Stayed here over the New Year with our family of 4. Above all else, the service here was outstanding. Thai service is a level above what...
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Stayed here over the New Year with our family of 4. Above all else, the service here was outstanding. Thai service is a level above what you receive practically anywhere in the States. Or any other MVC location we have stayed at. One great little perk is room service is every day here and it’s a thorough room service with an army of staff. Each day the staff made a new towel animal for the kids and we had a little Zoo by the time we left.
The concierge booked us one excursion and helped us with two others we booked ourselves. Confirming pick up times with the third party providers, regardless of whether we purchased through Marriott.
The rooms and facilities were quite clean and well maintained. We did note that the rooms could use a deep refresh. The rooms are a bit 90’s dated now but in great shape and as mentioned, clean. Also, quite large. The grounds are well maintained with lush gardens in a tropical jungle atmosphere. However, a lot of the facilities just could use a touch of an update.
Turtle Village, next door has some great food locations as well as a grocery store and 7/11. The resort is fairly close to the airport but somewhat far from Phuket town and some of the outer Island excursions, such as the Phi Phi Islands. Just plan on getting up very early.
We used Grab (Like Uber) and it was less expensive than the Taxis but they are not an airport approved vendor so you have to do a weird luggage crawl to a main road to get your ride. Thai driving is not for the faint of heart.
Shout out to the on site cooking class at Ginga’s restaurant. My kids (ages 14 and 17) had a blast making 3 dishes and learning how to cook their favorite Thai Foods. The twice weekly cultural show at the resort was really excellent. We did not attend the $500 per plate New Years bash, choosing to do a Sea Kayak Afternoon and Night Trip instead. Much more fun to experience the fluorescent plankton on a kayak and the wild non-human fed Makak’s. Way, way cool.
There are enough things to do at and around this location to keep a family of 4 busy every minute. We did snorkeling, sea kayaking, a half day at a no-ride Elephant Sanctuary, some shopping and a full day at International Wakeboard Park - Phuket. The area has 3 wakeboard cable parks near the condo and my son had a blast. The rest of us ate and beverages like Kings for like $35 for the day while he jumped, flipped and face-planted... $35 for all 4 of us!!!
Please note the 2 MVC properties are either embedded in the JW Marriott Property or adjacent to it. Restaurant choices abound as do the services of the JW Marriott. I believe though pool access at the JW Marriott is restricted to just MVC Phuket Beach Guests. Food is more expensive on site than off but then again, most of the restaurants are view locations and places at Turtle Village, clearly are not. Kitchens also lack a Dishwasher and a true oven. (But the cleaning staff always did our dishes). Also, with food so inexpensive offsite, we did not cook; just using the kitchen for morning cereal and coffee. We had great Thai Dinners at a new restaurant called “The Long Noodle” at Turtle village for less than $5 per plate! So, please note..... cheaper to eat out than cook at this location. Some meals are less than $3.00. I do enjoy red Wine though and it is stupid expensive so I enjoyed a beer or two per day for something like $4.00 US total.
So, if you want a lot of tropical adventure, we highly recommend giving MVC and Phuket a go!
