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Upon arrival on a Saturday morning we were greeted by the young GM Mark Hehir. An Australian native who has extensive background as a chef before tackling the field of resort management. He has been the GM since the opening of Anantara Phuket in the beginning of 2009. The check in was a bit delayed because we arrived earlier than planed. But while waiting for our villa we were served coffee and fresh pastries. The resort is covered by luscious tropical plants surrounding fresh water lagoons. The villas are harmonized into these environments. 

When the villa was ready, we were escorted to the villa on a golf cart. The villas here all have a private pool some have lagoon views. Some of the lagoon views have a sala which extends out into the lagoon. Two have sea views. Being the closest to the sea, the main pool, the bar and Sea Fire Salt restaurant takes advantage of the sea view. All buildings are set back 30-50 meters from the beach due to building code restrictions. This keeps Maikao beach very peaceful. If you are walking along Maikao beach it is hard to notice that there are many resorts on this beach. 

In our villa, there is a nice lagoon view with a gorgeous pool. The mosaic tiles in the pool are so beautiful, I could just stare at it for hours. Apart from the pool, there is the annex, the terrace, and the living quarters. The annex is a wooden structure enclosed on 2 side with a window that looks out to the lagoon. In it there is a table set, a day bed, a mini bar, and a mini wine cellar. On top a Thai style roof. The wooden terrace surrounds the pool on 2 sides with 2 beach benches and an outdoor over head shower. A lot of wood is used in the villas about 60-70% of all materials. All the wood outside are untreated giving rustic feel charm.

The living quarters is fully air-conditioned with a spacious walk-in closet, a large bath, and the main living space. The bath room has an enclosed toilet, a semi enclose shower, two sinks. It opens to the outdoor bath tub next to the pool. One side of the bath tub is clear glass which blocks the water from the pool to go in. I find this very attractive because you can see a clear view of the pool under water. The main living area has a large king sized bed with many pillows and white transparent curtains hanging from the ceiling which can be maneuvered to cover the whole bed. There is a nice ipod dock that connects to a powerful sound system that shares with the TV and DVD sound system. The thing I like most here is the big double sliding door that opens to the pool. You can directly take a few steps from the bed and jump in the pool. Believe me, it is an awesome feeling. The pool villas are enclose with a low wall providing privacy, the walls are at a height that does not make you feel uncomfortably or too exposed. The villas do share one or two walls with their neighbor. As an Architect myself, I'd would say the designers did a great job with the design and details of the villas.
 
Apart from the villa, there are many other places to explore at the resort. The tree house is an open air snack bar a nice place to have an afternoon tea. At the time we were there, they have complimentary tea or coffee during late afternoon. It is an elevated floor that snugs at the side of a large Banyan tree. There are soft day beds where we enjoyed the elevated views of the lagoons and sea beyond. Ipads are available for usage free of charge.

Located near by Sea Fire Salt restaurant is the public pool, which is gigantic. It has many zones, in the middle are day beds that is set on clear shallow water, on the left facing the ocean is a large swimming pool and on the right is the Jacuzzis. You can even actually swim in the Jacuzzi pool that is how big it is and the jets are really powerful. There are many other things to do here from bicycling to daily schedule classes of yoga, aerobic, painting etc. They do have water sports windsurfs and small sail boats but it is closed during the rainy season.

Breakfast is served Le Sala, the signature restaurant an airy dining space with the view of the main lagoon. The wide varieties of selection is offered from Asian to international favorites. Such as Dimsum, fried rice, noodles with beef booth, to eggs, bacon, parma ham, cheese, and many more. There are special menus that can be ordered and cooked when ordered. Like the smoked salmon egg benedict, Cinnamon crusted pancake, etc.  

The special breakfast menu made to order

Phuket has been the top beach destination in Thailand for decades. Why? The natural resources, beautiful beaches, Clear blue sea water, multi elevated land forms are just a few reasons. Also the many varieties of resorts that are destinations on its own. These resorts have anything from a simple room to a large two bed room pool villa by the beach or on a cliff looking out to the ocean. The numbers of these luxury resorts are growing. There are so much demand for these sexy pool villas. And of-course with so many pool villas every resort are design to be different from each other. It's a huge advantage for vacation planners, tourist, travelers to try out new beautiful villas and the choices seem to never end. Anantara Phuket was one of our first choices for it's Thai influenced design.

varieties of tea


fresh wheat grass juice

A healthy breakfast