We are trying to plan a last minute trip over Christmas to Phuket or Chang Mai. I am excited, but on the other hand, feel it may be a little depressing. Travel agent has us looking at Mandarin and Banyan in phuket and Four Seasons Chang Mai...any thoughts?

all very expensive, but all very beautiful places...lots of other alternatives....in phuket i can highly reccomend the jw marriott...simply fabulous, but somewhat issolated...fine if you just want to stay there or venture out once or twice...not need to ever leave however....i should think that res. anyplace good might be hard at this late date....prices will be the highest of the year...

If you can tell us your budget/type of hotel you want and how you want to spend your time we can give you ideas.
Phuket and Chiang mai of course are totally different, Phuket is beach, tours, nightlife, or lazing around the pool, Chiang Mai is for Thai shopping, treks, scenery and more culture. There are of course so many other parts of Thailand to choose from, tell us more and we can give some ideas, most important is getting the long haul flights sorted out.
Be as desriptive as you can, do you want to laze in the sun or prefer spas, treks, shopping, do you want lively nightlife or perhaps restaurant quality more important, sports? Golf, river or sea kayak, whatever, put us all to the test !!

I'm not sure what you comment about it may be depressing is about... the tsunami a year ago?

If you want a beach, go someplace a lot closer to home. If you want thai history and culture go to Chiang Mai.

Well you 'can' mix beach and culture, Phetchaburi has the Old palace on the mountain top and some amazing temples and old building. In Hua hin you have the Old Royal Palace which is worth a visit plus many old buildings and sites related to the royal palaces, south of Hua Hin there is the hilltop Khao Takiab Temple and just south at Khai Lat there are ancient temples and ruisn dating back hundreds of years plus the illuminated temple at Takiab Bay, where elephants wander along the streets even now, there are natural hilltribes in the mountains ( official tours only allowed but easy to arrange ). In the National park 30 minutes from town are the beach caves with the temple built inside as a gift from a past King to I believe his wife. You can stay at the original Railway Hotel built in the 1920's right on the beach ( now the famous Sofitel Central )About and hour and a half north west are more amazing temples.
The area doesn't have the best culture wise in the country nor anything like the best beaches, but if you actually want to mix temples, a Thai town, farmlands and deserted coastlines, national park ( more temples! ), caves and the odd waterfall, plus relax in superb resorts ( Chiva Som, Sofitel, Hyatt Regency, Dusit, Anantara, plus of course the Marriott ) then Hua Hin has at least to be the closest beach/culture mix, bonus is a cab ride from Bangkok.

If you've not been to BKK, your trip should include at least 4 days there. Gloria is right. If all you want is a beautiful beach, it's a waste to travel all the way to T-land. It's very nice as an end to a longer stay. How long do you plan to be there?

I find a few days stay in Phuket at the beginning of a trip is a great way to deal with jet lag and get rested for touring. When I arrive in Bangkok I transfer to the domestic terminal and head there right away. I "save" Bangkok for later in the trip when I can really enjoy it.

I too like the JW Mariott in Phuket. It is very isolated from the other hotels, only 20 minutes from the airport and has a private beach and beautiful grounds and rooms. For me, those are all major pluses. Quite honestly, I have no real interest in touring in Phuket and I never leave the vast grounds of the hotel. The food there - quite surprisingly - is really first class and resonably priced. After three days I'm totally rested, my body is on local time and I'm ready to tour Asia.

I also think that doing Phuket or any beach first makes a lot of sense. Then when you do your sightseeing you aren't wasting time being jet lagged.

Christmas is the high season, so if your agent can get you into these hotels, that is pretty good to begin with. Agree on the JW Marriott as a good hotel as well. (Kentsee, it does not have a private beach, as there are no private beaches in Thailand, it just has no other hotels around it so it feels like a private beach.) I was not aware there was a Mandarin in Phuket, and just checked their website, they don't list one there, you might check again with your agent. Did you mean the Mandarin in Chiang Mai? Don't know that hotel, but Mandarin generally run nice hotels. Banyan is very nice, a little bit of a hike to the beach and I don't think you would have a beach view from any of the rooms or villas. It is a good hotel if you like to golf. Good food and a good spa.
Totally agree with the posters above that to go all the way to Thailand just for the beach is not the greatest way to spend 18 or so hours on a plane and pay the highest hotel rates all year. The beaches are pretty, but not spectacular, except for some of the outlying islands so be sure to hire a boat for the day and get out there. The Caribbean IMO offers far more beautiful beaches much closer to your home (assuming you live in the US). However, if you combine Phuket with a trip to Bangkok, Hong Kong and/or Chiang Mai, then that makes more sense. Have to throw in a good word for Hong Kong (I live here) which is so great in the "winter", with sunshine, temps in the mid 70s and no rain. I would actually say you should spend Christmas in Hong Kong and head to the beaches of Thailand for New Years. You can have a turkey dinner with all the trimmings at a Hong Kong hotel on Christmas and join the revelers out on Salisbury Road for Christmas Eve. Great walks on Hong Kong Island or out in the New Territories.
With regard to depressing aspect you mentioned, I can anticipate that the anniversary of the tsunami on December 26 will be somewhat somber in SE Asia, particularly in Thailand and Phuket. The media coverage will probably be OTT as well. Buddhists generally have monks recite prayers on the anniversary of a relative's death, so I imagine that the temples will be quite active at this time. In some branches of Buddishm mourning does not begin until the first anniversary of the death, so it is hard to say what will happen. I don't know that this is any particular reason not to go to SE Asia, Thailand or Phuket, but I can understand your hesitation to be vacationing in the midst of what may be a reflective time for the people of Thailand.

Try marinaphuket resort on karon bay individual villas set in botanical gardens with elephants roming the grounds we are staying here xmas and new year and we have stayed in phuket many times www.marinaphuket.com in my view best in phuket

jessica1---glad to hear you like marina phuket since I'll be staying there a couple of days in January!

You SHOULD visit Phuket if that is of interest to you. It is not depressing in anyway. I was just there, two weeks ago, and it was very beautiful!!! GO! The geographical features of the Thai beaches are NOT seen at "other beaches closer to home!"

Carol

We stayed at Kata Thani Resort and Spa at Kata Noi in Phuket last January. http://www.katathani.com/
It was wonderful. Right on the beach, gorgeous pools, great restaurants, wonderful people. I can't recommend it enough.

You could get to Patong in a tuk tuk in 15mins, although there are a lot better things to do on Phuket, beautiful scenery, longtail boats to deserted islands, temples, fishing villages, gorgeous beaches, spas, and a fantastic shopping centre with a huge Central Department Store.

We were there 2 days after the tsunami and we had a wonderful time. The hype by the news stations helped nobody. They need your tourism and will welcome you warmly.

We had 4 days in Bangkok and 10 days on the beach. I happily did a 14 hour flight for this beach holiday, it was the holiday of a lifetime.