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Phuket is one of my favourite beach and spa resort destination. It is a short flight from Singapore (2 hours), has nice white powdery beaches, clean blue ocean, wonderful spas and resorts and last but not least, my favourite Thai food.

On my last trip, I chose to stay at Twinpalms Phuket Resort Hotel, located at Surin Beach, Phuket, Thailand. Twinpalms Resort Phuket is a luxury boutique hotel opened in late 2004. With only 76 rooms and suites, it is not too large and not too small either.

We booked the hotel via the internet. We chose TwinPalms Resort because it had very good web reviews from ex-guests who rate it highly for it’s modern and unique design, attentive service, large rooms and toilets, quiet and exclusive environment and closeness to the beach. Although a little more expensive than most beach resorts, we were prepared to pay more to avoid overcrowded or noisy beach resorts.

Upon arrival at Phuket airport, we were picked up by the hotel limousine (complimentary from the hotel). A very friendly Thai driver who spoke simple English greeted us at the arrival gate and we were served with chilled distilled water as soon as he drove the car over to pick us up. Twinpalms Resort, Phuket is located at a short 20 minutes drive from the Phuket International Airport.

(We were lucky; two days after our departure, Phuket airport was closed for 3 days due to political demonstrations in the airport @ 31 August 2008)

When we arrived at the hotel, the check-in was smooth. One of the nice thing about checking into Phuket beach resorts is that you sit at a sofa while the receiving hotel staff goes through the paperwork and will come to you when they finish. While waiting to go through the check-in process, we were served with a cool welcome drink and scented flowers.

Once the formalities were done, the hotel customer relation officer briefly explained to us the facilities of the hotel while leading us to our room. The hotel has a well equipped modern gym, a wine-bar, a cafe, a beach club and a library. The library also serve as a outdoor trip booking facility and has an excellent selection of books, magazines and games. There are also two 20 inches Apple iMac for guests to browse the internet in the library.

We were then led to our room which was located on the ground floor facing the pool. The room was spacious with a beautiful king-size bed and a equally large bathroom with a full wall of glass which looked onto an enclosed garden area with overhead rain shower and hand shower. Two separate sinks and fully supplied aromatherapy-infused toiletries add to the glamour of the bathroom. The hotel also offers free internet service within the hotel and rooms.

The resort is a short 5 minutes walk to Surin Beach. Hotels in Phuket are clustered around popular beaches and often ended up crowded, noisy and dirty. Surin beach, on the other hand, is not too crowded and is just nice for a relaxing beach holiday. TwinPalms Resort even has their own restaurant and beach chairs right by the beach.

We really enjoyed staying at Twinpalms Resort, Phuket and rate it as one of the better beach resort we have been to. The resort even has a complimentary 15-minute back and shoulder massage for arriving hotel guests. Try it and you will definitely want to book your next spa treatment at the TwinPalms Spa!

Note: TwinPalms Resort, Phuket is highly recommended by me personally if you want a quiet and pampered beach holiday!

I recently returned home from Phuket Island, Thailand after a business meeting trip. I last visited Phuket 10 or more years ago.

This time around, Phuket appears to be very quiet. Usually by year end, this popular island resort off Andaman Seas, Thailand should be packed with tourists from Europe, US and Asia. I can only presume that business has not really pick up ever since the devastating tsunami of 2004 .

I stayed at the Ayara Hilltops, a small cozy 5 star luxury boutique resort. This hotel resort offers a spectacular view of the Surin Beach and the Andaman Sea on the north western coast of Phuket Island. The rooms are big and have a stylish décor in contemporary Thai/Balinese style with soft and soothing colors.

After 2 full days of busy meetings, I finally had the chance to unwind myself on my last day at the resort. I woke up early to have a quick swim at the pool, took a long and slow breakfast, relaxed myself at the deck bed by the pool again before heading to the spa.

The resort’s spa, known as COMFORT SPAce, feature their own acclaimed [comfort zone] products and signature massage as well as traditional Thai massage. As I entered into the COMFORT SPAce, I was greeted with the traditional Thai greeting of “swadee ka” in a friendly and gentle voice.

The spa receptionist directed me to the waiting area, showed me the various retreat programs tailored to suit various individual needs. They even have a selection of pre-packaged spa and massage programs at at discounted rate.

I opted for the daily pre-package deal that included a herbal steam bath, a jacuzzi, a body scrub, a massage and a facial. I was served with a cold rosemary tea and a wet towel. The wet towel had a aromatic lavender fragrance. As soon as I finished my drink, the therapist led me to the treatment room. The therapy rooms are of a good size with their own private steam bath and jacuzzi. The spa houses a total of 6 treatment rooms inclusive of 4 double suites and 2 standard suites.

Wow, the treatment room is so big. There is a separate wet area for shower, toilet, steam bath and the jacuzzi. The therapist explained the sequences and duration of the treatments and left the room so that I can enjoy myself. The session starts with a 15 mins herbal steam bath followed by a 20 mins soak with milk bath in the jacuzzi. The therapist returned to the treatment room with a smile and led me to the treatment bed to start the body scrub with tamarind.

I have never felt such a slow, gentle and smooth body scrub before. In most other spas, the therapist will just do a quick scrub over your body. But this time round, I felt that the therapist scrubbed every part of my body with such gentle and skillful strokes. With the right pressure, the body scrub was aimed at removing dead skin cells to brighten the skin tone, and also aids in removing stubborn cellulite. I was then ushered to the shower room to cleanse away before adjourning to the treatment bed for an oil-prep lavender floral ex foliation .

Then, it was an hour of blissful “Calmly Love” massage. This is a soft, gentle and relaxing massage to thoroughly loosen up your muscles and calm the body. The routine employs long, slow movements and gentle, soothing strokes to restore peace and harmony to your body, mind and spirit. The therapy ends off with a relaxing facial, which enhanced my overall therapeutic spa experience.

From my many years of spa-visiting experience, I really like spa therapists in Thailand as they are always so gentle and really take their own time to massage your body. It was as if Thais are born to be gentle, smiling spa therapists and perhaps why Thailand is also known as the Land of Smiles!

The whole spa experience left me feeling totally rejuvenated as the therapist gave my muscles that much needed knead with such skillful strokes that left me feeling much lighter as I stepped out of the spa after three and a half hours. What bliss!

Note: The hotel and spa also has special honeymoon, romantic and spa packages promotions. Do check the hotel website for more details.

Location of Spa: Ayara Hilltops Resort, Phuket Island, Thailand,
Size of Spa: About 6 massage treatment rooms
Friendliness: Friendly receptionist and masseurs
Facilities: Swimming Pool, Jacuzzi, Shower
Pricing: Minimum US$120 for a 60min massage. Spa and Detox special package available.
Transport: Many airlines serve Phuket direct. Ayara Hilltops is a 20 mins drive from Phuket airport