It has been a while since I last visited Phuket, Thailand. There was a period of time when I would go there often since its less than a 2 hour flight from Singapore. Since my gym trainer was organising a sports retreat for his clients with a group of more than 10 persons, I decided to experience what it was like to travel with so many people and also stay in a luxurious villa.
We booked our Phuket villa on HomeAway Singapore, my first time doing so! After deciding between 5 luxurious villa properties we settled for a villa at Layang Beach with 7 bedrooms, 3 pools, with multiple lounge areas. The pictures on HomeAway looked as luxurious as how it was when we checked in. We must have taken a good half hour to explore the area and every room. In addition, the villa manager arranged for airport transfer, in-villa massage, as well as a in-villa chef to cook for us, which was super useful since we had such a big group. The experience of having home cooked Thai food in a huge villa was lovely, a personal feel indeed.
After our first lunch in the villa, we rested for a bit followed by an in-villa Thai massage session. Imagine 6 masseurs coming to our villa to give us a massage in the living room, without having to step out of the villa - a totally new and relaxing experience! On the evening of our first day, half the group hung out at the pool, with the other half took a sunset walk at Layang Beach and experienced one of the most lovely sunsets I got to see in a long while! It is nice just to take a stroll by a peaceful beach, hearing the waves and watching the sun go down.
After our first lunch in the villa, we rested for a bit followed by an in-villa Thai massage session. Imagine 6 masseurs coming to our villa to give us a massage in the living room, without having to step out of the villa - a totally new and relaxing experience! On the evening of our first day, half the group hung out at the pool, with the other half took a sunset walk at Layang Beach and experienced one of the most lovely sunsets I got to see in a long while! It is nice just to take a stroll by a peaceful beach, hearing the waves and watching the sun go down.
On our second day of our Phuket holiday, we arranged for a full day island hopping tour to James Bond Island and Hong Island to kayak and swim. I did not enjoy this day trip out as much as my previous trip to Phi Phi Island as I felt it was a little to commercial. Hordes of people were getting onto James Bond Island to take a picture. We also did not have the opportunity to kayak on our own as each kayak had the crew to kayak us. Perhaps it was a good thing as we were go through the limestone caves in the darkness. The spot where we had the chance to swim was not crystal clear waters unlike the snorkeling experience I had in one of the marine parks previously.
On our third day in Phuket, we hired a private van to bring us shopping. It was quite a distance away to Jungceylon Mall, in a good way I got to see the different beaches on the way to Patong. Compared to my previous trip, the mall is now so much more busy with more tenants and tourists wandering about. The Patong area is as crazy crowded as ever. I am so glad to be staying where I was, quiet and peaceful, just like how I like beach holidays to be.
We ended up shopping at Big C to stock up on items that is way cheaper in Thailand followed by local food at the Jungceylon 's food court, ending with a Thai massage located just a street away. There after, we hopped over to Chillva Market to take a look at a Thai local street market. However we were too early at 5pm, but you could the market was starting it's engine, with street food available in mini stalls. It's probably as close as you would get to the Bangkok night markets, but it was too local for my fellow travellers, so after minutes of walking around, we left Chillva Market and headed to another mall - the Central Festival Market where we had our dinner (in another food court) before heading back to our villa. I think when you get a lovely villa like what we had, you end up preferring to hang around the villa and enjoy the pool and the peace.
On our final day in Phuket, we arranged for a yoga session to be held in the villa. I realise this is a common thing that travellers staying in villas do in Phuket, especially during peak season from December onwards. It was an exhilarating experience with yoga done in the open, just next to the pool, surrounded by nature and fresh air. Something you don't get to experience very much in Singapore. After our lunch we headed back to the airport and home.
This was a Phuket holiday well spent among new friends, fresh air, good food, and a lovely villa experience. I finally understand why people would book a villa and stay rather than in a hotel. The privacy and unique experience to hang out with friends and family in the living room or pool area without being closed off behind hotel doors. You could do more in your villa like workout, swim, dine, and have a massage all within the villa compounds, rather than just rest on bed and watch tv. Hopefully I'll be able to do this soon again!
Watch my video of the trip here!
Watch my video of the trip here!
