Elzaan and I have just come back from another little trip in the east, it seems to be our destination de jour lately. After 3 non stop days in Hong Kong we were ready for a little R&R in Phuket.
We wanted to stay away from the drunken crowds and total commercialism that is Patong beach and Kata. If you’ve ever been to any of those you’ll know the only R&R you’re gonna get is rum and redbull! Boom! We decided to stay on the souther most tip of Phuket island on a quite little beach called Nai Harn at a hotel called…wait for it…The Nai Harn. The reviews seemed excellent and it had a bunch of little local eateries within in walking distance so we could get a taste of the local flavour. Pun intended.
Now,most of our Thailand trip was rained out (ARGH….yes yes I know…monsoon season…shuddup!!) but luckily our first few days at The Nai Harn gave us a little sun and plenty of pool time. The hotel is built on a cliff giving you endless views over the Andaman sea from pretty much everywhere, it’s pretty sweet.
Yeah, I know right! WOW! We thought the exact same thing when we arrived!
After a little confusion with our booking we finally ended up at our ‘Grand Ocean View Room’ – now, all the hotels in Thailand give themselves fancy room names, you can easily find yourself in the Superior Deluxe room wondering where that smell comes from or when they last changed the bedding, lucky for us, this was not the case.
We specifically chose this room because of the massive balcony and day bed. We had visions of lying outside sipping G&T’s, chatting and reading our books, in the end…we never read our books! The rooms are massive and honestly have everything you need, the bathrooms open on to the room via sliding walls and the shower is an entire room the size of my apartment. It’s pretty fancy. I didn’t take many pics of the room, cause I figure you can see all that on the website right?
The hotel has recently been renovated and in fact some things we’re still being finished off during our stay – It didn’t ever bother us and I’m pretty sure it’s done now. They’ve managed to capture this super contemporary beachy villa feel throughout the whole place, I’m a sucker for aesthetics and nothing felt out of place here. Well done guys!
Our stay included a buffet breakfast and if all the trip advisor and hotel.com reviews were anything to go by, it was meant to be epic. It was. It wasn’t only the best buffet breakfast we had in Thailand, I’m sure it’s one of the best Ive had anywhere in the world. They bake their own bread, get cheese from a frenchman somewhere up in the hills (I overheard) and serve what is arguably the worlds best bacon. Look I know I’m really making a meal of this breakfast (Heyyyooooo) but it was truly the highlight of our day!
Overall we were super happy with our stay here and really it was the benchmark to which we measured every other hotel we stayed in for the rest of our trip. There were however just a handful of negatives.
Our biggest gripe is that the hotel restaurant is incredibly expensive, so much so that we didn’t even bother trying it but instead stuck to the local eateries down the road (mama seafood being our favourite) this is of course all budget dependant and your budget will more than likely be bigger than ours. The bar – of which there are 2 – is also on the pricier side does offer a happier hour where the 2 for 1 deal makes the drinks go down a lot easier.
The pool area is also a little small, well, small for the size of the hotel. We were there in the off season so really it had zero impact on us and we had no problem getting a lounger or enjoying the pool This is just a warning for those of you planning a visit during peak season. The beach however is literally a stone throw away and although we didn’t get to use it (monsoon season!!!!) it really looked beautiful and may be the perfect option when the pool get’s busy!
Lastly, the Nai Harn is pretty remote. Beside the handful of local stores and restaurants nothing else is really in walking distance. The hotel does have 2 bicycles you can book and use to explore the near bye towns, but they do work on a first come basis and it’s literally 2 bikes for the entire resort. Lame guys.
That’s it folks. If you’re looking at visiting Thailand anytime soon and want to stay away from the crowds I highly recommend The Nai Harn. We generally book all our hotels on hotels.com mostly because they have the best deals going far in advance so maybe start there if you’re keen.
Okay. Stay fancy.
Hey…I just realised “stay fancy” now has a double meaning…like “stay somewhere fancy” GENIUS!!!
Awesome clicks, I so wanna go and feel the beauty at this place.