ThinkPink519

My fiance and I are planning our honeymoon for next June in Thailand. We are definite beach people and are most excited about seeing Phi Phi Island! We want to stay in a fabulous hotel or villa and are overwhelmed by the choices. Any feedback or suggestions of romantic honeymoon hotels would be greatly appreciated. We are planning to do 3 nights in Phuket and are looking at:

-Banyan Tree
-Trisara
-Aleeta

Is it better to stay IN Krabi or closer to Ko Phi Phi, or are the better resorts in Phuket? Are the day trips to Ko Phi Phi a pain in the butt from Phuket? Please feel free to share any tips!

We then were planning to travel to Ko Samui and do a few nights there at the six senses resort.

Any thoughts?

Gpanda

The weather in June will be much better on Ko Samui than it will in Phuket or Ko Phi Phi. The rainy season will be in the Andaman Sea at that time. take a look at Weatherbase.com for precipitation levels. Of course, many have commented that it will often rain for a short time and be clear the rest of the day. But, for more idyllic beach weather, Ko Samui is a better choice.

Kathie

If you really want to experience Ko PhiPhi, you need to stay there, not do day trips. You may have some rough waters at that time of the year in getting to Ko PhiPhi. Decide if the specific island or the weather is more important. If you wan to go to Koh PhiPhi, you might do a few nights on Phuket or Krabi and a few nights on PhiPhi.

I really don't recommend that you go from Phuket/Krabi to Koh Samui. Chose another place in the area so you have a variety of experiences on your trip. I think it would be too bad to go all the way to Thailand and only visit beaches - there is so much more to Thailand. I'm sure you'll want some time in Bangkok, but decide if you want another stop, perhaps in Northern Thailand or an experience of the incredible temples at Angkor (Cambodia). Two of the best Northern Thailand resorts are the Four Seasons outside of Chiangi Mai and the Anantara at the Golden Triangle.

Here's another resource for romantic hotels on the Phuket area:
http://www.phuket.com/hotel/recommen...ic-resorts.htm

seagypsy

Hi thinkpink,

Very good advice given by booth above. The gulf islands generally experience better weather than the Andaman Coast due to the southwest monsoons.

However, if you're still interested in going to Phi Phi, then I suggest approaching from the Krabi mainland from either Tubaak Beach, Ao Nang, or West Railay. They offer honeymoon style resort hotels. And while I haven't visited yet, I've read many a great review of the Amari Vogue on Tubaak Beach as an excellent honeymoon hotel 20 minutes or so from Ao Nang.
However, due to the possibility of storms, you might want to play it by ear and hold off on locking yourself into booking a honeymoon hotel. Not the ideal for definitive honeymoon plans, sorry to say. But if the weather is good, the Phi Phi islands are stunning. It's whether the weather will cooperate or not which leaves your honeymoon plans so unsettled.

It may be better to rely upon the gulf islands.

And you might consider a visit up to Sukothai Historical Park for some really incredible old Thai temples. It's a wonderful scenic park and quite romantic with it's very elegant and unique buddhas and settings. It's a large park so you'd need to either rent a bike or hire a motorbike to get around.

Anyways congratulations and hope it works out well.

esmithai

I think the most romantic resort on Phi Phi is Zeavola. Its next to the Holiday Inn (also quite nice) on a more remote beach that has the most beautiful sand on the island. In Krabi I love the Railei Beach Club (www.raileibeachclub.com); they have private houses that are all unique and will be something special. I've been to the Aleenta just north of Phuket in Phan Nga and thats really beautiful but a bit remote. If you want to know what to do in Phuket and Krabi there are pretty good short desciptions on this site: http://ultimatethailandexplorers.com...ations/phuket/. Have a great honeymoon!

ThinkPink519

Thanks to all for your suggestions. It looks like we are going to split 3 nights in Phuket, and 3/4 nights in Phi Phi. We are looking at doing either Banyan Tree and Zeavola, or Banyan Tree and Phi Phi Island Village Resort. Anyone ever stayed at any of these places?

LeighTravelClub

We have stayed at both of your Phi Phi choices.
Holiday Inn is our clear favourite, but as it's your honeymoon, you are right to consider either Zeavola or Island Village.
H.I. accommodation, whilst adequate, is a little basic for this special occasion.
Zeavola is my recommendation for two main reasons.
Firstly, the location. Laem Tong Bay is a magical spot, with a beautiful beach and wonderful off-beach snorkelling. There are also a couple of rustic beach 'restaurants', which are unforgettable. The accommodation at Zeavola is possibly the highest quality available on the island.

Island Village is also very nice, but it just doesn't quite tick all the boxes for us.

Loads of info, pics and videos on our site at
http://www.leightravelclub.com/

ThinkPink519

Wow - I would love for all of you to plan our honeymoon! This is so helpful, thank you! We have already contacted our travel agent about the rates for Zeavola. We just need to decide on a hotel for our visit in Phuket.

The rates at Trisara are alot higher than the other resorts -- although it does look beautiful. Has anyone ever stayed there or at the Banyan Tree Phuket?

Any tips of excursions or restaurants in Phi Phi or Phuket would be greatly appreciated! I am going to start a travel journal now and include all of your suggestions ... can never be too prepared!

Also, anyone ever flown on Cathay Pacific Airline to Thailand? Thoughts?

-Ashley

Kathie

Your travel agent might be able to get you ok rates, but I'd check a local booking site like www.sawasdee.com or www.agoda.com Both of these websites generally include tax and service (which adds 17.7%) and often, breakfast, worth US$16-20++ per person.

There are a number of excellent Asian Airlines. Cathay Pacific is one, but also consider Thai and SIngapore. Where are you flying from?

Hanuman

I regularly stay at the Banyan Tree in Phuket in the 2 bedrooms, pool and jacuzzi villa(we own a unit there). Very nice resort BUT not directly on the beach if that is important to you. Very well furnished with a spa like atmosphere, very private once you're in the villas and the amenities are top of line. The Banyan also has one of the best spa I've ever been to and I've been to a lot. For a honeymoon check out their "double pool villas".

If you like to be on the beach the Amanpuri Phuket can't be beat for the beauty and the almost private beach(no private beach in Thailand).

For June you should be able to get some good rates for Phuket and generally for the rest of Thailand.

Also, I often fly Cathay Pacific to the USA and back and they are a very good airline. The benefit of flying them to Bangkok would be the offering of first class for the US - HKG portion and the lounge at HKG airport. Service is not consistence IMO but overall good.

changemaven

Hi honeymooners... I am off to Thailand in December for a slightly belated honeymoon... we decided to split into both Krabi at Nakamanda Resort and Surin Beach in Phukett at Ayara Hilltops resort. FYI - you can get a great deal at Ayara Hilltops on Luxury Link. We have three weeks between Bangkok, Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai as well as Khao Sok. We skipped Sukhothai mainly because of the transportation hassle. flying everywhere in between...

Happy planning,