Last Nov, I went Phuket and stayed at The Nai Harn, a member of the Leading Hotels of the World. The Nai Harn is located close to the southern end of Phuket (~3-5km to Promthep cape), surrounded by lush greenery and facing the Andaman sea. Just look at the view!
If you are wondering what's Leading Hotels of the World? LWH is a global collection of unique hotels around the world. The membership is restricted to only the luxury category, which are inspected and voted annually by LWH executive committee. In Singapore, Capella in sentosa is a LWH member. In Phuket, The Nai Harn is the only hotel with the membership.
I was warmly welcomed by the friendly staff at the modern and light-filled reception area, where I was served iced cold tea and cold towels while they processed my check-in.
They have hanging lounge chairs which is perfect for kids. D1 & D2 do not need to fight over the lounge chairs!
After a quick lunch at the hotel's restaurant, the kids were off for their nap. The room is spacious and the color scheme is vibrant. And the bed is soo comfy, you feel like chilling in bed the whole day!
But when you look out the spacious balcony, you realized the greater beauty is out there! Hey I can chill the whole day on a day bed sun tanning too. So while the kids are napping, I'm sun tanning.
Even at night when the sea view is pitch black, the view is still enchanting. At the Reflections, you sip a cocktail while watching the sun set. Or count the stars in the night sky.
The Nai Harn has small details that I love soo much! If you look closely at the table lamp, they are not the typical tea light, but battery powered illuminated glass jar containing a few pieces of sea shells.
So simple, elegant and useful! I wonder if I can buy a few to use as night lights back home.
Breakfast the next day is a sumptuous spread!
It's no wonder as The Nai Harn has is own pastry chef who freshly make the pastry everyday!
They have a wide variety of international food. Even porridge for the little kiddos!
And a cold room that keeps the cheese board, salad and ham fresh at the right temperature. Perfect for the adults!
In addition, the kitchen can prepare hot food just the way you want it.
Did I mention that the breakfast place has a full view of the beach? A great way to start the day!
After the kids are all fed, it is a short 3 minutes walk to the beach, which is right outside the hotel entrance.
The kids quickly got their hands dirty, building sand castles under the beach umbrella.
At The Nai Harn, they provide beach services: free beach umbrella rental, free canoe rental, free standing boarding, and free diving masks! Too bad the kiddos are still too young for the sea, or it will be fun looking for sea turtle!
The beach is very child friendly as it has a very gentle gradient. Notice that the people are still standing at the far end of the picture. Only at the deep blue, the depth increases and that's where you can see yachts.
What else can you do if you are not a fan of the beach? Plenty! The next day, we took the kids for exploration at nearby Sea Gypsy Fishing Village to see the local fishermen culture. It's only a short 10 minutes car ride away.
The kiddos found plenty of interesting sightings, including wild rooster and hens.
Local boys, whom look around 5-6 years old, but were already doing fishing!
There is of course some opportunity for souvenir shopping! I bought some large sea shells for the kiddos. You can hear the sound of the sea when you place the sea shell close to your ear.
And the highlight - locally caught fresh seafood! Live fish, lobsters, shells, squids. They have it all! And multiple stores. You can buy the fresh seafood, and bring them to the restaurants across the lane where they do the cooking for a transparent service fee - fresh seafood haven!
We chose Mook Dee, whom the fishmongers credited as the original restaurant which invented the BYO concept. My personal favorite buy is the lobster, where we told the restaurant to grill half the lobster, and to cook the other half in porridge, which the kiddos love!
On other days when you don't want to travel you can just chill at the hotel.
The pool is good fun for the kiddos.
The Nai Harn's restaurant - Rock Salt - serves up great food. We ordered the Tandoori chicken thin crust pizza. Not spicy at all, and soo yummy! The Rock Salt has DJ Fridays and special chef menus. Too bad we did not get a chance to try any of the specials during this trip due to time constraint.
Overall, the 3 nights experience was fantastic! For sun worshipers like us, it's the perfect luxury hotel. The views, the room, the food, the service were all top-notch. The hotel is also very kids friendly, which is definitely a plus for us. There are also plenty to explore around the area. Would we go back again? Definitely! the next time we will double the nights, as I complained 3 nights was too short a gateaway for me.
