Temple Square Salt Lake

Posts Tagged ‘Phuket’

Patong Phuket the Pearl of the Andamans

This hotel is probably the best resort spa I’ve ever stayed at. Its foyer has teutonic patterned marble flooring leading up to the check and customer service desks. The concierge area is carpeted in a red square with a very expensive looking dark mahogany desk at the central.  

From the resort’s marble staircase leading up to the higher levels drapes satin curtains from ceiling to floor-used, I should imagine to conceal the area under the lodge staircase. For a tropical island as hot as Patong Phuket, this hotel’s airconditioning system is such that the words [state-of-the-art] is an understatement. It is felt and not heard, cooled but not seen. Its setting is such that you would not notice nor comment on its existence.  In other words -perfect.

My room during this stay, lies on the twelfth floor of the lodge. When you open the double doors of my room, you immediately sense the feeling of spaciousness, a living room connects to the bedroom attached to which is a wide veranda allowing enough space for a coffee table, chairs and even a small garden settee. From this veranda the view is exquisite, the coast line of palm fringed beaches and that famed Phuket white sand- this is to the front. To the right; golf courses inland that lead up to the edge of the lush green rain forests and a mountain range with what looks like a Buddhist temple high on one of  its peak. And to the left small boutique shops, restaurants and the occasional low key souvenir shop selling Thai craftworks and carvings.

The day started with me being called for lodge breakfast at 07:00 as requested. The knock on the door by the staff is one of refinement and consideration for not only my slumber but for the occupants from other rooms in the hotel. The staffs here have been trained to first knock very gently so as only to slightly arouse the guest, then after twenty seconds to knock again with slightly more force and so on until the guest finally awakes.  I am usually awoken after the first knock and today was no exception. After my usual habits of attending to the bathroom and closets duties, I set off to my favourite café restaurant next to the resort spa. The breakfast menu was as usual a smorgasbord of Western and Asian food of the highest quality.

 I recognized some of the guests and waved and nodded with the usual salutations before sitting down to a lavish but quaint continental style lodge breakfast.  After breakfast, it was my usual workout time in the gym and around the beach for thirty minutes and then it was off to the spa for massage and relaxation. The spa has baths, massage rooms and teak saunas separated for both men and women so that all its clients may feel comfortable nude. This of course is the only way one can really feel the delights of spa massage. I usually spend the rest of the morning reading newspapers and magazines by the resort and spa poolside. In the afternoon it’s either back to the lodge for more reading and relaxation, or on to the beach for swimming and other activities. Evening consists of wining and dining and chatting to other guests, then a stroll into the Phuket Patong districts where a vivacious side to the island reveals itself. Night entertainment away from the resort and spa lodge enables a revitalizing refresher from the day’s activities.  Massage and spa in the central of Patong comes highly recommended.