Tag Archives: Indigo Pearl Luxury Resort

Travel | Phuket, Thailand | Indigo Pearl Luxury Resort |Review 3 of 3 | Spa & F&B

Photo credit:  Seahsellsonthepalm

Spa

We tried the couples massage at the spa – you can’t ever go wrong with a Thai therapist.  The Thais and Indonesians are born with an inherent sense of how to perform some of the best massages.  What is unique about this spa is their Cocoon spa which you will need to experience for yourself.  They are these beautiful weaved cocoons set in the jungle that make you feel that either a unique tribe has taken over.  We had two lovely therapists with strong hands, and the traditional massage ending with a good body stretch.  Comparing with prices in Dubai, they are much more affordable AED350 at the hotel.

Food & Beverage

There are 7 food & beverages outlets at the hotel offering a wide variety of food from local Thai to pasta to fine dining:

Room Service

The menu is rather limited, and naturally the local food was much better than the pasta – so choose the Pad Thai on any menu if in doubt as it was very good.  The pasta was probably a little over cooked according to my husband’s taste. The children tried the lamb and grouper fish, and they were happy with the lamb but the grouper fish was not the best.

Rivet Fine Dining

We had an adult only dinner at Rivet, which was a dark eccentric room that would have been a good bar or restaurant in London or New York with great fine dining style food.  We tried a set menu of tuna tartare, truffle risotto and a main course of grouper fish.  Very nicely presented with a good selection of wines, and after Dubai prices, most of the wines seem more affordable.

Black Ginger – highly recommended

This is Indigo Pearl’s signature restaurant, and probably the first hint that you are in Thailand – the restaurant looks very traditional with the continued running of Indigo Pearl’s dark and metallic theme.  The whole set up is stunning as your enter the lake through a corridor of blue lit steel shields.  Fire torches light the path, and for the children this was so exciting – it really felt like a mini-adventure.  The only way to get to the restaurant is on a movable platform on the water that you are pulled over by an old pulley system onto a old traditional looking Thai house set on the lake.  Every Saturday night, this restaurant serves a traditional Thai buffet that is exquisite and uncompromising to western pallets so you really get a feel of foods eaten by the Thai people from a wide range of curries to desserts and traditional street food.

Children’s Menu

The children’s menu could have been a little more varied, and I think children should be offered more food that hasn’t been fried like steam fish, rice and soup or maybe organic chicken.  The hotel was subjected to my family’s hardcore food tasting – the pizza was a bit disappointing as the base of the pizza had more of a biscuit consistency.  We would love to see a wood oven pizza station which is easy to do, and the pizzas will taste even better.

Outside the hotel

We love this hotel because there is the option of walking out of the hotel into the local village on the beach where there are several outlets mainly catering to the hardcore Kite Surfing crowd.  Outside the main gates, our family went often to The Sands, a reasonably priced restaurant that served Phuket and Canadian lobster, or Pad Thai, and the children loved the menu that was named after the different Disney creatures.

Hotel & Accommodation Review 1/3 – Read more ….

Indigo Pearl Facilities for Families Review 2/3 – Read more….

Indigo Pearl is a luxury resort located 10 minutes away from Phuket International Airport.  For more information go to www.indigo-pearl.com

Travel | Phuket, Thailand | Indigo Pearl Luxury Resort | Review 2 of 3 | Resort Facilities

Photo credit: Seashellsonthepalm

Facilities 

Swimming Pools

There are 3 swimmings pools but if you come with children you essentially have 1 swimming pool. The other 2 adult only pools are beautiful, with infinity features, accepting children 14 years and above and one of them has a unique feature with a bar set in the middle for an afternoon tipple.

Beach Club

Our favourite hideout was the mini but gorgeous beach club set across the road from the beach.  Phuket, unfortunately in the last 30 years has seen some of its natural beauty ebb away with the hordes of tourists that come every year, and the lack of continued public programs to keep the beaches clean but we agree that out of all the beaches in Phuket, Indigo Pearl has one of the most child-friendly beaches – it still has a wild and natural beauty to it. Normally hotels resorts in the other countries would keep their beaches clean but unfortunately, very few hotels in Phuket, are able to build on the beach are they are actually privately owned.  Sadly, most of them are not cared for but we were lucky to have this  quaint and sleepy village just on the parameter of the hotel on the beach with your typical massage parlours and seafood restaurants lining the sides of the hotel – if you dare try, a Thai massage will set you back AED50 at most and a meal on the beach with fresh fish or lobster from that day’s catch will cost AED350 for a family of 7.  The beach here is cleaner and more child friendly than other areas like Bang Tao beach (Banyan Tree, Outrigger).  The vast stretches of beaches means no other beach goer will get in your way and the waves are small enough for our 4 children to enjoy.

Organic garden

SOTP has also to mention that the resort has their own organic garden winning bonus points with our family but not quite large enough to sustain the size of the resort.  However, every little bit counts and they are moving in the right direction.  Sadly though, the resort has nothing organic on its menu.

Gym and activities

The resort also has a gym with all the latest technogym equipment with an array of classes like pilates.  A private pilates session is AED120 – a bargain compared to Dubai prices so naturally we tried the lesson which was fun.  In addition, the resort also has two tennis courts, bikes for rent, and adult-sized micro scooters for rent too.

Watersports

The resort has a dive centre and a well-equipped kite surfing shop.  The beach is litters the beach with kite surfers braving the winds and the waves – making the beach look so tranquil and mesmerising.

The Kids Club

A  small and intimate facility with two Thai carers inside to mind the children, the place has enough to keep children occupied in the 20 minute monsoons that occur ever 3 to 4 hours during the rainy season.  The children could watch TV, play on the internet or take origami lessons to create little dogs and swans.  The facility was very clean and tidy but our children sadly declined to participate because they preferred to be with us.

Spa & Food Review 3/3- Read more…

Hotel and accommodation Review 1/3  – Read more…

Indigo Pearl is a luxury resort located 10 minutes away from Phuket International Airport.  For more information go to www.indigo-pearl.com

Travel | Phuket, Thailand | Indigo Pearl Luxury Resort |Review 1 of 3 | Hotel & Accommodation

Photo credit: Seashellsonthepalm

Travel

It’s easy with Emirates going direct to resort towns like Phuket and Bali.  We are now spoilt for choice with flights from Dubai.  This summer we head to Phuket to try Indigo Pearl Luxury Resort, which is an easy 6.5 hours from Dubai via Emirates Airlines.  There are easy day flights landing in Phuket at 8pm, which is just perfect for the children to go to bed after a quick room service.

The hotel can arrange transfers from the Phuket International Airport to the hotel – a mini van if need be, and we were surprised that the journey is only 10 minutes.  We were concerned with hotel being so close to the airport that we would hear the planes but it was very quiet and peaceful.

Weather

We travelled during rainy season but in Phuket this is not really a problem.  The dry season runs from December to March but we had sunny days during out stay here.  Our kids loved the rain – a novelty for Dubai kids.

Hotel

The hotel is privately owned by the Na-Ranong family who accumulated their wealth and success on their ancestors’ investment in tin mine known as ‘black gold’ back in 1932, which in turn created a flourishing Phuket economy, but today there are only three tin mining sites still active in Phuket. The current owner and Managing Director, Wichit Na-Ranong, used the hotel to attribute memories to his family’s history in the tin mine industry as part of the inspiration to create hotel’s unique designs.

The industrial chic boutique resort set within a jungle landscape was designed by the American architect designer Bill Bensley.  The Lobby with its open air unique design is welcoming with its metallic blue tones overlooking the open air Tin Mine breakfast room with cutlery designed to represent wrenches that can be bought as a memory of your stay.

Bensley creates each suite to remind us of the family’s history in the tin mining industry with metallic features at every turn and large compounds of concrete and breeze blocks.  In contrast to all the metal, are soft and extremely comfortable beds, and there is little or no reminder that you are in Thailand.  The hotel was last renovated in 2006 but the upper tier rooms are still well kept, and the gorgeous  pool villas were only built in 2012.

SOTP experienced two room categories…

#1 night in the D-Buk suite.  This is their lower & affordable category of suites and during off-peak you might only pay AED900 ++ night. We advise you to take rooms which are not on the ground floor, and if you are travelling with young children note that the lower tiers do not have interconnecting rooms.

#4 nights in the Pearl Shell Suite – there are 7 of these stunning rooms, and they can be arranged in a 2 or 3 bedroom formation.  They must be booked in advanced because even in low season they are mostly sold out.

SOTP Recommends: Take the top three luxury tiers: The Pearl Shell Suite, Private Pool Villas or Coqoon Spa Suite.  We also recommend booking with the Lightfoot Travel Team in Dubai who have great relations with this hotel for seamless travel.

Indigo Pearl Facilities for families Review 2/3 – Read more…

Indigo Pearl Food & Beverage for families Review 3/3 – Read more…