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Top 10 Best Gourmet Resorts in Phuket
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No one can deny that fine dining and top-of-the-range surroundings go hand in hand. And where better to enjoy this luxurious combination than in Phuket's fantastic array of plush hotels and resorts. We've compiled a list of Phuket's Top Ten Gourmet Resorts for you to enjoy, based on a combination of dining and hotel factors and have even added a few more to the list – well this is Phuket after all. Gourmet dining in a beautiful hotel; who could ask for more? |
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Located beachside in Patong, the Impiana Phuket Cabana is one of a kind: Right in the heart of bustling Patong but an oasis of calm, tasteful decor and great food. The Impiana consists of 80 cabin-like luxuriously appointed rooms, all within strolling distance of the spa, the sea, the pool and of course the beautiful Sala Bua restaurant. Chef Ronnie Macuja is in charge here and his culinary creations have won award after award, to say nothing of rave reviews in lifestyle magazines. For a gourmet evening out in romantic surroundings it really is hard to beat Sala Bua in Impiana Cabana. |
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Lying in sumptuous sea and lagoon-side settings, the Sheraton Grande Laguns Phuket boasts 297 rooms and 126 Grande Villas featuring garden, lagoon, pool or ocean views. The Sheraton has got everything for its guests; sports, leisure and especially dining. With one of the best and far-ranging buffets on the island you'd think the Sheraton would rest on its laurels but no – it has seven other food outlets and Puccini, its flagship restaurant, offers the very best in Italian cuisine. With 32 inside, and 60 al fresco seats, this charming all-white restaurant has a breezy charm that belies its fine dining. |
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Centrally located in Patong, the Holiday Inn Phuket is a perennial favourite for repeat visitors to the island. The resort has 265 rooms in its main wing and 140 studio and villa rooms centred around the two landscaped pools. Surrounded by shopping opportunities and restaurants, it's the ideal place to be for bargain hunters but for those who want to enjoy the undisputed best steaks in town, look no further than Holiday Inn's Sam's Steak & Grill. With a chilled fine wine cellar, excellent service and a refined atmosphere, Sam's is most definitely a gourmet experience to savour. |
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One thing the Dusit Thani doesn't lack is facilities. This 226-room-and-suite beachside resort is a hive of activity and we all know that active people work up a big appetite. No worries, Dusit features a great buffet, a quaint Thai restaurant (Ruen Thai), a well-designed and unique beachside restaurant and pub, a lounge bar that serves food and best of all, La Trattoria – an award-winning Italian restaurant that is to food what Pavarotti was to opera. For an Italian gourmet experience look no further than this stylishly fitted out restaurant that serves up fine dining alongside simple dishes that will have your mouth watering. |
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The Marriott is known for not doing things by halves and when it comes to cuisine, guest could well be excused for feeling somewhat overwhelmed with the choice in this seaside resort. With no less than ten on-site dining locations, you'll be spoilt for choice at the JW Marriott Phuket. For starters, the Siam Deli has one of the biggest ranges of patisserie goodies on the island with an ultra-healthy selection of juices. Then there is La Cucina, an award-winning Italian restaurant that specializes in the Real McCoy – genuine Italian fare instead of a pallid imitation. You'll love it. |
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Everything about this cliff-side boutique resort oozes class. You can choose from a variety of suites, all featuring classic Thai décor and design. Stroll through the beautifully maintained gardens, while admiring the stunning views out over the Andaman Sea and Kata Noi Beach, to Mom Tri's Kitchen, an atmospheric garden patio restaurant. Here, the finest award-winning wine and food is served up in an opulent setting with the setting sun as a background. If there was one word to sum up this magical resort, it'd have to be without any doubt 'Romantic.' And what's romance without great dining? |
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With a world famous, award-winning spa, an 18-hole golf course and 150 seriously opulent villas you just know that Banyan Tree Phuket delivers the goods in the gourmet department. But where do we start? With nine different choices of dining from Vietnamese cuisine to in-villa dining it's hard to decide. Watercourt, not to put too fine a point on it, serves one of the most varied Asian and Western breakfasts in Phuket while Saffron deals in superb Thai cuisine in a refined setting. Perhaps the most romantic of all is the 'Sanya Rak' – Promise of Love gourmet cruise that takes you around the resort's lagoons. |
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A beautifully appointed boutique resort near Surin Beach, Twinpalms is a favourite with the trendy set; a place to chill out in style. Oriental Spoon, Twinpalms's hip on-site restaurant has won awards for its innovative cuisine and is a very popular hangout with chic locals as well as guests. Over on the beach itself, Catch Beach Club features the freshest of fresh seafood under a roof of stars with a cool over-sized terrazzo bar where guests and friends can people watch, dig the groove laid down by international DJ's or concentrate on the marvelous cuisine at hand. Definitely uber-trendy gourmet dining. |
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One of Phuket's most popular resorts, Le Meridien Phuket has ten restaurants and bars catering for guests staying in its 417 superior and 53 luxury rooms. Set seaside in 40 acres of lush greenery, the resort has great culinary choices. Le Café Fleuri has an extensive buffet as well as a rich and international a la carte selection while next door Wang Warin serves up traditional Thai cuisine in an unforgettable setting. If you love fresh seafood in Japanese style then don't miss Ariake. For live music while you dine try Pakarang, Le Meridien's open-air restaurant and a gourmet experience awaits you at Portofino. |
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A member of the Leading Hotels of the World, the Royal Phuket Yacht Club was also Phuket's first luxury hotel. It has also played host to an impressive list of the rich and famous, not to mention royalty over the years. With 110 guest rooms you're never going to feel crowded out and what with Nai Harn beach – considered by many to be Phuket's finest – adjacent to the resort, the Yacht Club's location is idyllic. But what truly puts the icing on the cake is the resort's flagship restaurant The Regatta, with its fine dining, knockout views and wonderful wines. Truly classic. |
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Sri Panwa is a luxury hilltop villa resort, overlooking the southeast coast of Phuket. It really is an impressive project and has received rave reviews from local and international press so it's to be expected that their cuisine would be top of the game as well. Well, you'll certainly not be disappointed at the resort's Baba Restaurant. Clean lines, lush design and wonderful views are some of the distinguishing features of Baba. Attracting a young international crowd, Baba serves up Thai and Asian cuisine with a culinary twist in its tail and the wait staff has to be the most intelligent and professional in Phuket. |
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Burasari Resort is a 186-room boutique hotel conveniently located in the heart of Patong yet steps away from the beach. There are several outstanding characteristics of this hotel: it doesn't actually have garden grounds but features more foliage that an acre of jungle. And Burasari has the King of the Kitchen Jungle, TV chef Keith Floyd in charge of its Floyd's Brasserie. As you can imagine, dishes are varied – ranging from the cheekily innovative to traditional, all with the Floyd touch. Sunday brunches are the tops here and if you're looking for intimacy with haute cuisine this is it. |
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Tucked away in the hills just south of Patong, Amari has the best of both worlds: flashy and brash Patong and the tranquillity of Phuket's beach life. Amari Coral Beach has three restaurants to serve guests in the 197 sea-facing rooms; Kinaree, a Thai restaurant, Rim Talay – the resort's international outlet serving favourites from all around the world and La Gritta, Amari's flagship fine dining restaurant. La Gritta has to be in one of the most romantic spots ever and when night falls, dining here with the lights of Patong bay spread out to the north is one of life's more pleasurable experiences. |
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Evason Phuket is located on the east side of Phuket Island with views out over southern Phang Nga Bay. Set in 64 acres of beautifully maintained greenery, the contrast of the grounds' tropical flora with the deep turquoise of the sea is breathtaking. The hotel has four eateries, each excellent in their own way but its flagship restaurant, Into the Med, is truly remarkable. As the name suggests Into the Med serves predominantly Mediterranean fare with a fusion twist and does so excellently. The restaurant's setting is unforgettable and on a full moon night you simply won't wish to be anywhere else. |
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With just 36 rooms you would be forgiven in believing that Mom Tri's Boathouse is a quiet affair but in fact it is one of the epicentres of fine dining in Phuket. A regular winner of the Wine Spectator award as well as many culinary gongs, the Boathouse is also an extremely attractive place to dine. Located right on Kata Beach, diners can hear the incoming surf over the restaurant's cool live jazz and drinks at sunset here makes for a special occasion. Gourmet experiences do not get much better than a good long soiree spent at table in the Boathouse. |
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