After 3 long flights and a departure from our home almost 24 hours ago, we arrive in the late afternoon at the Marriott Phuket Nai Yang.

This is the hotel we will be staying in for our wedding which will take place during our stay on a nearby beach.

As a reminder, here is the itinerary we followed:

#	Type	Review
1	Lounge	Lufthansa Senator Lounge, Paris Charles-de-Gaulle
2	Flight	Lufthansa Business, Paris-Frankfurt, Airbus A320
3	Lounge	Lufthansa First Class Terminal, Frankfurt Am-Main
4	Flight	Lufthansa First, Frankfurt-Bangkok, Airbus A380-800
5	Lounge	Thai Royal Silk Lounge, Bangkok Suvarnabhumi, Domestic Departures
6	Flight	Thai Royal First, Bangkok-Phuket, Boeing 747-400
7	Hotel	Marriott Phuket Nai Yang – Beachfront Villa
8	Lounge	Thai Royal Silk Lounge, Phuket (International)
9	Flight	Singapore Airlines Business, Phuket-Singapore, Boeing 777-200
10	Lounge	Singapore Airlines SilverKris Business Lounge, Singapore, Terminal 2
11	Flight	Singapore Airlines Business, Singapore-Denpasar Bali, Boeing 787-10
12	Hotel	The Westin Ubud, Bali – Villa
13	Hotel	The St. Regis Bali – Strand Villa
14	Lounge	The T/G Lounge, Denpasar Bali
15	Flight	Singapore Airlines Business, Denpasar Bali-Singapore, Boeing 787-10
16	Flight	Lufthansa Business, Singapore-Munich, Airbus A350-900
17	Lounge	Lufthansa Senator Lounge, Munich
18	Flight	Lufthansa Business, Munich-Paris, Airbus A320

Booking

We booked this hotel several months in advance as part of our wedding planning.

As we were getting married, we wanted as much privacy as possible. We booked a villa with a private pool and access to the sea, for just over 400€ per night. Not cheap, but the price of independence while keeping a hotel service is this in Thailand.

Nevertheless… As a TravelGuys, we keep certain reflexes and I continued to monitor the rates every week… To find an excellent rate at 255€ per night a few weeks before our arrival.

Arrival

We arrived at the airport from our last domestic segment reported on TravelGuys a few days ago.

We had booked a transfer from Phuket airport to the hotel, which is less than 5 kilometres away. For about 20€, our driver was waiting for us with his beautiful sedan to take us to our resort.

The day before our arrival, I checked-in on the Marriott Bonvoy app.

We arrive at the hotel shortly after 6pm when it is already dark. A luggage handler takes our freight directly from the boot of our limousine to a dedicated buggy.

As is often the case in Asian resort hotels, check-in is done seated, in the lobby right next to the reception. Excellent but very sweet welcome drinks are brought to us.

Check-in formalities will be carried out without any hassle. We choose breakfast as an Ambassador benefit, and the room that will allow me to prepare for the wedding day is also confirmed.

After a few minutes, we take a buggy to our villa.

Room

For this stay, we booked two rooms: a villa with beach access and private pool, for 9 nights, and a standard room (upgraded to a One bedroom suite with lagoon access). So I will review both.

Beachfront Private Pool Villa

This villa is one of 10 beachfront villas, but only two have a large pool. The others are plunge pools!

The villas are accessible by buggy from the reception, but can also be reached on foot either from the pool or by taking the same route as the buggy.

Each has its own private entrance with a beautiful traditional wooden door. An indicator lets the staff on duty know if the Do Not Disturb has been affixed, or if the room cleaning has been requested.

Once through the door, we arrive at the villa’s large garden, ideal for relaxing. The private swimming pool is also very pleasant, but the water is a little cool: it is always in the shade on the terrace, and the water is certainly not heated.

Access to the sea can be achieved directly from the garden. Although this is not a problem in the context of the COVID epidemic, in case all the sunbeds are occupied, it is possible to return to the garden directly from the beach. A truly private experience.

The terrace is nice, and we will dine several times with room service on it.

The villa itself is not necessarily very large, but is more than sufficient for two people. Let’s say it’s more like a Junior Suite that has its own building.

The entrance leads to a table for dining. A welcome service was provided for us, as well as the hotel’s documentation. An espresso machine is available.

To the right is the beautiful king size bed with two bedside tables. The bed has been made up for us, and will be made up almost every night of our stay.

There is a sofa next to the bed.

A television and a minibar are also available.

To the left of the entrance is the dressing room and the bathroom.

Two basins are available in a first area that also serves as a dressing room. This space will be very convenient for getting dressed at the same time as the other occupant.

A second area with a shower, toilet and a nice bath awaits us.

We will have a very pleasant stay here, although a little extra room would have been welcome.

To finish, a video tour:

Green Cabana with Pool Access

In order to be able to get ready, and especially to let the bride get ready in the villa, I booked an extra room on the wedding day, for daytime use. When I picked up the key the day before the wedding, the receptionist told me she had upgraded me to a Green Cabana with lagoon access. Very good, it’s the room just under the Suites.

The room assigned was located in one of the lower buildings near the spa, and was on the ground floor (of course, with lagoon access…)

As soon as you enter, you reach the very well equipped bathroom, located on the right. It has a basin, a bath, a large shower and a separate toilet.

Then the room with two large double beds, a desk and an armchair, which gives access to the garden with a gazebo and an access to the lagoon.

A room that is more like a junior suite, and could have been perfect for our entire stay too!

To finish, a video tour:

Hotel facilities

Like any good resort, the hotel has many facilities for vacationers. We will make good use of it during our entire stay.

Fitness

The fitness room is located in the main room building of the hotel, located in the extension of the building where the reception and the main restaurant are located.

It is located on the first floor of the latter, and was easily accessible on foot from our villa.

We went there a few mornings and except for one time, we were the only clients there. A coach is available to clients, free of charge.

Spa

The spa is located in a building slightly detached from the main building. My wife and I had a couple’s treatment there the day after we arrived, and I would have a pedicure there the morning of my wedding.

The atmosphere is just perfect, as you would expect in a 5 star hotel, and the treatments are excellent. The value for money was quite good, especially since Ambassador members receive a 30% discount on all massages.

Pool

We did not use the main pool, as we had a private pool. Nevertheless, the latter is very beautiful and not much used, because many rooms have access to the lagoon that borders the buildings of the hotel.

Beach

We stroll on the hotel’s private beach almost every day. There are few beaches in Phuket with so much sand and it was nice to stroll in the warm water at the end of the day.

Note, however, that major demolition work is underway on the left side of the cliff, causing some noise and major visual disturbances for the time being.

Food options

Like the service in general, the catering was one of the strong points of our stay, with a slight downside nevertheless in one of the restaurants.

Breakfast service – The Andaman Kitchen

Each morning we had breakfast at the Andaman Kitchen, the hotel’s main restaurant located just below the reception.

It is very large, and we were able to eat outside almost always (except for one morning when all the tables were taken).

For a breakfast, the service is absolutely perfect: the staff recognizes you, you don’t have to give your room number and your favorite drinks are brought without even being asked. Mix of a good CRM and Thai hospitality.

The buffet is of excellent quality. Special mention for the fresh coconuts which replace advantageously the fruit juice.

Dinner service – The Andaman Kitchen

We dined several times at the Andaman Kitchen, and always on the terrace. The service is very good, and the menu, typically Thai, really excellent. We dined there with our friends and as a couple several times. Just excellent, real nice Thai cuisine.

Lunch Service – Big Fish

We had lunch once at the Big Fish restaurant, which unfortunately, bears its name badly. One could expect an excellent fresh fish cuisine… Fatal mistake! It is a simple poolside cuisine, good indeed, but nothing to do with a fish restaurant. The only fish on the menu is a salmon… Very Thai!

Special Valentine’s Day service on the beach

On the evening of Valentine’s Day, the hotel had put the little dishes in the big with 8 special tables, installed on the beach. We had booked the one right in front of our villa.

If the menu and the cooking were nevertheless rather basic, we note the effort made to make a small event for the residents of the hotel.

Big Fish Bar

On several occasions, including during bridal preparations in the days leading up to the wedding, I took advantage of the Big Fish Bar, which serves at all hours near the beach and pool, including working on TravelGuys.

Attentive service and happy hour before 8pm.

The Lounge

I had coffee once in this bar located near the reception. It is generally very little frequented, I have never seen anyone there.

Departure

It is with a lot of sadness and a crazy desire to return that we leave the Marriott Nai Yang, which will have welcomed my union with my wife with great elegance. We will return, after the COVID (we had planned to return in December 2020, but the travel restrictions to Thailand are still too great).

Bottom line

An excellent stay. Everything was perfect from end to end. Congratulations to the teams and the management for this great success.