Some Tips Regarding My Short Stay

[Knakpattra]

Hello people

Let me first of say that i already did research prior to posting this, i have been visiting a number of review sites and seen alot of hotels from which i can choose (as well as the Hotels in the sticky topic)

I am going to visit Phuket end of July for the first time and i am experiencing the same as with my first trip to samui; there are a number of beaches and some nightlife area's from which i can choose and i find it hard to choose.

Maybe some people here can point me in the right direction.

I am staying 5 days only, my arrival @ Phuket would be 10pm.

Due to my late arrival, i believe it is pointless to go straight for a beachresort as i dont want to spend up to THB 2000 for a hotelroom i hardly enjoy as i will arrive, eat, drink a bit and sleep right away due to traveltiredness.

I was thinking of staying in a less than THB 1000 hotel somewere in downtown where there is plenty of food around.

Nightlife would be nice but i wont be partying my butt off as i would be tired of all day travel

Am i correct that the best area's to eat food and still find some nightlife is in downtown?

Could anybody recommend me a cheap but decent hotel in that area?

After waking up the fun will start and i am planning to be near those beaches

I would like to have some recommendations on that as well

Phuket has quite a few beaches around; Patong, Kamala, etc and i am curious if it would be smart and easy to pick a hotel at, lets say, Patong, and then to travel from beach to beach whenever i want and still come back at the end of the day to the hotel in Patong.

Or, would it be better to travel from beach to beach and change hotel day by day ( i have no idea about the distances )

In any case, which beach would be nice to visit , perhaps even stay?

Which hotel, with all these extra's like: near to nightlife and seaview and so on, for less than THB 2000 can be recommended?

Naturally, it all depends on what you are looking for....

I will be with my gf, we both like nice scenery,nice beaches to stare at, traveling around, seeing things and some drinking, live music,shopping and good food at night

Too much writing, too many questions... blame my excitement ;-)

[makavelithedon]

I understand your reasoning on the 1st point on a wasted night but normal modes of travel to beach resorts e.g. Taxis or TUK TUKs will probably negate your savings on the hotel. It will probably cost you around 500 baht to Patong if you are going on a 1000 baht town room. Furthermore there are very little night destinations in the town itself and nothing dance or R&B ish compared to Patong. All in all I would suggest it a non-starter.

In regard the beaches-Patong gets the tourist volumes and eco-co-friendly is about 50 years away in reality so is suffering, although now it's quieter you may get some reprieve. Also those beaches nearish to Patong such as Kata have definetly declined in cleanliness. I have recently started to visit the beach again for the first time in a couple of years and was shocked at the amount of plastic and litter on the shore line and floating in the sea.

Not an expert but if you want Idillic your probably better of the northern end of the island again though trips to Patong will be hefty other than taking the bus!

As for taking trips beach to beach and back from a resort this can get crazy. A two way trip can cost you easily 1000-2000 baht with a taxi or Tuk Tuk if your hopping here and there. The other option is renting a motorcycle at around 200 baht a day but unless your a regualr rider in your own country it isn't something many would recommend if you value your life much.

There are still cheap ways to stay here but they aren't as easy as they were if you plan on the beach bit every day.

Mak

Edited July 1, 2008 by makavelithedon

[Knakpattra]

Thanks Mak, for your input...

I am Dutch, living in asia (India/Bangladesh) for the past 8 years and traffic wont be that much of a problem as i have seen hel_l on earth regarding this already... i guess i survived the years by not taking any risk so renting a bike would be unlikely. (which makes traveling up and down the island while i stay in a hotel somewere else for my full lenght of stay a bit unlikely also; im not visiting Phuket to make Tuks/Taxi's happy.)

So if i understand it right, it wont be smart to stay the first night in town as i will be traveling to the beach side anyway....i should rather stay near the beach in a cheaper hotel the very first night and start looking for more luxury when i wake up and the fun is supposed to start.

I am certainly not looking for spoiled beaches, thinking of waste and stuff floating around when i want to do a beachwalk gives me an anti-climax as i can do this stuff also back home and in Europe during summer months.

To get straight to the point then

Can you, or anyone else here recommend me the best beaches to stay and/or to visit?(taking nightlife/shopping/food in consideration for some part.) Would that be Patong only?

If possible, please also recommend a good hotel/resort for not more than THB 2500. (i know, i know, look on the net, look when you are there , but a recommendation cant do any harm, im sure people here been to places they loved and can recommend!)

Edited July 1, 2008 by Knakpattra

[huggybear]

Hello people

Let me first of say that i already did research prior to posting this, i have been visiting a number of review sites and seen alot of hotels from which i can choose (as well as the Hotels in the sticky topic)

Spend your first night at The C&N in Patong, last week they quoted me a room for 750thb. Across the street from there is all kinds of food, you are right on Bangla, you and the GF can whoop it up at Tiger Disco until you are about to drop, then stumble across the road to crash out for the night.

The next day get up and head for Karon/Kata area. On the hillside in karon are a couple of really inexpensive and cool bungalow scenarios for cheap. Not really resorts per se, but nice rooms with epic views of Karon Beach. One is called Ocean Terrace, another called On The Hill. Here is the info for On The Hill:

Tel:076-286-469 mobile:01-676-0533 or 01-747-7264 That’s K. Uthen, the manager, also known as Joe. His English is perfect.email:[email protected]

www.phuketdir.com/onthehill

Otherwise in Kata, check into Kata Villas. Cheap, walking distance into Kata and to Kata Beach, right across the street from Karon Beach. For the full resort scenario, look into Karon Beach resort.

Best of luck and enjoy your vacation

[Knakpattra]

Sounds interesting... On the hill does show some nice scenery but i guess its a pain in the butt when you want to go out and get wild....

Ill be checking out people's opinion regarding the hotels you mentioned and eventually decide...Kara beach does look fine which makes it even more interesting

For some reason i feel like traveling around like what i was used to on Samui; one or two days this beach, one or 2 days that beach,...

If you guys make a top 5 of best beaches (neat and clean, fun, nice scenery etc.) , NOT taking the nightlife and shop/food in consideration, how would this top 5 look like?

1.? Patong?

2.? surin?

3.?

What else is there in downtown (Phuket town/Muang/...) anyway, just the locals who live there? anything to see or do there?

[makavelithedon]

At a guess I'd say Karon was 1st although the northern end is at present a building site for yet another hotel which wouldn't have had a chance of planning permission anywhere else, but the now laughably named LOS.

The rest of the beach still looks nice. Surin is also fairly decent although again a lot of construction work near by continues. I am trying to paint a positive picture but the fact is most of it now appears like Benidorm 25 years ago and many projects for rebuilding or new buildings are well under way now were into low season.

Sorry, maybe a few long tail boat trips to close islands would better suit and they are relatively inexpensive for a whole day of relaxation without so much of the manic mayheml that appears the norm at present on Phuket!

I was talking to a friend today and he suggested the Sands resort in Karon at about 750 baht per night in low season.

Hope some of it is help.

Mak

Edited July 2, 2008 by makavelithedon

[huggybear]

Sounds interesting... On the hill does show some nice scenery but i guess its a pain in the butt when you want to go out and get wild....

Ill be checking out people's opinion regarding the hotels you mentioned and eventually decide...Kara beach does look fine which makes it even more interesting

For some reason i feel like traveling around like what i was used to on Samui; one or two days this beach, one or 2 days that beach,...

If you guys make a top 5 of best beaches (neat and clean, fun, nice scenery etc.) , NOT taking the nightlife and shop/food in consideration, how would this top 5 look like?

1.? Patong?

2.? surin?

3.?

What else is there in downtown (Phuket town/Muang/...) anyway, just the locals who live there? anything to see or do there?

1.Nai Hairn Beach

2.Karon Beach

3.Kata Beach

4.Bangtao Beach

5.Nai Thon Beach (but the water here can get REALLY dangerous during low season)

Don't even put Patong Beach on the list, grubby miserable beach, polluted water.

Phuket town has interesting old Sino-Portuguese buildings (if you are into that kind of thing), some great restaurants, some interesting nightlife.

[Kan Win]

If you guys make a top 5 of best beaches (neat and clean, fun, nice scenery etc.) , NOT taking the nightlife and shop/food in consideration, how would this top 5 look like?

1.? Patong?

2.? surin?

3.?

What else is there in downtown (Phuket town/Muang/...) anyway, just the locals who live there? anything to see or do there?

1.Nai Harn Beach

2.Karon Beach

Please notice the RED FLAG was out hence no one there

3.Kata Beach (Club Med) never took a photo of this beach

Kata veiw point

4.Bangtao Beach

I think this is the place, but not 100% sure,

5.Nai Thon Beach (but the water here can get REALLY dangerous during low season)

Sorry no photos

Don't even put Patong Beach on the list, grubby miserable beach, polluted water.

Agree This photo is NOT Patong BTW

Phuket town has interesting old Sino-Portuguese buildings (if you are into that kind of thing), some great restaurants, some interesting nightlife.

As mentioned by "huggybear" No. 1 will always be the No. 1, just round the bend there is this beach also

Sorry for this photo as it was one of me first pano photo. Still a great quite beach.

Welcome to Phuket

Kan Win

[Knakpattra]

Thanks for all the input, photo's.... highly appreciated by me!

Wat on earth is that?

That looks like a construction site

I find it very odd that Patong beach is that bad as it seems that the nightlife there is so populair.

Populair nightlife / populair beach, it would be a good formula for all commerce in that area... i find it very strange

I guess most people who go to Patong go for the booze and the girls only, not caring for nature/cleanness as they are wasted during daytime anyway

I guess it would be a waste of everything to check out for an expensive beachresort @ Patong.....ill just go for C & N, perhaps Patong Villa for a night and then focus my view on the beaches mentioned above...

Ill do some reseach with the help of the beachlist you guys showed me, lets see if i come across some decent hotels during the few days i spend there

Once again, i appreciate your time and energy you put in this. worthy of a beer when im there ;-)

I do have another question... actually 2

This James Bond island, theres an organised tour for it.....is it worth the time? its frm 8 till 5 so it will eat 20% of my time in phuket if i will go for it...

Phi Phi islands...., any of you guys visited it? i also plan to go and come back next day as i HEARD it was nice to see... is it worth my little precious time?

Edited July 2, 2008 by Knakpattra

[Knakpattra]

Is this beach above around the corner of Nai Harn Beach?

i should stay at least 1 month in Phuket... filtering out whats good and whats bad is a hel_l of a job

Tooo shy to ask!...

Hows the nighlife @ Nai Harn Beach? i dont expect hardcore disco's and stuff like in Patong but at least some entertainment should be there,...right?

Edited July 2, 2008 by Knakpattra

[Cavannagh]

huggybear

Phuket town has interesting old Sino-Portuguese buildings (if you are into that kind of thing), some great restaurants, some interesting nightlife.

I agree. This was a nice surprise for me. Especially around the city center end of Dibuk Road...and that French/Thai restaurant on Dibuk makes some killer Pad Thai.

Edited July 2, 2008 by Cavannagh

[huggybear]

Thanks for all the input, photo's.... highly appreciated by me!

I do have another question... actually 2

This James Bond island, theres an organised tour for it.....is it worth the time? its frm 8 till 5 so it will eat 20% of my time in phuket if i will go for it...

Phi Phi islands...., any of you guys visited it? i also plan to go and come back next day as i HEARD it was nice to see... is it worth my little precious time?

No on JB island, spend the whole day to see a rock, no thanks.

Yes on Koh Phi-Phi as long as the weather is o.k.