The hotel industry in Phuket has progressed beyond recognition. About twenty years ago Phuket was considered a destination for backpackers, and the accommodation options were cheap and simple accordingly. Today it is a destination for families and couples on honeymoon, and accommodation options have improved accordingly with hotels at all levels. From guesthouses and hostels, continue in modest family hotels of 3-4 stars, to luxury 5-star hotels and resorts. The pleasant island is also suitable for Jewish travelers. Chabad House in Phuket is offering kosher catering meals to most of the hotels in the island
For those who have not booked a room in advance, there are solutions through the Israeli restaurants in Phuket. Every Israeli restaurant is also a kind of travel agency that offers a selection of accommodation options, from a room in a family home, cheap or luxury hotels. Their advantage over AirBnb is in the cheaper prices, and in understanding the locations. The local Israelis know the island, and their recommendation on the location of the room is very helpful
The director of the Thai Tourism Authority (TAT) in Phuket office, Mrs. Nanthasiri Ronnasiri, says that Israeli tourists mainly prefer the hotels Meridian, Four Points, Angsana Laguna, and Amari, while tourists from other countries are scattered throughout the hotels. Therefore, last week, TAT invited a group of senior and influential Israeli tour operators for a Fam Trip to check out more other hotels
Director of TAT in Phuket, Mrs. Nanthasiri Ronnasiri (right), with TAT Director in Israel, Dov Kalman
Here are some of the hotels inspected in the Fam Trip
AMARI
Amari is a very luxurious 4.5-star resort with about 200 rooms, some right on the seafront. The hotel is also suitable for families. Many of them return every year due to the fact that children can run around freely in the large area of the hotel without fear of a busy road, and due to the fact that the hotel gives a feeling of a real resort at an affordable price
The big advantage of the Amari Hotel is its location. It is located in the southeast corner of Patong Bay. On the one hand – a hidden and quiet place. On the other hand – about only a ten-minute walk (or 2 minutes by Tuk Tuk) from the nightlife center on Patong Beach, with the night life parties and the noisy music speakers and fireworks
The private beach overlooking from the hotel's balcony (photo by Dennis Charkov
The hotel also has an advantage for the Jewish travelers, which insist on separate bathing (NIFRAD). The hotel is located right on the seafront and has a private and separate beach. Guests in the rooms on the first floor can exit the balcony of the room, and walk 20-30 steps to the water, and take a separate or family bath. Guests staying on other floors should go down and bypass around the building
Como Point Yamu Resort
The most beautiful hotel I have seen in Thailand. Its rooms and houses are located on the slopes of a large hill, with a stunning view from every room of the jungle and behind it the ocean. The Como Hotel has standard rooms, suites, and private villas. Each villa has an adjoining private pool. The main building of the resort is located on the top of the hill, and there are the reception desks, the main dining rooms, the spa rooms and the gym, and large swimming pools, one of which is shallow for children. The restaurants and the huge lobby are open without walls, so it is not possible to install air conditioners in the open air. But the pleasant breeze from the sea covers this disadvantage
Because the hotel buildings are spread over a large area, guests move between their rooms and the main building by golf carts
The hotel also has a large kids club with a selection of computer games, ping pong tables, and the like. The instructors give the children a workshop for making kites, after which they go out to flip them. In addition, babysitters take the children for a half-day outing at the beach, to give parents rest and privacy
Photo: courtasy of Juthamas Sananeur
For us, one of the great advantages of this hotel is the consideration for religious guests like us. The hotel works in exceptional coordination with the local Chabad House and also offers kosher fresh breakfasts that come daily from Chabad House
When Orthodox guests are staying in the hotel, we get the next day menu of Chabad restaurant, along with the room service menu. So we can pre-order hot kosher meals for the next day. Deliveries are made efficiently at the hotel's expense
The hotel manager, Mr. Franz Barnikel, told me that the hotel also offers a special service for those who keep family purity (Taharat Hamishpacha). Some rooms and suites have two beds, which can be attached or separated from each other
To me, this considerate approach makes the Como Hotel the most "Jewish friendly". Mr. Franz says the hotel is considered a favorite destination for religious Jewish American couples on their honeymoon, as well as for families. No wonder this hotel is popular with the modern Orthodox community in the US, but it is not clear why the religious public in Israel has not yet been exposed to this resort
The hotel has many pluses, but also one minus: it is quite far from the city center. It is more suitable for people looking for a resting vacation, and less for action and hiking enthusiasts who want to pop into town and the beach a few times a day. For those who come for a honeymoon, it does not matter
Keemala Hotel
Alon Cohen
A special and charming hotel, which offers an extraordinary experience beyond accommodation. In the heart of the forest, rooms were built of the Tree POOL Houses type, which looks from the outside like nests of birds. Guests can enjoy the bustle of birds chirping in the evenings before going to sleep in their nest on the nearby trees. At night, guests are advised to leave open the glass door facing the balcony to wake up to the sounds of birds chirping. Starting at dawn, different birds wake up at different times, and each bird type has its own characteristic chirping sounds. A tremendous and unforgettable experience for nature lovers. Each room also has a mosquito net that wraps around the double bed to protect guests from flying insects or birds
Each room has a balcony and a large window with a stunning view of the bay. Some suites also have a small private pool on the terrace. These special rooms will not be forgotten for a long time. There are also Tent Pool Villas or Clay Pool Cottages
The Nai Harn
Nai Haren Hotel is located on the southernmost tip of Phuket Island. It is a hotel with 140 rooms built in a stepped way down a hill slopes down to an amazingly beautiful beach, which surrounds a small bay. Comfortable and spacious rooms with sea views. The hotel buildings are painted bright white, which reminds us of the Greek islands. That is why this hotel has earned the nickname "The Santorini of Thailand". At the bottom of the hill are the hotel's restaurants, also reminiscent of Greek taverns
The bay is the home location of the Royal Yacht Club, and in normal times yachts of locals and foreigners cast anchor in it. Here we can also rent a boat or catamaran for cruises to the small islands that surround Phuket. The boats and yachts are docked in the small bay because there is no marina here
This hotel opened in 1996, and manager Frank Grassmann is proud to be the first five-star hotel in Phuket. The guest population of the Nai Haren Hotel is a bit different from the other hotels in Phuket. Usually about half of the guests are local Thais, and only half are tourists from foreign countries, especially from Portugal and Russia. The hotel manager urges us to influence Israelis to come and discover its benefits
Nai Haran Hotel is very suitable for those who want to rest and sunbathe on an almost private beach, and at a very cheap price. A room per night here costs less than $100
Sunsuri Resort
An ecological hotel built in a jungle up the mountain. All rooms complexes are built within dense vegetation. Everything around is green, and we can barely see the houses. This hotel has 150 rooms and villas, some of which are hidden from view. We can arrive at the rooms on a narrow asphalt path that winds up the mountain. There is a small buggy service to transport guests from place to place within the hotel. The hotel also offers guests shuttles and bicycles, to travel to the beach and to the nearby shopping center
The hotel has a very large swimming pool, with very long and winding slides. These too are partly hidden by the dense vegetation
Thanyapura Sport Hotel
A large and modern hotel set up near Phuket National Park. The hotel has 114 rooms and is divided into two wings. One wing was built especially for national sports teams. The hotel has 3 large Olympic-size pools, one of which also has a grandstand. Many Olympic swimming teams from all over the world come to this hotel for a few weeks of training camps
The hotel also offers training services for other sports, such as football, volleyball, basketball, tennis, boxing, cycling, and triathlon. It is one of the largest sports hotels in the world and was built specifically for athletes and coaches in the highest international leagues. The hotel also has a gym with large halls, where I also saw equipment and facilities that are not familiar to me from gyms in Israel. The hotel shop focuses on sportswear and sports accessories in various professions
This coming October, the hotel will launch the largest running tracks in Thailand, which will also pass within the nearby national park
The hotel also has a medical department that hosts people who come for comprehensive medical examinations. The hotel clinics have the most modern and sophisticated medical equipment in the world, modern laboratories, and a highly skilled medical staff. Everything is like a state-of-the-art hospital but in a pleasant environment of a hotel rather than a depressing hospital. That is why people come here for inspection tests to detect cancer in the early stages, to diagnose diabetes and vascular disease, and for preventive treatments for people at risk for certain diseases
The hotel manager, Piyanut Chuaymuang, developed the complex to meet a very special type of demand. According to him, before the Covid pandemic, the hotel was a magnet for athletes as well as people with disabilities from all over the world. Wealthy Thais also prefer to undergo medical examinations and treatments at this hotel, rather than clinics and hospitals
Chivitr Wellness Retreat
The hotel is focusing on alternative Chinese medicine. Most of its customers and guests are local Thais and Chinese tourists who understand Chinese-style preventative medicine
The treatment rooms and hotel rooms are located up a hill, topped by a lecture hall and a vegan Chinese restaurant, both facing a swimming pool. All the hotel living rooms are two-story, with a living room and a kitchenette on the first floor, and up the stairs to the second floor where the bedroom and bathroom are located. Thai-style houses with tiled roofs topped by a pagoda. They also offer transfers from the airport and to the airport
The hotel offers luxury accommodation on a Full board, Body Massage treatments, Facial treatment, Thai herbal steam sauna, Thai herbal compress therapy, Body scrub, Lymphatic Therapy, Physiotherapy, Yoga &Meditation
One of the unique products here is a cloth ball called 'Rock Ko' which has special herbs for all kinds of pain. Steaming it in boiling water, and place it on the skin where there is muscle pain or burns
I was invited to try Thai massage, and I really enjoyed it. The massage at this professional place is very different from the massage at Patong beach. After the massage here I felt like I was reborn
For so many health activities and accommodation, the price is surprisingly low. Only 80K Baht for a couple for 3 nights Full Board
Tip: When you book a room using the links in this article, you will get a significant discount compared to the prices on websites like booking.com. They are charging the hotels commissions up to one-third or one-half of the price displayed in Booking or Tripadviser. I therefore suggest contacting the hotel directly through the links, and requesting that they give you a "net" price without the Booking commission. They will usually agree to share with you some of the commission rate
