from the beach. The property offers three swimming pools and landscaped gardens along with a spa and a Kids Club. Set in a side soi with an unmistakably Thai feel is the Baan Sukhothai Hotel & Spa. It is unassuming, has reasonable prices but service can be patchy.

Courtyard, Patong/ photo: hotel

For about the same price you might venture to the larger 36-acre Duangjitt Resort & Spa with its low-rise rooms and bungalows crisply ordered in military rows. You’ll find three large free-form swimming pools, one with a waterfall and swim-up bar, and extensive grounds packed with flowering shrubs and trees. Duangjitt Resort is a decent, friendly and clean choice for families not too particular about kitsch room décor and location. The resort is set far enough from the soi to offer peace and quiet yet it is walking distance to the beach. Also available here are some toy-size bungalows. Only for the intrepid. Another 11 Deluxe Villas at 50sq m each offer Thai flourishes, air-conditioning, Wi-Fi and mod-cons. Much better.

Farther south along the Patong Beach strip is the Avantika, a cosy little resort with modern styling and boutique touches. The resort offers around 30 seaview rooms with Wireless Internet and a spa. Like Burasari, Avantika has cashed in on its location and applied some design upgrades. The exterior is unremarkable but the interior, once you step in, is inviting with different decor and colour on each floor. Not far from here is the beach-fronting Absolute Sea Pearl Beach Resort & Spa with a host of activities, including deep-sea fishing and yacht charters, should you be so inclined, and The Royal Spa with wellness treatments, massage and therapy. There is a treatment room for couples with bathtub and shower.

Continuing up the headland, the road deposits you at the Amari Coral Beach Resort perched on a promontory with fine views over Patong Bay. The resort has been considerable spruced up in recent years. Rooms offer balconies with delightful views, simple, tasteful contemporary décor in quiet pastels, wooden floors, tea and coffee-making facilities, satellite TV and other mod-cons like DVD player, satellite TV, Wi-Fi, and hairdryers.

La Flora Patong/ photo: hotel

The Sivara Spa is a big plus, as are the two swimming pools. The spa features romantic teakwood hillside salas where you can be wrapped, pummelled and exfoliated to the accompaniment of breaking waves. Later, dine alfresco at the Italian La Gritta or over-water at The Jetty, and take in a sunset.

Activities here include tennis and snorkelling and there is a Jacuzzi for those who prefer their bubbles closer home. This is a child-friendly Phuket hotel well set-up for families with babysitting services too. Set apart from the main beach, the Amari Phuket maintains a small private stretch of sand.

On the other side of the same headland on the pebbly Tri-Trang Beach are the spread-out 414-room Merlin Beach Resort with three pools, spa, and the Bam Bam children's club; and the graceful Baan Yin Dee up on the hill.

Baan Yin Dee is a stylish 21-room boutique resort with a dark-blue four-tier pool, Jacuzzi, children’s pool, traditional Thai massage, and several unabashedly Aman wannabe touches. It has utilised the space well and its three-storey accommodations with grey-slate Thai-sala roofs have a good interior finish with lots of burnished wood. It affords fine views of Patong Bay.

Baan Yin Dee literally means "warm welcome home". The whole resort is Wireless enabled and New Agers taking time off from laptops will enjoy the general laid-back but elegant ambience. Despite the lack of beach, it is easily one of the more interesting Phuket boutique resorts and scores well on dining. The restaurant is set too close to the main road with vans whizzing by, as is the pool, but the views and food more than compensate.

Baan Yin Dee: Aman tones/ photo: hotel

The Courtyard Phuket at Patong Beach by Marriott is another stylish family-friendly Phuket hotel with a rooftop pool, gym, and Broadband Internet access. Its Kids World centre will take care of typhoon tykes from four years and up. The beach is a short stroll away down a side soi as is shopping. In-room, expect 32-inch flat-screen TVs and DVD player, smart decor, wooden floors and dark wood cabinets. The latest showpiece at this hip hangout is a Hard Rock Cafe that ensures the place is swinging into the wee hours.

Relax Bay, Karon Beach Resorts

The proud 470-room Le Meridien Phuket Beach Resort wearing its signature green "hats" has had a comprehensive makeover. Two large pools dominate the seafront at aptly-named Relax Bay. It is a very good beach indeed. And private. The resort is old-style and was ageing none-too-gracefully in parts but some snappy renovations and no stinting on teakwood and rich Thai fabrics have brightened the rooms and suites as well as the overall ambience. There is Wireless Internet access in public areas and in-room Broadband. Expect an iron and ironing board, coffee and tea-making facilities, safe, and open-view balconies.

The Royal Suites run to 266sq m with huge 126m balconies. This is a Phuket family resort with more activities than you can shake a stick at from table tennis and volleyball to wind surfing and beach sports. Yes, there is babysitting available and a spa for the older set. The 40-acre Le Meridien Phuket Beach Resort was among the original 5 star resort pioneers in Phuket. The airbrushed lobby and beachfront do it much more justice now and show why this place is such a huge favourite with European travellers.

Moevenpick/ photo: hotel

High above Karon Noi, a very tight hairpin leads to the tucked-away Centara Villas Phuket (formerly Central Karon Village) and its 72 Thai-style villas, two swimming pools and SPA Cenvaree. This is a true hideaway, set in 22 hectares of forest, with a breezy, treetop-lookout feel to it and fine wooded views. The sea-facing villas come with decent balconies to catch the rays and the scenery. The Centara Karon Resort Phuket (formerly Central Karon Beach Resort), is a four-star Phuket hotel that with three swimming pools, children’s pool, a SPA Cenvaree, two floodlit tennis courts, a kids' club, snooker, darts, and facilities for the disabled. This is a child-friendly Phuket hotel with babysitting and other services. Accommodation is in four zones – Terrace, Lagoon, Tropicale, and Cabana. The Lagoon zone is good for kids while Tropicale is bit more upscale, with the Cabanas offering more privacy in a garden setting.

From Centara Villas the road inscribes a broad loop past the fairly faceless Felix Karon and the 180-room Best Western Phuket Ocean Resort. The Phuket Ocean Resort is functional and tidy and aimed squarely at the middle market. It is a small way from the beach. Facilities include three swimming pools, one children’s pool, game room, herbal steam sauna, spa services, private balconies and satellite TV.

The reasonably enticing The Front Village is attractively lit up at night but the beach is a good 200-400 metres or more away. And no, there is no Back Village though there is the ochre-hued hobbit house, spa, Broadband, and Jacuzzi. You’ll also spot the sibling The Village Resort & Spa with freeform pool, swim-up bar, a spa, and Internet access. Baby cots and baby-sitting services are available. Both Front Village and Village Resort are aggressively priced on published rates but good deals will be forthcoming through travel agents.

Hilton Phuket Arcadia/ photo: hotel

Across the road, right on the surf with no hellish road to cross, is the cosy 30-room two-storey In On The Beach. Better rates and better views. Rooms are simple if oddly ornate with balconies, but the location is very pleasant indeed and there’s a small pool and a room with Internet service. It’s a bit like being at home. Not much nightlife or shopping in the immediate vicinity.

Next up is the new Mövenpick Resort & Spa Karon Beach Phuket (formerly, and briefly, the Crowne Plaza). The resort hotel features hi-tech meetings facilities for small groups and large conferences, 166 sea-facing rooms, and a further 166 villas, all with sun decks and outdoor rainshowers.

Guests can unwind at the The Spa while kids scamper about assisted by their very own club – Play Zone – which serves up arts and craft, a DVD lounge, Play Station, table tennis and more.

The airy hotel lobby is decorated with artefacts and design oddities and the dining area wends its way down steps, and large private “birdcages” for those intimate candle-lit moments. The Mövenpick Resort & Spa Karon Beach Phuket is the reincarnated Karon Royal Villas (pre Crowne Plaza).

This holdover sports bright mustard and blue three-storey arrangements that don’t quite gel together. The ensemble is somewhat let down by villas with corrugated sheet roofing. The colours and combinations need sorting out and doubtless the management will get around to it in good time. Villa interiors are okay and the hotel rooms are quite attractive. The main hotel itself is, well, a hotel. Not much that can be done about that. All this is set back away from the beach.

Royal Phuket Yacht Club/ photo: Verghese

Longtime neighbour is the meetings-and-conventions Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort & Spa. The Hilton Phuket is a set of condo-style low, circular towers set in expansive landscaped grounds with lagoon and flowering trees. This is a hotel-style development too but the contrast with its conventions neighbour is striking. There is space, less clutter, colours are well thought out and, for all its age, the Hilton exudes an elegant contemporary feel.

The 15-villa spa is a 1,500sq m addition set apart from the main hotel by a small bridge over the lagoon. Peacocks used to wander the resort grounds, dodging water sprinklers and posing for guests. But no more. The Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort & Spa offers in-room Wireless Broadband and a business centre. The rooms are smart with all the usual mod-cons. The garden setting is a huge plus with ample room for walks, jogging, and energetic kids. Play tennis or squash, swim, cycle, or try out the putting green. The list is endless.

If you’re driving, you’ll need to park out the back and get trundled in on a Hawaiian trolley-bus. Kids are well catered for with a child care centre, activities, babysitting services, and a kids’ menu. A comfortable Phuket family hotel, the Hilton is also a venue for events, incentives and weddings. It is a popular choice for those shopping for good Phuket conference hotels.

With sweeping views of Karon Bay, the Marina Phuket Resort (formerly Marina Cottages) estate is manicured and tasteful. While lumbering left-brain dinosaurs roam the adjacent mini-golf Dino Park terrorising toddlers, everything at Marina Cottage is right-brain, detailed and attentive from the grounds and pathways to the rooms. Wooden walkways connect the bungalows, leading down to the seaside remodelled On The Rock restaurant looking out over the bay. Facing the sea is a clutch of gleaming Thai style Deluxe Villas with parquet flooring, chic black marble toilets with bathtub and generous balconies right above the ocean. A sliding screen reveals a plasma flat-screen TV.

Mom Tri's Boathouse/ photo: hotel

Best of all, in most of the rooms at this resort, there's high-speed Internet with a Wireless keyboard utilising the giant screen. All this is run by a stylish Apple Mini. The Jungle Villas on a wooded knoll are equally stylish with sliding partitions revealing the bathtub and wash area.

Kata, Nai Harn, Chalong Bay, Rawai, Siray Bay, Phuket Town

Around Kata you’ll find the Kata Beach Resort & Spa, the large 479-room and tad more pricey Kata Thani Phuket Beach Resort (with its Tew Son Spa, smart contemporary Thai-style rooms and Beach Club), and two cheaper fewer-frills options, the three-star sea-view Tropical Garden Resort, and sister hotel, Serene Resort.

The much-loved Mom Tri’s Boathouse has been a signature presence here for years serving up fine cuisine in a relaxed setting, positioned among the favoured Phuket boutique hotels. Boathouse has rooms and suites as well as higher-priced villas (look at the Dolphin Villas) dressed in tasteful Thai decor. Sign up for cooking classes and pick up a Boathouse Cookbook. Its sister property on Kata Noi is Mom Tri’s Villa Royale, another gracious escape.

The Club Med Phuket is stretched along 1.5 kilometres of beach (across a road unfortunately), with a Club Med Spa and extensive facilities for children. In fact everyone over four months old is welcome at this family-friendly hotel. Enjoy yoga, cooking classes and a nine-hole pitch and putt golf green. Catering for children of various ages are a Baby Club Med, a Petite Club Med and a Mini Club Med (four to under-elevens). With the usual adrenalin-pumping arsenal of activities and testosterone by the pound, this is a resort for ripped biceps to get to work – tennis, squash, archery, mini soccer, volleyball and even circus lessons if the muscles are not quite up to it.

Vijitt Resort/ photo: Vijay Verghese

On to sunset country, Promthep Cape. But just before we get there, pull a right onto Nai Harn Beach at the end of which is the very regal 110-Oceanfront Suite The Royal Phuket Yacht Club (formerly the Le Royal Meridien and now managed by Puravarna Hotels & Resorts). This was one of the first trend-setters on the island and is still a stately presence though the approach has got a bit crowded with Yacht Club wannabes, imitations and shops that still manage to lend the place a festive atmosphere. Once inside the resort, the difference is like catapulting into first, from economy-class. Rooms offer roomy 20-45sq m balconies with arresting views of the Andaman Sea. If it's indulgence you crave, unwind at the Royal Spa that occupies 300sq m of open space overlooking Nai Harn Bay. Play tennis or cruise off into the sunset on East India, a private topmast schooner.

One of the better offerings riding on the Yacht Club’s tails is The Sands, a pleasant three-storey resort-style with 150sq m apartments with kitchens.

A short drive from here, sited on a breezy hill, is the Lord of the Rings hobbit-style Mangosteen Resort & Spa. This is an interesting getaway that distracts you sufficiently to forget that the nearest beach is a few kilometres away. Villas are round elfin dwellings with interesting touches. The Deluxe Villas have a Jacuzzi, open shower (covered by a thatch roof), smooth-pebble floors and a rattan reclining chair. Now that's a toilet. Take your time. Rooms have a sense of space and offer plenty of light and air.

There's Cable TV, hair-drier, CD players in deluxe rooms, and a minibar. Beds are laid down in a slightly raised area on brick platforms. The resort offers fine views of hills and seascapes and a spa is available for that extra pampering. If you're lugging your laptop, the good news is, there's Wireless Internet access at the resort. Bit of a hike up the hill, but enjoy the resort.

Evason Six Senses/ photo: hotel

In this south Phuket area looking out towards Chalong Bay are the 45 villas of the contemporary Morrocan-influenced Villa Zolitude. No beach, but green surrounds and open, breezy views. Pick from Deluxe Pool Villas set low on the hill – each with spacious living areas, flat-screen TVs and king-sized beds – looking out at but not over the forest canopy, or go uphill in height and price to the Grand Pool Villas with views across the bay and more stretch space. Traditional massage and exotic treatments await at the Zense Spa.

Rounding Promthep Cape, Highway 4233 leads to The Evason Phuket & Six Senses Spa, set on a remote corner of Rawai. The approach to the main building up on a hillock is through a coconut grove.

Everything is as you might expect of a Six Senses resort, except for one thing, the building. This is a bland, uninspiring ship-bridge structure that runs along the top of the rise. But take one step into the funky Star Trek "tube" that leads to the lobby, and all reservations start to melt. Check-in is conducted in four open-sided salas (pavilions) set in a central lotus pond and a "tram" trundles guests down to the restaurants, three swimming pools, the seaside, other accommodations and private luxury villas.

One level down a Thai restaurant, Into Thai, is set in the sand under shady trees along a stone breakwater that leads to a stunning infinity pool almost blending into the ocean. The pool is small but oozes chic with great 180-degree views. Most swimmers just take pictures and pose. A boat is on hand to ferry guests to a private beach on a nearby island. The Six Senses Spa, spread over three floors, is a major attraction with an array of signature treatments and a Just Kids club for five-to-twelve-year-olds keeps tiny tykes occupied with adventure games and even sleepovers.

Sri Panwa villa / photo: hotel

This leaves parents free to check out the two saunas and two steam rooms. Romantics can head to the 115sq m Honeymoon Suite on Bon Island complete with its own DVD home theatre. Who needs Viagra?

On Rawai's Friendship Beach is the all-villa The Vijitt Resort Phuket spread over 20 acres of land. Built on a hillside, most of the 92 villas, 20 with pools, have views of the sea – and each other – over woodchip-tile rooftops. It’s convivial if not entirely private. The standard deluxe villa has an attractive horseshoe layout with floor-to-ceiling windows, outdoor rainshower, local Lemongrass House amenities and a large bathtub with shuttered windows.

There is complimentary Broadband in-room but, given the spread out nature of the resort, no Wi-Fi. The most private residences are along the seafront. Check on breezy villas one to four and five to nine, set on the grassy verge looking out at the blue. Expect personal space ranging from a minimum of 20sq m up to 200sq m.

The beach is clean and uncluttered but narrow and the tide reaches the sea wall twice a month. This means few, if any, hawkers are on hand to pester guests. The water remains shallow for a good 200 metres – good for splash-happy kids. Tots can also avail of the play area with slides and a wading pool.

A glinting infinity pool almost blends into the ocean. The spa, with four open and four air-conditioned salas, will massage away your troubles. The treatments retain a very Thai flavour – except perhaps the red wine body wrap. There still a few rough edges at this newish resort. Watch out for drip marks from the roof and other oddities.

Westin Siray Bay/ photo: hotel

The Residence by Richmond serves up two to four-bedroom villas starting at 311sq m, each with private swimming pool, rooftop sala, satellite TV, and the usual mod-cons. There's a parking garage with each unit.

Overlooking Siray Bay, a new mood hotel from Starwood, The Westin Siray Bay Resort & Spa, will have you craving to leave footsteps in their sands. The new Westin ethos is young, hip and relaxed, focused on rejuvenation and recharge, and what better venue for such pleasant distractions than a white-sand beach on Thailand's premier resort island.

Opening 1 June, 2010, this hillside bolt-hole-on-the-beach, a short drive southeast of Phuket Town, offers 256 rooms with balconies and endless vistas, with three pools, a Westin Kids Club ®, workout facilities and, best of all, a Heavenly Spa®.

There is also 643sq m of function space if you must don your best beach duds and work while tanned lovelies sashay by. We say, toss all that and head out to get your toes wet. In Phuket Town, check out old workhorses Phuket Merlin Hotel and the Pearl Hotel, both adequate city stops.

Cape Panwa resorts and hotels, Koh Racha Island

The Radisson Plaza Resort Phuket Panwa Beach offers a beachfront family-friendly getaway in the far south towards Cape Panwa with three tiered free-form pools, a wellbeing spa, and a dedicated Kid's Club. This is a resort that holds appeal for couples as well as those with typhoon tykes in tow. Expect a useful mix of 211 rooms, suites and pool villas done up in modern Thai decor, a fitness centre and a choice of four restaurants.

Radisson Plaza pool/ photo: Verghese

The Radisson – pitching to be a more than useful Phuket conference hotel – also offers extensive meetings facilities with the usual arsenal of hi-tech equipment and a ballroom that can handle up to 150 persons. The resort is a contemporary low-rise development in brown tones.

There are a lot of funky and mod features, chiefly the private poolside loungers that look onto open blue sea. The pool area is inviting if compact, set below the restaurants and a lobby that tries a bit too hard. Grand views but alas the beach is pebbly and not really swimable. Get a tan and bring a good book.

Cape Panwa Hotel, a much older property at the far end of hard-to-find Highway 4129, is at the other end of the south. It's the sort of place you'd expect to find in an American '60s TV romance. Lots of activities and the occasional celebrity. There’s WiFi.

A tramcar ferries guests to the beach and the charming Sino-Portuguese wooden all-white Panwa House serving Thai. Much of the shoreline has coral and stone underlay so watch for it at low tide. Sample a Thai massage on the beach, hop onto a Cape Panwa cruise boat, or work out at tennis, badminton, canoeing, sailing, or learn batik or Thai cooking.

Around the hill is the Kantary Bay Hotel, a remodelled clean, basic, salmon-beige affordable studio or one-to-two-bedroom option. In an earlier incarnation it was managed by Cape Panwa Hotel. Expect free Wi-Fi in the lobby and a Bt700 per day charge for an in-room modem connection. The hotel is bright and breezy and fronts the ocean promenade.

Kantary Bay is fiendly/ photo: Verghese

Also in the Cape Panwa area is The Panwaburi (once flirting with Conrad). The resort is undergoing renovations and is closed through 2010. The earlier development included around 40 hotel rooms along with Beach Villas and Sea View Villas. A spa and a private beach (albeit very pebbled) completed the picture.

The Sri Panwa is another high end Phuket luxury hotels escape, now with its very own Cool Spa for holistic pampering. The estate features villas with contemporary decor and Thai furnishings.

The three-to-five-bedroom villas are ample play space for large families and groups. The pool is set high on the hillside above a small private beach.

Just off Phuket is the idyllic island hideaway, The Racha, on Koh Racha Yai, with 70 villas. Head out by speedboat to explore this hedonistic playground. Good sand, breezy, open layout and facilities including a spa.

Find your spot, turn off that mobile phone and, hey, what’s that pink feather boa doing in my soup?

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Idyllic island escape, Ratcha/ photo: hotel

Service charge and government tax on rooms amount to an additional 17 percent. Phuket's low season (during the monsoons) is May till end October as reflected in some of the published rates below. There are also peak season rates which rise steeply. Group discounts are possible. Book through your travel agent or contact the hotel directly for a web offer. Exchange rate is roughly US$1=Bt34. Use moneychangers or banks in tourist areas for the best rates. Rates listed here are a mix of rack or published full rates and Internet deals. These tend to fluctuate with the season so do check.

Khao Lak Resorts

Apsaras Beach Resort & Spa. Tel: [66-76] 584-444, fax: 584-445, (e-mail: info@apsarasresort.com or www.apsarasresort.com). From Bt5,000.
Baan Krating Khao Lak Resort. Tel: [66-76] 485-188, fax: 485-187, (e-mail: reservations@baankrating.com or www.baankrating.com). Internet rates from Bt2,699.
JW Marriott Khao Lak. Tel: [66-76] 584-888, fax: 584-999, (www.jwmarriottkhaolak.com). Internet rates from Internet rates from Bt5,525.
Khao Lak Laguna Resort Phang-Nga. Tel: [66-76] 485-200, fax: 485-203, (e-mail: rsvn@khaolaklaguna@yahoo.com or www.khaolaklagunaresort.com). From Bt1,550-Bt4,250.
Khaolak Merlin Resort. Tel: [66-76] 428-300, fax: 443-200, (e-mail: khaolakmerlin@merlinphuket.com or www.merlinphuket.com/khaolakmerlin/index.html). Internet rates from US$115-$138.
Khao Lak Resort. Tel: [66-76] 428-111, fax: 428-112, (e-mail: rsvn@khaolakresort.com or www.khaolakresort.com). From Bt2,100-Bt4,100..
La Flora Resort & Spa. Tel: [66-76] 428-000, fax: 428-029, (e-mail: reservation@lafloraresort.com or www.lafloraresort.com). Internet rates from Bt3,600-Bt5,700.
Le Meridien Khao Lak Beach & Spa Resort. Tel: [66-76] 427-500, fax: 427-575, (e-mail: reservations.khaolak@lemeridien.com or www.lemeridien.com/khaolak). Internet rates from Bt4,560.
Ramada Resort Khao Lak. Tel: [66-76] 427-777, fax: 427-784, (e-mail: rsvn@ramadakhaolak.com or www.ramadakhaolak.com). Internet rates from Bt5,415.
The Sarojin. Tel: [66-76] 427-900, fax: 427-906, (e-mail: reservations@sarojin.com or www.sarojin.com). From Bt14,000.
South Sea Grand Phang Nga. Tel: [66-76] 370-888, fax: 370-899, (e-mail: info@southsearesorts.com or www.southseagrand.com). Internet rates from Bt5,767 up.
Takolaburi. Tel: [66-76] 429-777, fax: 429-799, (e-mail: rsvn@takolaburi.info or www.takolaburi.info). Deluxe room rack rate from Bt4,500.

North Phuket and East, Mai Khao, Nai Yang, Nai Thon, Cape Yamu

Absolute Chandara Resort & Spa. Tel: [66-76] 317800, fax: 317-850, (e-mail: reserv@absolutechandara.com or /www.absolutechandara.com/index.htm). From Bt7,740.
Adamas Resort & Spa, Phuket. Tel: [66-76] 316-000, fax: 316-095, (e-mail: reservations@adamasresortspa.com or www.adamasresortspa.com). From Bt2,861.
Aleenta Phuket. Just north of Phuket Island. Bangkok office tel: [66-2] 514-8112, fax: 539-4373, (e-mail: reservation@aleenta.com or www.aleenta.com). From Bt12,300.
Anantara Phuket Resort & Spa. Tel: [66-76] 336-100, fax: 336-177, (e-mail: phuket@anantara.com or http://phuket.anantara.com/). Internet rates from US$511.
Andaman White Beach Resort. Tel: [66-76] 316-300, fax: 316-399, (e-mail: reservation@andamanwhitebeach.com or www.andamanwhitebeach.com). From Bt8,500.
Baan Yamu Residences. Bangkok Tel: [66-2] 260-5317, fax: 260-5318, (e-mail: contact@baanyamuphuket.com or www.baanyamuphuket.com).
Blue Canyon Country Club. Tel: [66-76] 328-088, fax: 328-068, (e-mail: reservation@bluecanyonclub.com or www.bluecanyonclub.com). Lodges, Suites from Bt12,000, Rooms from Bt5,000..
Bundarika Villa Phuket. Tel: [66-76] 317-200, fax: 252-299, (e-mail: whitelotus@bundarika.com or www.bundarika.com). Internet rates from Bt4848.
Indigo Pearl. Tel: [66-76] 327-006, fax: 327-338, (e-mail: info@indigo-pearl.com or www.indigo-pearl.com). Internet rates from Bt8,350.
JW Marriott Phuket Resort & Spa. Tel: [66-76] 338-000, fax: 348-348, (e-mail: res.jwthailand@marriothotels.com or www.jwmarriottphuket.com). Internet rates from Bt5,816.
Layan Beach Resort & Spa Village. Tel: [66-76] 313-412, fax: 313-415, (e-mail: info@layanphuket.com or www.layanphuket.com). RAtes from US$66.
Mission Hills Golf Resort & Spa. Tel: [66-76] 310-888, fax: 310-899, (e-mail: info@missionhillsphuket.com or info@missionhillsphuket.com or http://www.missionhillsphuket.com/homepage.php). From Bt2,200.
Naithonburi Beach Resort. Tel: [66-76] 318-700, fax: 318-777, (e-mail: reservations@naithonburi.com or www.naithonburi.com). From Bt2,500.
Renaissance Phuket Resort & Spa. Tel: [66-76] 363-999, fax: 363-988, (www.renaissancephuket.com). Intro rates from Bt5,555.
SALA Phuket Resort and Spa. Tel: [66-76] 338-888, fax: 338-889, (e-mail: info@salaphuket.com or www.salaphuket.com). From Bt8,900.
Supalai Resort & Spa Phuket. Tel: [66-76] 302-302, fax: 302-300, (e-mail: reservation@supalaiphuket.com or www.supalaiphuket.com). From Bt2,890.
Trisara. Tel: [66-76] 310-100, fax: 310-300, (e-mail: sales@trisara.com or www.trisara.com). From US$660-$835 and up.

Bang Tao, Laguna Area Hotels

Amora Beach Resort Phuket. Tel: [66-76] 324-021, fax: 324-243, (e-mail: info-phuket@amoragroup.com or www.amorahotels.com.au/Phuket). From Bt4,375.
Best Western Premier Bangtao Beach Resort & Spa.. Tel: [66-76] 270-680, fax: 270-679, (e-mail: info@bangtaobeach.com or www.bangtaobeach.com). From Bt2,990.
Banyan Tree Phuket. Tel: [66-76] 324-374, fax: 324-375, (e-mail: phuket@banyantree.com or www.banyantree.com/en/phuket/overview). From Bt12,582.
Best Western Allamanda Laguna Phuket. Tel: [66-76] 362-700, fax: 324-360, (e-mail: admin-phuket@allamanda.com or www.allamanda.com). From Bt1,500-Bt2,000 and up.
Dusit Thani Laguna Phuket. Tel: [66-76] 362-999, fax: 362-900, (e-mail: dtlp@dusit.com or phuket.dusit.com). From Bt6,200.
Laguna Beach Resort. Tel: [66-76] 324-352, fax: 324-353, (e-mail: sales@lagunabeach-resort.com or www.lagunabeach-resort.com). From Bt6,000.
Laguna Holiday Club Phuket Resort. Tel: [66-76] 362-400, fax: 362-401, (e-mail: holidayclub@lagunaphuket.com or www.lagunaphuket.com).
The Pavilions, Phuket. Tel: [66-76] 317-600, fax: 317-601, (e-mail: reservations.phuket@thepavilionsresorts.com or http://www.thepavilionsresorts.com). From Bt21,000.
Sheraton Grande Laguna Phuket. Tel: [66-76] 324-101, fax: 324-108, (e-mail: sheraton.phuket@luxurycollection.com or www.starwoodhotels.com/luxury/property). Internet rates from US$180.

Pansea and Surin Beach

Amanpuri. Tel: [66-76] 324-333, fax: 324-100, (e-mail: amanpuri@amanresorts.com or www.amanresorts.com/amanpuri). From US$925.
Ayara Hilltops. Tel: [66-76] 271-271, fax: 271-270, (e-mail: mail@ayarahilltops.com or www.ayarahilltops.com). From Bt6,645.
Courtyard Phuket at Surin Beach. Tel: [66-76] 303-300, fax: 303-303, (www.marriott.com/hotels). From Bt3,700.
Manathai Resort Phuket. Tel: [66-76] 270-900, fax: 270-911, (e-mail: reservations@manathai.com or www.manathai.com). Deluxe Room from US$109.
The Chedi. Tel: [66-76] 621-579, fax: 621-590, (e-mail: chediphuket@ghmhotels.com or www.ghmhotels.com). Internet rates US$291-$363 and up.
Surin Beach Resort. Tel: [66-76] 325-000, fax: 325-886. Deluxe Studio rack rate from Bt3,900.
The Chava Resort. Tel: [66-76] 372-600, fax: 372-606, (e-mail: reservations@thechavaresort.com or www.thechavaresort.com). From Bt14,000.
Twinpalms. Tel: [66-76] 316-500, faz: 316-599, (e-mail: book@twinpalms-phuket.com or www.twinpalms-phuket.com). Internet rates from Bt6,700.

Kamala, Nakalay, Kalim Beaches

Andara Resort & Villas. Tel: [66-76] 338-777, (andaraphuket.com). From US$630-US$710 up.
Courtyard Phuket at Kamala Beach. Tel: [66-76] 303-000, fax: 303-003, (www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/hktkb-courtyard-phuket-at-kamala-beach/). From Bt3,200.
Diamond Cliff Resort & Spa. Tel: [66-76] 340-501, fax: 340-507, (e-mail: rsvn@diamondcliff.com or www.diamondcliff.com). Internet rates from Bt6,100.
Kamala Beach Estate. Tel: [66-76] 279-756, fax: 324-111, (www.kamalabeachestate.com). Rates from Bt2,700-Bt3,600 and up.
Novotel Phuket Resort. Tel: [66-76] 342-777, fax: 341-145, (e-mail: info@novotelphuket.com or www.novotelphuket.com). From Bt2,520.
Patong Lodge. Tel: [66-76] 341-020, fax: 340-287, (e-mail: res@patonglodgehotel.com or www.patonglodgehotel.com). From Bt1,300.
Thavorn Beach Village & Spa. Tel: [66-76] 290-334, fax: 340-384, (e-mail: info@thavornbeachvillage.com or www.thavornbeachvillage.com). From Bt1,299-Bt1,599 and up.

Patong Hotel and Resort Directory

Absolute Sea Pearl Beach Resort & Spa. Tel: [66-76] 341-901, fax: 341-122, (e-mail: info@absoluteseapearl.com or www.absoluteseapearl.com). From Bt3,200-Bt4,100 and up.
Amari Coral Beach Resort. Tel: [66-76] 340-106, fax: 340-115, (www.amari.com/coralbeach). From Bt3,600.
Avantika. Tel: [66-76] 292-801, fax: 292-808, (e-mail: info@avantika-phuket.com or www.avantika-phuket.com). From Bt3,300.
Baan Sukhothai Hotel & Spa. Tel: [66-76] 340-195, fax: 340-197, (e-mail: rsvn@phuket-baansukhothai.com or www.phuket-baansukhothai.com). From Bt3,800.
Baan Yin Dee. Tel: [66-76] 294-104, fax: 294-108, (e-mail: info@baanyindee.com or www.baanyindee.com). From Bt5,100.
Burasari Patong. Tel: [66-76] 292-929, fax: 292-930 (e-mail: nok@burasari.com or www.burasari.com). From Bt3,000.
Club Andaman Beach Resort. [66-76] 340-530, fax: 340-527, (e-mail: rsvn@clubandaman.com or www.clubandaman.com). From Bt2,500.
Courtyard Phuket at Patong Beach. Tel: [66-76] 337-000, fax: 337-003, (www.marriott.com). From Bt3,100.
Duangjitt Resort & Spa. Tel: [66-76] 340-303, fax: 340-288, (www.duangjit.com). From US$57.
Holiday Inn Resort Phuket. Tel: [66-76] 340-608, fax: 340-435, (www.holidayinn.com or www.holidayinn.com/h/d/hi/1/en/home). From Bt4,720.
Impiana Resort Patong, Phuket. Tel: [66-76] 340-138, fax: 340-178, (e-mail: rsvnipc@impiana.com or http://phukethotels.impiana.com). From Bt6,200.
La Flora Resort Patong. Tel: [66-76] 344-241, fax: 344-251, (e-mail: info@laflorapatong.com or www.laflorapatong.com). From Bt6,240.
Merlin Beach Resort. Tel: [66-76] 294-300, fax: 294-310, (www.merlinphuket.com). From Bt4,500.
Millennium Resort Patong Phuket. Tel: [66-76] 601-999, fax: 601-986, (e-mail: reservations@millenniumhotels.com or www.millenniumhotels.com). From Bt4,340.
Patong Merlin Hotel. Tel: [66-76] 340-037, fax: 340-394, (e-mail: merlin@phuket.ksc.co.th or www.merlinphuket.com). From Bt5,000.
Phuket Graceland Resort & Spa. Tel: [66-76] 370-500, fax: 370-550, (e-mail: rsvn@phuketgraceland.com or www.phuketgraceland.com). From Bt3,800.
The Andaman Beach Suites. Tel: [66-76] 341-879, fax: 340-893, (e-mail: rsvn@beachsuites.com or www.beachsuites.com). From Bt2,400.

Relax Bay, Karon, Kata Beach Resorts

Best Western Phuket Ocean Resort. Tel: [66-76] 286-100, fax: 396-470, (e-mail: info@phuketocean.com or www.phuketocean.com). Internet rates from Bt1,900.
Centara Karon Resort Phuket . Tel: [66-76] 396-200, fax: [66-76] 396-491, (e-mail: ckr@chr.co.th or www.centralhotelsresorts.com). From Bt2,170.
Centara Villas Phuket. Tel: [66-76] 286-300, fax: 286-316, (e-mail:cvp@chr.co.th or www.centralhotelsresorts.com). From Bt2,500.
Club Med Phuket. Book specials online and access local Club Med offices in your city (www.clubmed.com or www.clubmed.com/cm/villagesHeading.do?CODLSC=PHUC&PAYS=14&LANG=AE).
Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort & Spa. Tel: [66-76] 396-433, fax: 396-136, (e-mail: phuketarcadia@hilton.com or www.phuketarcadia.hilton.com). Internet rates from Bt3,600-Bt4,100 up.
In On The Beach. Tel: [66-76] 398-220, fax: 398-225, (email: info@karon-inonthebeach.com or www.karon-inonthebeach.com). From Bt1,750.
Kata Beach Resort & Spa. Tel: [66-76] 330-530, fax: 330-128, (e-mail: ktbrsvn@katagroup.com or www.katagroup.com/katabeach). From Bt7,800.
Kata Thani Phuket Beach Resort. Tel: [66-76] 330-124, fax: 330-426, (e-mail: reservation@katathani.com or www.katathani.com). From Bt13,000.
Le Meridien Phuket Beach Resort. Tel: [66-76] 370-100, fax: 340-479, (e-mail: reservations.phuketbeach@lemeridien.com or www.lemeridien-phuket.com). Internet rates from Bt4,180.
Marina Phuket Resort. Tel: [66-76] 330-625, fax: 330-516, (e-mail: info@marinaphuket.com or www.marinaphuket.com). From US$80.
Mom Tri’s Boathouse. Tel: [66-76] 330-015, fax: 330-561, (e-mail: info@boathousephuket.com or www.boathousephuket.com). From Bt4,250.
Mom Tri’s Villa Royale Phuket. Tel: [66-76] 333-568, fax: 333-001, (e-mail: info@villaroyalephuket.com or www.villaroyalephuket.com). From Bt7,500.
Mövenpick Resort & Spa Karon Beach Phuket. Tel: [66-76] 396-139, fax: 396-144, (e-mail: resort.phuket@moevenpick.com or www.moevenpick-phuket.com). From Bt6,500.
Serene Resort. Tel: [66-76] 330-148, fax: 330-564, (e-mail: info@sereneresort.com or www.sereneresort.com). From Bt1,700.
The Front Village. Tel: [66-76] 398-200, fax: 398-206, (e-mail: info@frontvillage.com or www.frontvillage.com). Published rates from Bt5,500.
The Village Resort & Spa. Tel: [66-76] 398-200, fax: 398-206, (e-mail: info@thevillageresortandspa.com or www.thevillageresortandspa.com). Rack rates from Bt10,000.
Tropical Garden Resort. Tel: [66-76] 285-211, fax: 285-210, (e-mail: info@tropicalphuketresort.com or www.tropicalphuketresort.com). From Bt1,700.
Villa Royale. Tel: [66-76] 333-569, fax: 333-001, (e-mail: info@villaroyalephuket.com or www.villaroyalephuket.com). Beach range suite from Bt12,000 - 14, 500.

Nai Harn, Rawai, Chalong Bay, Siray Bay

Evason Phuket & Six Senses Spa. Tel: [66-76] 381-010, fax: 381-018, (e-mail: reservation-phuket@sixsenses.com or www.sixsenses.com/Evason-Phuket). From Bt3,800-Bt4,225 up.
The Mangosteen Resort & Spa. Tel: [66-76] 289-399, fax: 289-389, (e-mail: info@mangosteen-phuket.com or www.mangosteen-phuket.com). From Bt6,300.
The Residence by Richmond. Tel: [66-76] 271-650, (www.richmondth.com). From Bt10,500.
The Royal Phuket Yacht Club. Tel: [66-76] 380-200, (www.puravarna.com). From Bt5,130.
The Sands Boutique Condominiums. Tel: [66-76] 236-550, (www.thesandsphuket.com).
The Vijitt Resort Phuket. Tel: [66-76] 363-600, fax: 363-699, (e-mail: info@vijittresort.com or www.vijittresort.com). From Bt6,400.
The Westin Siray Bay Resort & Spa. Pre-opening office tel: [66-76] 252-703, (e-mail: westin.siraybay@westin.com or http://www.starwoodhotels.com/westin/property/).
Villa Zolitude. Tel: [66-76] 521-333, fax: 521-330, (e-mail: info@villazolitude.com or www.villazolitude.com). Rates from Bt9,900.

Cape Panwa and Koh Racha Island

Cape Panwa Hotel and Spa. Tel: [66-76] 391-123, fax: 391-177, (e-mail: reservations@capepanwa.com or www.capepanwa.com). From Bt3,000.
Radisson Plaza Resort Phuket Panwa Beach. Bangkok tel: [66-22] 602-500, fax: 602-555, (e-mail: sales.phuket@radisson.com or www.radisson.com/phuketth).
Sri Panwa. Tel: [66-76] 371-000, fax: 371-004, (e-mail: chill@sripanwa.com or www.sripanwa.com). From Bt23,800.
Kantary Bay Hotel, Phuket. Tel: [66-76] 391-514, fax: 391-208, (e-mail: reservations@kantarybay-phuket.com or www.kantarybay-phuket.com). From Bt1,600.
The Panwaburi. Tel: [66-76] 200-800, fax: 200-819. Hotel under renovation through 2010.
The Racha. Tel: [66-76] 355-455, fax: 355-637, (e-mail: reservation@theracha.com or www.theracha.com). From Bt9,200.

Phuket Town Hotels

Phuket Merlin Hotel. Tel: [66-76] 212-866, fax: 216-429 (www.merlinphuket.com). From Bt1,700.
Pearl Hotel. Tel: [66-76] 211-044, fax: 212-911, (e-mail: pearlhkt@loxinfo.co.th or www.pearlhotel.co.th). From Bt1,280.