Accommodation
Secluded and exclusive—Just Married?
This place is so exclusive that it does not announce its presence with a sign on the access road. Villa suites have gorgeous designs - it is a place for the star-struck. There should be no cons provided you can afford it. Located on Surin Noi Beach, it shares an effectively private beach with The Chedi, a very nice GM resort that makes an entirely suitable neighbour.
Bangthao Beach from end to end is over 6 kilometers long, and the Banyan Tree is not only the best property on the beach, it is right in the middle of it and separated by the healthy green acreage of parkland surrounding all the properties in Laguna Phuket ( www.lagunaphuket.com). With spa villas, a superb near beach location and the Banyan Tree Golf Club next door, you cannot go wrong.
If you cannot get a beachfront bungalow, don't worry since the bungalows on the slopes in the palm grove at back are almost as attractive. A truly tasteful resort, the Chedi Phuket offers excellent value on Surin Noi beach. Access to the beach from outside requires an inconvenient scramble over headlands - so no one does it and the beach is effectively private. Hat Surin Noi is one of two outstanding beaches on Phuket. And the other? It is called Freedom Beach, and it has no hotels on it all.
Freedom Beach is located on Laem Kho Sao Rot, a rocky headland between Patong Bay and Karon Beach. The headland has several delightful small beaches, two of which have been monopolized by large hotels. Freedom Beach is in many ways the nicest of the beaches, but it is also inaccessible, and the landowners who own the plantation on the slopes behind are in no hurry to develop the beach. To learn more about Phuket and some of the facts behind the façade, please look out for 'Exploring Phuket & Phi Phi'. This is to be published early in 2007, and this is the beginning of the website for it.
This is a beautiful micro resort with exquisite facilities overlooking the small islands to the east of Phuket. Pros & Cons: guests need transport to go to the nearest good beach. Since this is an exclusive micro-property, the management has got that little problem solved, and besides, the hilltop pool and spa facilities are nice enough for guests not to want to leave anyway.
This is a very smart resort on a completely private beach - its beautiful inside and out. Pros & Cons: the resort is far away from anything else and the beach is rocky at low tide, but the resort compensates for this with a lap pool and a speedboat service to an alternate beach. Guests need hardly bother go farther than the horizon pool in front of their villas, however.
For more accommodation options see Phuket Boutique hotels on Siam Boutique Hotels.