advice about phuket holiday
 

I was wondering if someone could recommend a great hotel to stay in in Phuket in March of next year. I will be travelling with a friend (we're both in our 40s) and hope to stay for around 5 or 6 nights. I'm looking for a hotel that is near a nice beach but has pools and good restaurants and bars - we're not necessarily into partying, however. Oh, and a good gym is a must! I know there are some great 5 star places in Phuket but are these overly expensive, and worth it? Perhaps a cheaper place has nearly everything we need...or should we try elsewhere in Thailand? I have heard the J. W. Marriot recommended on this site and also The Boathouse - do either of these sound like they would suit us? It's my first time to visitThailand and so I want to make it a really memorable experience. Thanks!

You might want to consider The Laguna Resort Complex on Bang Thao Bay - there are five (5) hotels here including the Banyan Tree (expensive), Dusit Laguna (moderate), Laguna Beach Club, Sheraton Grande Laguna Beach and the Allamanda Phuket.

The area is about 20-min south of Airport. You can share services of all five hotels - restaurants, spas, golf, etc.; shuttle bus can take you to the others.

If you want some discos, more restaurants, bars and shops, you're not to far from Patong Beach which you can taxi or hotel shuttle to.

We found each hotel was different, with singles, couples, honeymooners, some families, and small tour groups - a good mix all around. We stayed at the Dusit Laguna, which I believe is the oldest of the hotels in Phuket - though the room was smaller (though not small) than all others we stayed in Thailand, it was in good condition, it has lovely grounds, pools, the service was excellent, restaurant choices were good, though the bar had a problem mixing a proper martini (my friend showed the bartender "how to"), but the beer was ice cold.

You can arrange any day-tours from here. We did the full-day cruise on Phang-Nga Bay on a Chinese Junk replica (about $60 w/lunch/person); took taxi from hotel to Phuket Town to do last minute shopping - taxi/driver and his wait-time (total 2-1/2 hrs) $15 r/t. Balance of time we relaxed, but there's more to do if so inclined.

Think about it.

Antone, my personal tip would be, as you are staying just 5 or 6 days is take a room at a pleasant 3-star such as Duangjitt Resort at the south end of Patong, rates for March probably around the $50 range. They have garden bungalows, lots of Palm trees and gardens, nice pool area. It is about 10 minutes stroll into the busy area of Patong. Now, if you want Good Gymm facilities you will pay over the odds for a luxury place just to get a good Gymm, about 5 minutes walk from the Duangjitt area (Coconut Village next door also good )to the Holiday Inn, you can pay for daily use and they have a very very good Gymm there. You just pay for when you use it! Easy!
You could stay at the Holiday Inn but I would suggest a smaller(cheaper) place that has everything you need and save a small fortune. All these mid-range $50-60 hotels have restaurants, pools, bar, room service, air-con, color TV, mini-bar, you name it they have it!
So on the premise that a Good Gym is a 'must' I would not pay $150 to stay in an out of the way place just for the Gymm, there are also several other Gyms in Patong where you pay just for use. You may find many hotels might offer a Gym but it could be a couple of machines and that's it, you can't beat the Holiday Inn Gym (I've used it myself-cheap).
If you go to Kata or Karon you can find nice places again in the $50 range, if the gym isn't up to much there is a local Gym in Karon where again you can pay for daily use. In Kata/Karon you can rent bicycles, easy and fit way to move around the beaches.

If your main concern is a good gym, meaning free weights and machines, my recommendation would be the Sheraton Laguna. It has a very large, airy and well equipped room next to the computer room , ping pong tables and life-sized chess board. The sound system is okay, and it partially overlooks the lagoon. Other than that, the hotel is nice, with a large, meandering pool/swimming canal that reaches nearly the entire resort. The bars are nice but relatively low-keyed- you go into Puket if you want nite-ilfe. Other than the usual Thai accents, you might even think you were back in Hawaii or Florida.

Hi,
I stayed at the JW Marriott last November for 5 nights and am going back this year (despite the fact that I live in DC). I totally loved it, and think you would, too. It is only 15 min. from the airport, has a 13 mile natural beach with no other building on the beach, wonderful gym and spa (access to sauna, hot/cold pools, showers, etc. is free and they are gorgeous, you can spend the whole day there). You can also rent bikes to go around (they even give you a bag filled with fruit, water, towel, and cell phone!), take tennis lessons (wonderful tennis instructor, they bring you iced lychee tea and cold towels during the sessions), borrow yoga videos to use in a very nice and serene yoga room, etc. You can get thai massage on the beach for about $12, enjoy the beach and the pools, walk on the beach or simply do nothing. Restaurants are very nice, you can go upscale Italian if you want or very nice deli/cafe if all you need is great coffee, snacks, and sandwich/pastries. They also have great local food, pool cafe etc, and not expensive at all. Once a week they even do a market night, where you can sample local foods and crafts. Rooms are gorgeous. Service is incredible, lobby views at the sunset are amazing. Have you checked their web site? Everything you see is real. I am not a party person either, but they have free shuttles to the town if you want to check it out. I went just to see and came back with the next one. Also, hotel has tours to the market and cooking lessons. If you are interested, tour organizers will come and pick you up from the hotel and take you on excursions, canoe trips, etc. I cannot speak enough about the place, you will definitely enjoy it, guaranteed!