Club Med Phuket Review
Sat opposite one of the most beautiful beaches in Phuket, Kata Noi, I have found paradise! Club Med Phuket is the resort that offers you the best of everything whilst retaining its Asian influence. Anyone who has been on a Club Med holiday will know that the key components are included in your stay; flights, transfers & accommodation, gourmet full board cuisine & open bar, kids clubs (from 4-17 Years), land & water sports, evening entertainment.
Club Med Phuket is so different from the usual all-inclusive holidays, offering a huge range of activities from flying trapeze lessons, yoga, kickboxing, archery, and Zumba. The resort would have offered me enough activities to fill my stay even if I hadn’t ventured off the resort. I was constantly surprised by the care and attention to detail that went into each aspect of my stay. With a range of amenities in our bathroom from toothbrushes, shampoo, conditioner, shower gel and a box of tissues, it was the little touches that made our stay extra special. We had forgotten to bring our own towels and so we were excited by the arrangement at Club Med. We were given towel cards to redeem for towels and when our towels got wet we could swap them for fresh ones whenever we wanted.
The lifeguards will also hand you rolled-up mats for you to place your towel on whilst on the beach, in case the sand is too hot and another beach attendant will take it from you so you don’t even have to carry the mat up the steps to the resort. There is an outdoor shower for you to wash the sand off your feet so you can easily spend your day travelling between the cool pool at the resort or the warm waters on the beach. The resort had two pools, one I nicknamed the “fun pool” and one called the “zen pool”. The “fun pool” seemed to always have something going on, from water basketball and water aerobics to dance classes. The main pool was where the party was at, with loud music and a free bar with slushies, cocktails and coffees. We spent our morning enjoying the buzz and the energy of the area.
In the afternoon, and most often with a full tummy of gourmet food, we spent our time in the zen area, an adult-only area with an infinity pool, a small bar and luxury lounge chairs in the sun, or on a double bed with a huge canopy for shade. The zen area felt like heaven, fringed with lush green palm trees and with a view of the beach opposite. You could forget that you were in a modern resort and be tricked into thinking you were swimming in a sub-tropical lake as a flurry of brightly coloured birds fluttered to the water’s edge to join you. Whilst you are in the zen area you can leave your children in the kids’ clubs, which take pride in creating energetic and fun games with the children including Thai boxing, trapeze and talent shows.
Cuisine
It would be remiss of me if I didn’t mention the food. Oh, the food! The word gourmet gets thrown around so much that it seems to have lost its meaning, but at a Club Med resort the food epitomizes the word in every sense. From the artistic presentation, the variety, and the all-important taste. For breakfast, you can choose from cereals, yogurts, pastries, fruit, toast, pancakes, waffles, kimchi, soups, noodles and more. With several areas of the main restaurant, you can create your own salads or try their daily specialties such as seared tuna, oysters, mussels or foie gras. Select your bread from the bread section and enjoy the famous Club Med white chocolate bread.
There is a section of plainer food with burgers, chips, pasta, and pizza or you can try varying dishes from the Thai, Korean and Chinese areas, which offer a dazzling selection of noodle soups, curries, stir-fry dishes and regional delicacies. Try Korean fried chicken, Bibimbap, kimchi, pad Thai, green curry and specially created French dishes that are created in front of you. When you want a more relaxed dining experience, you can head to the Chuddha restaurant in the zen area. This restaurant is by reservation only but is still included in your package unless you want to splurge for lobster thermidor, champagne or one of the specialty dishes. The a la carte menu offers a range of various dishes to choose from and is served to you in a stunning boutique restaurant overlooking the beautiful zen area.
Bars and Restaurants
The Main bar
The main bar is located in the heart of the Resort, around the pool with a superb view over Kata Bay.
The Beach bar
As soon as the nightclub opens, this cosy bar welcomes you to enjoy a range of colourful cocktails. Evening entertainment for the entire family (live bands and shows).
Drinks included
Beer, red & white wine, cocktails with & without alcohol, local & international spirits, fruit juices, sodas and hot drinks.
Club Med Phuket is rated as a premium all inclusive resort. The beauty of the resort was breath-taking from the moment you arrived and you entered the Asian-inspired lobby complete with a tumbling water feature and were met with ice tea and warm towels to refresh you after your drive. The whole resort seems to be created under a green initiative and welcomed the beauty of its surroundings. It had bare, minimal walls so that you either walked past koi ponds listening to the crickets hum and the frogs on the lawn, past the forest of palm trees and overlooking the beautiful Kata beach. Our deluxe room was fitted with a mini fridge which was replenished daily with water, towel origami laid creatively on the bed and a sliding door onto the groomed garden. The resort encouraged an eco-friendly approach, with advice on how to offset your carbon footprint from your flight on their website.
Outside the resort
When we ventured away from the resort we discovered the beach town Kata, where you can explore buzzing bars, markets spas and clubs. Further afield, you can take a tuk-tuk for about 500 baht (£11) to Patong for a wild night out on Bangla Road or a varied day of shopping and a visit to the markets. On our excursions, we visited the pristine beaches of the Phi Phi islands which include Maya Bay, the filming location and inspiration for the book and film “The Beach”. We went snorkelling in the clear waters, ate a buffet lunch on the island paradise of Phi Phi Don, went snorkelling at Loh Samah Bay, visited Pileh Cove, Monkey Beach, and Viking Cave and then swam in the crystal clear waters at Khai Nok Island. There is a whole host of excursions that you can enjoy, including escorted scuba diving trips, Thai cooking classes, visits to temples, shopping for local produce at markets and nights out to the Simon Cabaret.
Club Med Phuket Excursions
We chose to visit a local Elephant Sanctuary where we fed, bathed and swam with elephants, and visited the temples at Wat Chalong. Our favourite excursion was around the scenic Phang Nga Bay. Our first stop was to the Monkey cave temple. The temple was built into the cave and was once guarded by monkeys that climbed the vines around it and ambled among the ledges in the caves. The temple itself was made up of large, gold monuments to Buddha that lined the walls and the cave complex stretched far into the rock. A quick drive to the Krasom pier led us to our long-tail boat where we sailed through the UNESCO World Heritage site of Phang Nga Bay where giant, leafy hong trees could be seen emerging from the mist as we sailed through mangrove forests. When we reached the floating Muslim village of Koh Panyee we disembarked for a traditional platter of pad Thai, stir fry, chicken, rice, soup and tempura vegetables.
From the village, we sailed to Khao Ping Gan, commonly known as “James Bond Island” where the James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun was filmed. This beach was striking, with a single hong tree floating in the bay, flanked by beautiful forested mountains. From the beach, we sailed to a cave complex where we got into little sea kayaks and were escorted by locals into small crevices in the rock face where we had to lie flat on our backs and be eased into secret lagoons. Inside, you were greeted by hoots from monkeys, rattles from snakes and fluttering’s of birds above you as you enter a whole new world. The lagoon is reminiscent of the Amazon, with tendrils and vines dripping into the water.
Thailand is known as the “land of smiles” due to the Thais’ unwavering friendliness. Their naturally friendly nature means that your excursions will be full of laughter, jokes and fun. As we sailed in Phang Nga Bay, our local escort would often splash us with water from the sea and we watched other boats race into the nearest cave and have splash fights. Over local specialty food, you will share your experiences with other tourists from all over the world, make jokes about the “toilets” which resemble a hole in the floor and enthuse about the beauty of your surroundings. Thailand is one of the most beautiful places that I have ever been to and could even imagine. The excursions, although rough and authentic, gave me a taste for the real Thailand and the real Asia where locals live in floating villages, spend their days fishing in kayaks and harvesting birds nest in limestone caves. Club Med Phuket offered a luxurious respite on the days where I recovered from my adventure, delicious food and a paradisical setting for our rest days.
My Thailand holiday brought adventure and culture together with luxury, meeting my every need to discover the country whilst indulging myself in an incredible resort. Whether you want to bring your family for the enriching children’s clubs, fantastic activities or if you are looking for an adults-only escape where you want to use the spa, the zen pool and the beach, Club Med Phuket has everything to enjoy at their resort and Thailand has enough adventure to thrill you.
If you would like to book a holiday to Club Med’s resort in Phuket, speak to one of our travel experts by calling free on 0800 707 6229. Alternatively, send us your enquiry for exclusive savings on Club Med holidays.
