Le Meridien Phuket Beach Resort -

If you're like me - and like having top luxury close by (like walking out of the hotel room onto the beach), this is the resort for you. For me, the beach proximity and cleanliness (and swimmability) was a big draw. All the other luxury (service ,room, restaurants), were just icing on the cake. Half of the morning was spent 'wave crashing' and swimming on sunning on the beach. This was a repeat visit (first visit being over 10 years ago). The beach is as pristine as I remember it - as were the hotel facilities. The staff - well thai hospitality at it's best. With the hotel being at full capacity, we were expecting a few glitches/ delays, but everything was up to par and speedy (we asked for multiple items to be room delivered). The breakfast buffet is belly busting, as are the nightly dinner buffets. We ate mostly at the main restaurant by the lobby entrance, which had a multi cuisine menu - we tried indian, thai and some soups there - and were happy with each entree. We also ate Pizzas and Calzones and some drinks at the La Fiamma - which always delivered. To get to town was a flat rate of 300 baht by AC taxi. Oh - the rooms had quality mineral water for free, which was a nice touch. Also used the gym twice - once as part of a yoga class, which was excellent. Tour desk being right on property helped us with a Phi Phi island tour, we managed to get spots even less than 24 hours in advance. The shops inside the hotel are fairly high quality - we met a nice Italian boutique owner, where the wife got a nice dress. There's a whole swimwear selection , in case you've forgotten something. There's a spa which we did not try. We would take the taxi to Patong for our daily massages. Once you see the difference between Patong and this beach (Karon..), if you are like me, you will happily pay for the privacy and the additional cleanliness.

Anuj