Banyan Tree Phuket

Is there anyone who doesn’t know we love Phuket? All together with it’s busy Patong and far too agitated Bangla? With its sleepless nights and too much food? Among all of the places we visit and visit again, BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, among all of the new places we discover, there’s always a trip to Thailand 🙂 We left Banyan Tree towards the end of our vacation in Thailand and that was not left to chance. We wanted to relax after everything that’s Patong and recharge our batteries for the long trip back home (home in the Philipines, not Romania even if it’s still a day and… another day to Palawan :))

And before we step into our villa with  view to the Banyan Tree lagune, we want to tell you a thing or two about the weather and the month of June (2019) meant for traveling in Phuket since it’s a very popular destination and quite often the initiation location for the Thai exotism 🙂 We must admit that we left reluctantly to Thailand being well aware that it’s the beginning of the monsoon season in Phuket and that we might get drenched. All said and done, it rained cats and dogs four days out of seven and in two of those days it rained without stopping. The sea is the most agitated, obviously, but on land, everything works according to schedule for a full season: the prices are lower and let’s say that, maybe, people insist a bit more to sell you stuff. Nothing to mess up our vibe happened, it’s just that we didn’t get some decent ultraviolets on the beach 🙂 We have to admit though that being somewhat close to Thailand (we’ve mentioned that it takes a day to get to Palawan), the fact that we can now come this often and taking into account that we are at the beginning of the rainy season we’re strong factors that made us believe that a vacation in this area was not made harder for us by the rain. You might consider that, if 20% of the time of a vacation you plan ahead is rainy, your vacation will be ruined. However, you can’t change the weather, but more likely your way of thinking. Which is what we did because we wanted so, SO much to enjoy every inch of Banyan Tree ground 🙂 Therefore, the sun came out on day 5 and we haven’t seen a drop of rain since 🙂

A 40-minute trip and a jasmine flower in hand, an easy check in, a few snacks and a Butterfly Pea tea, a mini ride with a buggy and a warm welcome were the things that transported us directly to our villa at Banyan Tree.Does it make sense to tell you that the Banyan Tree in Phuket is the first one from this chain and that is has over 20 years experience in hospitality? (25 actually, to be more precise, which they celebrate this year). What we didn’t know is that, besides being part of the exclusive community of Phuket Laguna (which is also part of 7 luxury hotels, countless restaurants, and a huuuuge shopping center :)), Banyan Tree Phuket is actually part of a bigger collection of boutique hotels, as follows: the above mentioned  Banyan Tree Phuket (luxe), Banyan Tree Phuket Spa Sanctuary (ultra-luxe) and Double Pool Villas by Banyan Tree Phuket (the utter supreme luxury).  The guests of these 3 hotels gather under the same hotels and SPAs. That is, of course, if you still need to and don’t have all of your needs met in the comfort of your own villa

We were lodged in what is called the Grand Lagoon Pool Villa, which means a villa with its own pool (like all the villas from Banyan Tree), with a lagoon view and a huge interior yard filled to the brim with Frangipani flowers. Oh, and right across the Andaman sea with its beach named Bangtao.

Strolling around the hotel is usually done by foot, ringing for a buggy or, the simple way, with a bike you can rent for free from the main pool area. Which we did as we are big lovers of bike riding 🙂 And since we don’t like to get rained on or sweating in 90 degrees heat (who’s to understand us?!) we spent most of our days by our own pool and our sunsets on a beach nearby and at the restaurants in the resort. And since we brought it up, there are 5 restaurants and they cover a plethora of culinary taste. Saffron is specialized in Thai cuisine, Taihei serves Japanese dishes, Watercourt (where breakfast is served) and Banyan Cafe both have international cuisine, while the in-villa restaurant (which we missed, cause someone who shall remain unnamed, got a craving for Udon noodles :)) and promise a memorable experience, especially during dinner when the lights put on a marvelous show over the entire estate of Banyan Tree. 

Therefore,let’s focus on the vila and the entire experience of it and let’s begin with the fact that the architecture very subtly combines the modern with the classic Thai style and a small hint of Japanese style, might we add (the big, gliding doors being proof of that :)) There was obviously a huge tub strategically placed outside, just enough to make your experience more beautiful especially during golden hour. The tub which, we sincerely declare, we only used while it was filled with flowers by the hotel staff and only for our social media vice 🙂 (we’re allowed one vice, right? :)) And since we are on the topic of surprises, the 11 of June was complimented with a floating breakfast that turned out to be super yummy after we took lots and lots of pictures of it 🙂

It’s redundant to mention the impeccable service worthy of a 5 star hotel, the cleanliness, the attention to detail, the intimacy and quiet (even though they’re currently doing some maintenance work). The precision and dedication of each corner of robe or pillow are placed. The flavors, the flowers and fresh fruit that are brought to you every day or how groomed the entire property is. To be pointed out, Banyan Tree is similar to many hotels (fortunately) that focus on sustainability and care towards the environment. A focus that debuted since the beginning when the property was built on a former cobalt mine (I remember). Which lead to the planting of over 7000 trees meant to extract all of the acids from the soil. This made Banyan Tree Phuket the first hotel in the Banyan chain (and the leader to those that followed) that focuses on the environment and its health. Knowledge we gained and must offer, as we mentioned in our previous post, to the guests and especially to the younger ones.