Banyan Tree Phuket Luxury Hotel

Detailed Review

Prepare to enter a different world at Banyan Tree Phuket. Located on the beautiful, idyllic beach of Bang Tao Bay, this pampered paradise is one of Asia's most spectacular spa resorts. Thailand's rich culture is reflected in the architecture and decor of the resort's 109 elegant villas, each with its own garden, raised king-sized bed, and sunken open-air bath. For the ultimate in luxury, there are 55 villas with their own private swimming pools. Among the many outstanding accolades and awards Banyan Tree Phuket has received over the years, it was voted the 'World's Best Spa Resort, 1998' by Conde Nast Traveller. Offering some of Asia's best non-clinical spa facilities, it is one of five hotels operating within close proximity of each other in Asia's first integrated luxury resort. This provides an amazing array of dining options and an abundance of recreational activities. Whether you want to do everything or nothing at all, Banyan Tree Phuket fulfils your dreams of the ideal holiday.

Independent Reviews

The Banyan Tree Hotel
By John Borthwick

When an attractive woman asks “Would you like to join me on the promise of love tonight?” what is a man to do but accept? At the appointed hour, Khun Sirima — an erudite and witty member of the Banyan Tree Phuket staff — leads me to a jetty where a boat awaits us. It is called the Saya Rayak — The Promise of Love. Blooms of monsoonal cloud hang above the lagoon as we head out on the promise of a fine dinner cruise. A lad in the bow plays a dulcimer-like khim, the boatman steers and a hostess plies us with wine and a banquet of Thai dishes.

The waters we sail are the centrepiece of the 240-hectare Laguna Phuket development, a former mining wasteland on the west coast of Phuket Island that was rehabilitated some 18 years ago. Five luxury resort hotels are now dotted around its shores, with the Banyan Tree as the headline act.

I have checked-in to a Pool Villa, a suite of spaces — anteroom, bedroom/lounge, dressing area, shower and bathroom. Add to these an open-air sunken bathtub and a large, walled garden complete with raised sala pavilion and daybeds. Finally, there is a five-metre body of water that I’ll inelegantly call a flop pool. My bedroom’s double doors open directly onto it; all I need to do is flop, elegantly or otherwise. The grounds of the Banyan Tree Phuket resemble a jungle on its best behaviour. Palm, pandanus, frangipani, mango trees and a thousand well-pruned species proliferate. Tucked among this exuberance are 121 villas which feature high, red-tiled, wat-style roofs. I opt for a full breakfast in my room — it arrives piping hot — the only hitch being that the cappuccino machine (there’s one in each villa) is on the blink. A repair man swiftly restores it to life, though he can do little about the only other slight flaw, a television with few English language alternatives to CNN; I opt instead for the CD player’s less bellicose content.

The resort is also the home of the Banyan Tree chain’s signature Spa Academy which trains masseuses in traditional and contemporary treatments. Two skilled therapists subject me to an extreme form of corporal reward known as the Harmony Banyan Massage. I am scrubbed, oiled and rubbed; at times this is done symmetrically — bliss in stereo — and at other times asymmetrically. I am then gently tugged, kneaded and finally, tubbed. This may be as good as it gets. Three hours — or is it three days? — later I emerge. A light lunch at the spa’s Tamarind Restaurant, of grilled seafood on a sugarcane skewer and apple pie with frozen honey, provides sufficient reality and ballast to settle me back to earth.

Adjacent to the Banyan Tree is the Laguna Phuket Golf Club with an 18-hole championship course. For excursions beyond the resort, free shuttle ferries putter between the Laguna Phuket’s other hotels.

There are some souls who crave so much privacy that even travelling from their villa (by the resort's ubiquitous golf carts) to the spa is too public an excursion. Their option is a Spa Pool Villa, a temple of leisure with dramatic Thai-Japanese décor and a bed that seems to float within a glass-walled chamber. At the foot of a garden (with pool) that overlooks the lagoon is an outdoor sala featuring twin massage beds. Just call and, like the mountain to Mohammed, the spa therapists come to you.

Other accommodation options include Lagoon Villas, Jacuzzi Villas and two-bedroom Pool Villas (large enough for a family). It's a short stroll to the ocean: you’re in the middle of the eight-kilometre crescent of Bang Tao Beach. A dip followed by a sundowner at the Sands Bar, while the sun goes down into the Andaman Sea, will set up your evening very nicely.

Our lagoon dining cruise ends and we return to the resort pier. After teasing me with the “promise of love”, my witty dinner companion, Sirima has suggested that “intimate moments” might be a nice finale to the night. I return, solo, to my villa to find it dimmed, lit with tiny candles and aromatic oil lamps, a bottle of chilled wine waiting and massage oils just beside my bed whose satin sheets are awash with blossoms.

What else could this amorous ambush be called but — Intimate Moments? Sensible people (I am obviously not one) should remember when travelling to this pleasure dome to absolutely pack a partner.

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• "This famous Thai spa resort on Bang Tao Beach is popular with honeymooners and those seeking a romantic retreat."

  For some years the last word in luxury spa resort accomodation, this Banyan Tree has been overtaken by more expensive and remote creations, but it remains a popular choice amongst honeymooners.