Hi everyone! This is my first Fodor's forum post- I hope I post this properly!

My friends and I (we are over 40+) are flying from Chiang Mai to Phuket airport in April- we havent picked a place to stay and must choose something soon. Is it too broad to ask where a good place that doesnt take hours to travel from the airport that puts us in a place where we get the best of all worlds (great surroundings, great hotel but close to local fare and also access to islands). Rawai seemed like a location that might be close to everything - but Im sure there are more options than that. My price range for a hotel is no more than $170/night.

Thanks in advance!

we love khao lak.. it is a 1 hr ride north of phuket airport.. our 2 fav hotels are jw marriott and le meridien, but there are many more.. i prefer to rent a car in phuket

The middle of April will be the Thai new year holiday, the biggest holiday for the year, and the hotels will be quite full. I suggest you do all your bookings as soon as possible.

I love Rawai, but it's a long slog from Phuket Airport to get there. Any chance you can change to Krabi? From there Rawai is only about 30 minutes away.

If Phuket is fixed, then I would suggest looking north of the airport - Mai Khao on Phuket or Khao Lak on the mainland.

Thank you everyone for your posts!! the airport is fixed (Phuket) so we are steering towards Khao Lak (which between the tip about JW Marriott and MichaelBKK's note, Im feeling good about). We haven't booked yet- hoping to do that in the next 24 hours. Thank you all of you!

And Hanuman, thanks for the heads up about the Thai New Year!

we prefer the marriott over the meridien... choose a plan that includes breakfast..

The JW Khao Lak is really a fabulous hotel, if you can get it for your price!