Accommodation

Take a hotel and put it by itself on terraces overlooking remote Naithon Noi Beach et voilà.

Pros & Cons. The road is right at back, but it is not busy. The hotel is over a kilometer from the nearest shop or restaurant, but if you like a lonesome beach...

It's hard to go wrong in the old word ambience of this resort on one of Phuket's nicest beaches. The Boathouse is also renowned for its dining room and wine cellar.

Pros & Cons: it is in the middle of Ban Kata, so there are restaurants and bars and tailor shops just across the road at back. You can hardly go wrong walking down the the steps from the resort deck directly onto the sands of Kata Beach. Up on the headland nearby, Mom Tri also runs his Villa Royale, where spacious suite lodges are available.

Welcome to one of Kamala's brightest new spots. Right on the beach and right in the middle of town, this place is good for beach runners and for night-hounds. Plasma screens, DVD and wireless are standard. Upper floor rooms have private sundecks on the roof.

Pros & Cons: the pool is small and there's barely enough room for anything green that doesn't grow in a pot, but there's nothing small about Kamala Beach, which is about 5 meters away from the pool.

The hotel has a superb sense of styling and promises exclusive service.

Pros & Cons: it may be across the road from the beach, but rooms on the west side have a good view over the bay and the pool. Pity there is no place for green space.

'Rooms' does not properly describe the villas of this micro-resort. Style is all and expect the most.

Pros & Cons. Set amidst evergreen forest on Laem Phanwa in southeast Phuket, the hotel enjoys a sandy beach that is as small as the number of its rooms. This is a place to relax and enjoy the private pools, exclusive service, grand vistas, but not a grand beach