This is the first in a series of two articles about Phuket golf holiday hotels. This first post will cover some of the points to consider when choosing a Phuket golf resort as well as include some “can’t go wrong” suggestions. The second post will give some insider recommendations on lesser known Phuket hotels.
Phuket has an enormous range of hotels available. In fact there are over 2000 resorts and other accommodation options on the island on the island. With so much choice how can you be assured of getting the best as part of a Phuket golf holiday?
The first thing to be aware of is that there is a three-tier pricing system for the hotels in Phuket;
low season (mid-April to end October), high season (beginning November to mid-December, and mid-January to mid-April), and peak season (mid-December to mid-January). For high season early booking is recommended as the better resorts will be full. For peak season, early booking is essential as virtually all of the resorts are fully booked. Further in peak season, at Christmas and New Years, many of the golf resorts have compulsory dinners, which add to the cost when traveling during these holidays. For low season, only a handful of Phuket resorts will sell out and many good deals can be found, especially for longer stays (e.g. stay 7 nights, get 2 FREE).
On the other hand the best time to travel to Phuket from a weather point of view is during the peak season when the skies are blue and high temperatures moderate to around 25 degrees centigrade. High season is also good, but the temperatures are a bit warmer and max out at around 32 degrees centigrade. My favorite travel time is “shoulder season” which is right at the beginning of the low season (end April) or just before the high season (mid-October). There are fewer crowds during these periods and prices are at their lowest, assuring some great deals.
There is a wealth of information available on the larger branded and higher rated hotels in Phuket. These resorts include all those in the Laguna (Bang Tao) area (Banyan Tree, Sheraton Grande, Dusit Thani, Laguna Beach Resort and Allamanda Resort), the Amanpuri and ehe Chedi on Pansea Beach, Amari, Holiday Inn, Paragon and Novotel in Patong, Le Meridien Beach Resort on Relax Bay, the J W Marriott on Mai Kaow Bay, Movenpick and Hilton Arcadia on Karon Beach, Royal Phuket Yacht Club on Nai Harn Bay, and the Katathani Beach Resort. The better Thai golf tour operators will be able to secure rooms at any of these fine resorts. Combine any of these resorts with a few rounds of golf at spectacular courses such as Blue Canyon, Red Mountain, Phuket Country Club, and Mission Hills, throw in a island excursion or dinner cruise, and you are all but guaranteed a luxurious Thailand golf holiday that will be remembered for a lifetime.
The next post will cover some lesser know Phuket resorts as well as some offering the best values in Phuket accommodations.
This post has already been read 57 times!
2 Responses
How about recommended options for places to stay on these golf courses themselves? I know there are a lot of short term vacation properties on golf courses in Phuket, do you have any recommendations?
Fantastic beach front location. Very relaxing after spending a week in busy Patong. You could choose to have a sun lounge on the beach or enjoy the shade from the trees. Lounges appeared to be in plentiful supply even though the hotel was fully booked. Our recently renovated Deluxe Ocean front room was lovely, although smaller than expected. The view however more than made up for this. Service could not be faulted and staff simply wonderful. The highlight each day was the visits by Lucky and Lily, the baby elephants. Plenty of Daily Activities to participate in, including Thai cooking classe, fruit carving which was fun. We enjoyed meals at all restaurants, as well as visiting cheaper ones a short walk down the beach.
—————–
Mercy
Guaranteed ROI