erdogan

Hi,

I am going to be in Phuket with my girlfriend in about 1 week. I am trying to book a nice hotel (nice rooms, nice bathroom, tub, restaurants) in a nice beach area.

Reading JamesA and others' posts, I decided to stay in Kata Beach. I am trying to choose between Kata Thani and Mom Tri's Villa Royale. I am able to book them both around the same price. That is for a deluxe suite at Villa Royale and Grand Suite at Thani. They are both about 150USD. Thani is bigger and may have more pools etc. Royale sounds like it may be more luxurious.

My biggest care-abouts are nice setting, nice room (plan to spend a lot of time there) and nice bathroom.

What do you think?

simpsonc510

I just stayed at Kata Thani about two weeks ago, and I've stayed at Mom Tri's Villa Royale twice, during the peak holiday time, in the last 4 years. So I guess I can speak from experience here...

My favorite of the two would be the Villa Royale. However, keep in mind that you have to take a little "hike" from the villa to get to Kata Noi beach. The villas are set along a quiet and very private rocky outcropping, NOT directly on a beach. The last time I stayed at Villa Royale, the villa suites were just under construction. I did, however, get to see one during my very recent stay on Phuket. IMO the new suites are very nice (with a HUGE showerhead in the bath that looked wonderful). The ambiance is very romantic. You will not find a more private location, and I think spending time in your room would be quite nice here.

My own two stays at Villa Royale were in their older private villas, which are now undergoing some renovation. The "old" villas were much larger, IMO, and more private. But I would still consider the new suites as being a real bargain right now. A friend who just traveled with us and saw the new suites thought this would be the place to come the next time, with his GF. He has not seen the old villas but thought the new suites were really exceptional. He is now recommending them for a honeymoon for another friend.

OK... Kata Thani... We just stayed in junior suites. They were a nice size, but the bathrooms were nothing to write home about. Pretty basic. But, I happen to like the location, right on the beach, (Kata Noi beach) and the junior suites are situated close to the water's edge so we could hear the pounding surf all the time. I love that sound!!

I have not seen the grand suite at Kata Thani. It may be very large and very elegant. I have no opinion about that. I'm sure it would be very nice, as the Kata Thani is a really lovely resort on a beautiful stretch of beach on southern Phuket island.

Your choice... you can't go wrong with either one (but I'd pick a villa).

Carol

simpsonc510

I forgot to talk about restaurants. We stayed at Kata Thani but only ate their for breakfast. Their big buffet was awesome, and was included in the price of the rooms.

The "BEST" restaurant on Phuket (this from a magazine, and I agree) is Mom Tri's Boathouse Grill. It is located within the Boathouse Resort, on Kata Beach (not Kata Noi) and is affiliated with the Villa Royale. You can get a free shuttle from Villa Royale to the Boathouse anytime, so getting to this restaurant is very easy if you stay at the villas. We just ate there on the trip two weeks ago and were the only ones in the place!!! Reservations were not needed.

On the other hand, there is Mom Tri's Kitchen, which is located within Villa Royale. It was pretty busy the night we ate there. We made reservations and it was a good thing we did. Both of these restaurants offer exceptional food and a very extensive wine list. Mom Tri has some wonderful chefs at both places!!

Carol

erdogan

Thank you very much for your detailed response. Thani seems to have more pools, jacuzzis etc. and is right on the beach as you said. On their sire, they don't show the bathroom for junior suite. They say "oversized bathroom with extra-large soaking tub and natural rain shower." for the grand suite. Comparing the pictures on the internet, bathrooms in Mom Tri's don't look as nice.

I was a little worried about the distance of the villas from the beach and also liked the fact that the suites at villa royale are quite new. I read they are closer to the water.

Do you still think I should go for a villa over the new suites? Do you also think we'll loose anything by staying at villa royale due to its smaller size, i.e. not as many or as big pools, jacuzzis, well tended grounds etc.?

I am sure we'll eat there even if we stay at Thani. Everybody seems like the restaurants there.

Thanks again for your replies. Please let me know what you think about the above if you can.

simpsonc510

The new villa suites are a little bit closer to the beach. than the older ones, yes. The old villas are currently undergoing renovation, so they might not be available yet. I don't know for sure how long it was going to take to finish them. I'm sure they want to be up and running for the peak season!!!

If the beach is important to you, as well as "grand" sized pools (3 of them) and jacuzzis, then you want the Kata Thani, for sure. If you want more privacy, ambiance, and Thai style furnishings, then you want a villa suite. The pool at the villa is a lot smaller, but you will probably have it to yourself!

As I said before, you cannot lose with either choice. The friend who was with us a couple of weeks ago, when I asked him about the post you made here, said "Wow, that's a tough one. It all depends on what you want." Could not have said it better myself.

It's your choice, and maybe you should opt for the Kata Thani, with the location RIGHT ON the beach and the lovely spacious grounds, with ponds and trees. It is really a wonderful place!! I could easily spend a week or two there, without a doubt.

I just went back and read your original post. You mentioned that you wanted a nice "HOTEL".... I would not call the villas a hotel, not in any way shape or form. The Kata Thani is a hotel, yes. The Kata Thani has hundreds of rooms. There are SIX villas, and now the new villa suites have been added (maybe 20 of them??). Villa Royale does NOT have the feel of a hotel at all.

I wish I could have seen the bathroom in the big suite at the Kata Thani. Then I could tell you for sure if it is as wonderful as it sounds. I can say for sure that the bathrooms in the junior suites were nothing special.

I'm glad I'm not faced with your tough decision!! LOL

Carol

rhkkmk

you could also consider staying at both places...not at the same time, but a few days in each...

simpsonc510

That's not a bad idea, Bob. I almost suggested it myself, but I don't know how long erdogan has on Phuket.

One drawback to this idea, though, is that these two fabulous places are right next door to each other, so the OP would not be seeing any other parts of the island of Phuket!

Carol

erdogan

Carol, Bob, thanks for the comments. I think I am going to go with Thani and hope that bathrooms in grand suites live up to the advertisement. I also thought of splitting our time between the two but I decided it will be a little more peaceful not to move during our stay (7 nights). We'll definitely check out Mom Tri's and the restaurants there.

Thanks again!

rhkkmk

i always think this about splitting time: suppose the 2nd place ends up not being as nice as the first....YOU WOULD KILL YOURSELF!!!!

simpsonc510

erdogan
If you do go to Mom Tri's Kitchen for a dinner (which I highly recommend), it is located ON the villa royale grounds. You might ask to see a villa and I'm sure they would show you one or two. They showed us, happily (although I did mention that I had stayed there twice in the past and could name the villas by name... LOL). Anyway, it doesn't hurt to ask to see them!

Carol

erdogan

Thanks! Booked Thani. I hadn't thought about what Bob said,about not liking the second place. Then again, when I visit Mom Tri's and see their place, I might kick myself. Oh well, maybe need to go back for a second visit then. Looking forward to our visit and the food at Mom's.

Thank you guys so much for taking the time.

mjs

Am also interested in the Thani Grande suites for November so will be quite interested in your visit report!

erdogan

mjs, I will post a review when I get back. However, there is a slight twist now. I tried booking this hotel with asiatravel.com. They first said they confirmed availability. After I sent the payment information, they sent me an e-mail saying hotel is fully booked now. They claim I missed the hotel's 6pm (Thailand) cut-off for the payment deadline, which they had not mentioned.

On the hotel web site it looks like they are booked for the first two nights of my stay and the last. asiahotels.com said they are waiting on the hotel until tomorrow noon to see if there will be any cancellations. I will ask them if they can book me at Mom Tri's for 3 nights, then at Thani for 4 nights.

So, I might end up what Bob and Carol were talking about after all and split my stay. This is assuming asiatravels.com can somehow book this stay now.

I am not sure what the deal is with them. I am keeping my fingers closed. I am going to post another one to ask about this company. I really hope to check out the grand suites.

mag318

Katathani Resort is a marvelous place, especially if you want to be on the beach. And the 2 restaurants Carol spoke of are both places you'll want to return too. The Villa Royale is more secluded but is spectacular in it's own way. If you are with a special someone and want a romantic setting Villa Royale is in a class by itself. Pictures in brochures or online simply do not do justice to this place, it must be see first hand. Carols photos do come close though. Next trip I'm staying there for a week. John

simpsonc510

Thanks, John! And welcome to the wonderful fodors Asia forum!
Carol

rhkkmk

erd...you might try booking through
www.huahin.20m.com and see what happens there...

erdogan

After asiatravel.com was not able to even book my split reservation for Thani and Mom Tri's, I tried another site (Asia Web Direct) and booked a suite at Mom Tri's for 7 nights. So, I am not going to be able to report on Kata Thani. I am excited about Mom Tri's though.

I will still check out Thani and probably try out their restaurants. Carol, any particular restaurant at Thani you can recommend?

JamesA

When you use like www.huahin.20m.com with the r24 system you can request several/lots of hotels no problem at all ( within reason ), they get back very fast with what is available, if room type not available they tell you what is, with the confirmed prices as they show to start with, depending on how long till you go you usually get around 3 days to either choose which one you want or forget it ( this is all done without any payment or credit card information at all ), this gives you a chance to finalise plans and choose, only then do you pass over c/card info and confirm. You can also 'check' a box for alternatives if your choices not available. None of this having to give details of credit card right from the start and also if you are traveling around you often need to see what amongst your choices in each place are available, you may want to change flights/plans, so you can still in the old fashioned way have those rooms 'on hold/pending' whilst you make final decissions.

Anyway whatever have a great Phuket time.

simpsonc510

Sorry I can't recommend any of the Thani restaurants because we did not try any of them. We only ate the breakfast buffet, and it was really very nice.

Carol