Thailand, Phuket Travel Notes

I love Thailand!

Lodging 1

Mövenpick Resort & Spa Karon Beach Phuket | 509 Patak Road | 83100 Phuket, Thailand
Phone: +66 76 396139 | Fax: +66 76 396144
Thailand toll free 001 800 11 002 8043
E-Mail: wannika.khunnoo@moevenpick.com  | Web: www.moevenpick-hotels.com    

This hotel was good because it was one with direct walking beach access. Many resorts were farther from the beach.

While the hotel has restaurants, I would recommend venturing out to local places. Ging's was within walking distance and had amazing food. It was so much cheaper than hotel prices and was fun to interact with locals.

Beaches
Karon Beach was within walking distance of hotel (just across a street). It is a public beach. You can rent cushions and umbrellas from people on the beach. There was significant undertow in the water so we did not go in much.

One day we took a tuk-tuk down to Kata Noi beach which was really nice. It was in bay/cove so there was no undertow and it was very enjoyable. There is an amazing little restaurant hidden at the end of the beach in the trees. Name "on the rocks". A must visit for food and a coconut.

Temples
We hired a car one day to take us to and from Wat Chalong temple which is one of the largest and most respected Buddhist temples in a Thailand.


Karon Temple Night Market
This is a must visit on Saturday evenings. It was a great market with food and clothes and stuff.


If I had more time, and more motivation, I would have liked to take a day trip to Phi Phi Island.


Lodging 2
I stayed at Surin Beach Hotel. Nice hotel with private villas. On a big hill so be prepared for stairs. Nice beach and newly renovated pool. Not much around the hotel though so need to take taxi to markets and outside restaurants.

Stayed here for work event so didn't do much sightseeing.


http://www.thesurinphuket.com/



Notes:
- taxi service from the airport to hotel is sketchy so make sure to arrange a car from airport to hotel before you go.
- no visa needed for US citizens
- make sure to convert money into Thai Baht for use shopping and eating
- bring sunscreen and bug spray





Notes from KI:
KI and husband spent weekend in Phuket in January 2016 staying on the east side of Phuket.

Westin Siray Bay Resort

http://www.westinsiraybay.com/

 

"The Westin was good and I would recommend it if people wanted to be close to Phuket city.  The rooms all overlook the water and we had a balcony (I think standard).  There are 3 different pools and 2 pool bars.  If someone is interested in being on the ocean and at the pool then I would recommend it; however, if they want nice beaches, it is not the place for that.  They do have shuttles to Phuket city as well as to Patong Beach that is pretty cheap. 

Other thing is that it is hilly so you can take a golf cart around.  We just walked because it was good exercise and fun to explore but if someone had any difficulty getting around it would be tougher. 

We hired a driver from the hotel who was named Potato (I am not even kidding!) who was awesome!  He took us around for an entire day and showed us different sights that we hadn’t even thought we would get time to see."