shooshy

We are a family of 2 adults and 3 daughters aged 20, 18 and 13.
Looking for a week of fabulous beach time after 5 days in Chaing Mai and before we hit Bangkok for 3 days.

We will be in Thailand early to mid January 2009.

Considering Phuket or Krabi, but happy to look at other locations. Proximity to nightclubs, bars etc. is not important as girls will be happy to chill at night.

Thinking a 2 bedroom villa may be a more fun and spacious way to go rather than the interconnecting room option.

I prefer smaller, boutique style hotels and modern design but if a large resort happened to have great villas or family accomadations would certainly consider.

Ideally do not want to spend over $400 USD per night.

Any suggestions?

MichaelBKK

I would definitely go with Krabi over Phuket. Specifically, I would suggest Railay - Krabi is a really big place with several tourist centers.

Your accommodation preferences are the hard part - multi-room villas are still a bit of a rarity in Thailand, unlike Bali where they're quite common. Several of us here love the Sunrise Tropical Resort. The Thai styled bungalows are huge, but will only sleep three at most. The good news is they're cheap, at around $100 a room in high season.

rhkkmk

take a look at amari vogue at krabi...fabulous...we recently visited a fodorite family with ages like yours who were staying there....le meridien khoa lak bhas som nice two bedroom villas right on the ocean....rental of a timeshare unit at jw marriott, phuket is another option...

MichaelBKK

If Phuket does appeal more, the townhouses at the Allamanda in the Laguna resort are quite nice, and would fit nicely. But this resort is a huge integrated affair and doesn't quite fit your preferences.

shooshy

Thank you all!

I am curious why Krabi is the preferred option? Is it better beach or atmosphere?

MichaelBKK, I had a look at the Sunrise Tropical Villas and they look lovely but then I checked Tripadvisor and several reviews mentioning sewage smells put me off. We probably prefer to avoid the Laguna complex in Phuket as on our only other trip to Thailand 8 years ago we stayed at the Sheraton there.

rhkkmk, can you tell me more about tha Amari Vogue. Did your friends have a villa or rooms? Rates look quite pricey for that time of year.

Please keep the suggestions coming!

MichaelBKK

As Bob (rhmkk) mentioned in his own trip report (if you can make your way through it all), Phuket is so developed it has a 'could-be-anywhere' feel to it. It's also getting quite expensive IMO.

Krabi (specifically Railay and Aonang), OTOH, has a very distinctive landscape that makes just being there an experience. It's also less developed. Here's a recent article about Railay:
http://www.southafrican.co.uk/travel.aspx?ID=167

I'm surprised about the comments regarding the Sunrise Tropical. I was there for three days last August and didn't notice anything like that. As it's right on the rocky east beach, I suspect the smell has to do with the current weather and ocean conditions rather than anything untoward about the resort.

I also take any comments on TA with a huge grain of salt. If I'm looking for feedback about a place, I usually look at the reviews on the booking sites like R24, Agoda, etc. In those cases, you know the reviewer has actually stayed at the hotel.

shanek

The Allamanda in Phuket would be a good option. It is the smallest of the 5 main resorts in the Laguna complex and if you stay in a 2 bedroom villa, they face the golf course and have smaller, quieter pool area and it has the feel of a boutique resort. It is not beachfront but they have internal transport running around the clock that connects all of the other resorts so it is not a major hassle to get to the beach and the beach there is very nice and has a few local restaraunts on it. It is isolated from any major shopping or entertainment strips but they do have shuttle buses and car hire is cheap. They have a large lagoon as well as the beach and water activities are plentiful, you also have access to all the facilities at the other resorts in the complex.
Another option would be Phi-Phi at the Phi-Phi Island Village which is on a stunning beach but I dont think it has any Villa's as such

shooshy

Once again thank you to all the generous Fodorites who share their advice so willingly!

We will be travelling from Chaing Mai and I am wondering if it will be easier or more straightforward to head for Phuket?

Actually, I am not sure of how one gets to Krabi, by boat or is there an airport? Would we need to connect through Bangkok?

Thanks again!

Shooshy

MichaelBKK

There is an airport in Krabi, with flights by Thai, Bangkok Air, 1-2-Go, Air Aisa and Nok Air. Ao Nang and Railay are about 40 minutes from the airport.

In the high season, which is during your visit, there *might* be direct flight from Chiang Mai to Phuket on Thai or Bangkok Air, but all the low cost options require a connection through Bangkok. There are of course more flights in and out of Phuket than Krabi, but other than that, there's nothing that makes one easier to get to than the other. If anything, the small size of Krabi's airport makes using it a little more enjoyable than Phuket.