Phuket advice
 

My sister and I are going to Phuket next week. Just wondering about the weather and accomodations. We would like a beachfront place 4 or 5 star, with a reasonable priced spa. It would nice to be on the beach and not be harassed non stop. Also, I have looked at airfare from bkk and there is a big difference in price from $60 RT to $200 any advice on a resonable, but safe airline to phuket. I know it is last mint. but any info would be great.

Thanks,

Laura

All beaches in Thailand are public, so it is not possible to keep out the hawkers. However, the Aman and the Chedi are located on beaches with rocky promontories at either end which makes access by hawkers difficult (and they are not allowed through the hotels’ grounds), so IMO those are the most private beaches you will find. You generally find fewer at the JW Marriott as well as that hotel is off by itself, but there are still some there. You can always sit by the pool(s) to avoid hawkers. Also, you are going in the rainy season, so may not actually get much beach-sitting time, it will be a matter of luck. People will have their anecdotes about their weather experience in Phuket in the rainy season. My anecdote is this: last year my friend and his girlfriend went for 7 days in late July (against my recommendation). Their rationale was It Can’t Rain All the Time. They were right, sort of. It just rained every afternoon from Noon to Five, continuously. The girlfriend was none too pleased as this was of course the time she had planned for the beach. Of course, hotel rates are down during the rainy season.

Personally, as you have not made any reservations at this point, you might want to consider the EAST coast of Thailand or Malaysia. Better weather this time of year.

Plane fares are a complete mystery to me, I swear they are made up. I have no advice on that point.

It will be hot, of course, and Phuket averages about 10 inches of rain in July. SInce it is off season, you should be able to get good prices on hotels. Take a look at www.sawadee.com for hotel prices. This is the Thai booking site I use most often. Most prices include tax and service (total 17%), and many include breakfast. You'll have to pay in full once your reservation is confirmed with them.

If you stay at a 4 or 5 star place, they will have 4 or 5 star prices for spa services. I don't know if they might have special off-season spa prices or not.

Air Asia is often the cheapest airline. It has a fine safety record, but it does have the inconveniences associated with budget airlines: no seat assignments, lower limit on luggage, no refunds or rebooking if you miss your flight.

Cicerone and I were posting at the same time. She's quite right, if you aren't committed to Phuket, a place on the other side of the peninsula like Koh Samui or a place on the East coast of Malaysia would have much bettter weather.

Well you are heading in the low/rainy season, but that does mean prices are well cheap.
On Phuket although you can get place to place easily deciding which beach area is your first priority.
They range from load and busy like Pationg to somewhat quieter areas like Karon or kata, although you 'can' find places right on the beach, often they can be in quieter areas.
Le Meridien is in it's own cove just south of Patong, being in it's own cove is excellent, and you can get to Patong or Karon easily, but it is a large resort place, Katathani is another option. There are quiet locations like bangtao or nai yang, or places like the marriott, but these are quite a way from other places.

www.phuket-luxury-hotels.com has a good selection, goes into sawadee but gies you ideas, in these quieter areas you are not hgoing to be troubled by vendors, and although quite correct as Cicerone has said, all beaches are public, somewhere like le Meridien being in it's own cove you won't find sellers there.

I think yuo need to tell us how you plan to spend your evenings !

Although you 'can' get place to place if for example you want to go out most evenings for some market stall or shop shopping and want to try a range of restaurants you would not want a 30-45 ( or more ) journey each way every evening, but if you plan just to stay around your resort and perhaps take a few tours ( weather permitting ) then that is different and affects suggestions.

I think le meridien gains on the beach and being quite but due purely to the location easy enough to get to evening restaurants or shopping.

Le meridien this time of year is around USD 110-125 for 2, Katathani about USD 105, JW probably about 150, a lot of places are elimated as they are 'not' on the beach.

Tell us a little more though how you plan to spend your time.

Thai and bangkok Airways are full service airlines, Air Asia and Nok Air and One-2-Go are budget carriers ( though with One-2-Go you still get full baggage allowance etc ).
Nok Plus is good value, 2x2 seating on 737's, old style Business class seats.

Thanks all for the info. my sister is a pilot for Continental so we do everything last mint. We were going to Bali, but can't make the flight from guam (it is overbooked). so we thought we would fly into bkk and then go somewhere to the beach. We do like to shop and dinner out in the evening so we don't want to be out in the middle of nowhere. As some have suggested maybe we should head to a better weather area that is fairly conv. to BKK. We like to do spa in the morning, beach afternoon, evening out shopping, eat whatever. Not really wild, but a a cool bar etc would be nice. If there is another area that you could recommend that would be better with a beachfront hotel I would be greatly appreciated it.

Ko Samui or Hua Hin will have better weather than Phuket. Bangkok Air is the only carrier for KS. HH is a 2 1/2 hour drive from BKK.