Ko Phi Phi - Sunset Bar

The Holiday Inn has a bar on the other side of the peninsula from the beach on a hill overlooking the sunset.  Perfect for a before dinner drink.

Ko Phi Phi - Hotel

We stayed at the Holiday Inn Phi Phi Island.  The grounds were beautiful and very green.  They had a lovely pool, several open air bars, an open air restaurant right on the sand, and an additional restaurant.  All the bungalows had nice decks for reading and sunning.  It would have been a great place to spend several days if we had the time.

Tractor to get to the hotel from the dock

Bar/check-in area.  They have people waiting for you upon check-in as everyone arrives at one of two times a day when the ferry comes.

Pool area

Pool deck

The rooms were a little outdated.  Nothing terrible, they just felt like little cabins from the 1970s.  There aren't many choices to choose from on Ko Phi Phi.  That's good on one hand as it's pretty uninhabited.  It's also bad as there aren't very many choices.  The Holiday Inn is supposedly one of the nicest hotels on the island.

Hotel room

Nick is a camera genius so this bathroom was not nearly as nice as it looks in the picture

Another view of the hotel room

Beautiful deck

We ate at the hotel both nights as there was more rain and more rain.  One night we were basically stranded in the bar it was raining so hard and we couldn't get back to our room.  Worse things have happened except there was a singing group for entertainment that was so completely out of tune.  The first night we ate at the outdoor restaurant.  The second night we ate at the indoor restaurant.  Both were good although not outstanding.  However, Ko Phi Phi is not known for it's fine dining choices.

Ko Phi Phi - Boat Tour

The one full day that we were in Ko Phi Phi we hired a longtail boat for several hours to take us around the island and to the smaller islands surrounding.  We hired our boat through the hotel but you can also hire through the sea gypsy village down the beach.  We started early to beat the crowds that daytrip from Phuket and Krabi.

We went to Maya Bay (where the movie The Beach with Leonardo DiCaprio was filmed), Monkey Bay, Mosquito Island, Bamboo Island, and more.  We snorkeled, walked along the beach, and enjoyed sunning ourselves in the boat while flying through the water.  The snorkeling was awesome and the water was so clear.  If you are able to make it to Ko Phi Phi, renting a private boat is an absolute must-do.  It was one of my favorite things the whole trip.

Ko Phi Phi - Beach

Our last stop in Thailand was the island of Ko Phi Phi.  Getting to Ko Phi Phi required a 45 minute transfer to Phuket Town, a 3 hour ferry ride, a transfer to a long tail boat, and then a quick tractor ride to our hotel.

Our only regret was that we didn't stay longer.  Two nights was not enough at all considering all the work to get there and back.  We picked the less occupied part of the island to stay on and it was gorgeous.  Quiet and deserted with a beautiful beach right outside our door.  Here's some pictures of the beach at our hotel.

Phuket - Eating

The first night we arrived, we ate at Sam's Steaks and Grills as it was raining too hard to leave the resort.  I also desperately wanted a Phuket lobster which I had for dinner.  In addition to lobsters and steaks, they had brains on the menu!  I'm not adventurous enough to eat that.  We had a delicious fried soft shell crab prepared two ways that was out of this world.  It was a fairly pricey meal but good. 

We had delicious Thai food on our Hongs by Starlight excursion.  For lunch they had spring rolls, noodles, salad, and fruit.  Dinner had an extensive menu with tom yam goong, brown rice and vegetables, stir-fried pineapple salad, stir-fried Thai vegetables, shrimp tempura, vegetable tempura, curry with chicken, cashew nut chicken, sweet & sour snapper, and fruits.  This was actually one of the best Thai meals of the trip.

On our final night we ate at Joe's Downstairs.  Joe's is one of three restaurants under the same management, all located next to each other.  Joe's is a tapas menu while Baan Rim Pa is Thai and Da Maurizio is Italian.  The food was excellent and the setting was beautiful.  Make sure to get a reservation, which you can do on the restaurant's website.  We had Vietnamese noodle rolls, crispy soft shell crab, rock lobster quesadillas, something delicious with goat cheese, and several other dishes.  I'd highly recommend this place for a nice dinner out.

Phuket - Hotel

We stayed at the Holiday Inn Phuket for 3 nights since once again we had hotel points to use.  They have two sections, one being the newer and nicer Busakorn area.  We were in the older one and it was fine.  The restaurants are all in the older area while the spa and health club are in the Busakorn area.  The grounds and public spaces were beautiful. 

Our room had a nice large bed and plenty of room for us.

The lobby had a lot of places to sit which was nice for reading during the very rainy days we had.

The public spaces were all well done and gave off a relaxing feeling.

This Italian restaurant right on the street was nice for lunch.  They also have a bar that is nice for pre-dinner drinks.

The pool was very large.  There were a lot of chairs available.  There are also signs that say if you're left your towel for more than 2 hours, it will be removed.  And the workers were actually moving the towels that were left.  I hate it when people try to save the good chairs and then don't come back for hours so I gave a big thumbs up to this policy.

The day it rained I spent a lot of time at the spa.  It was very relaxing and affordable.  I was happy to be able to get so many appointments as it was last minute and raining.  They had a special where if you buy three treatments, the fourth treatment is free.  Another spa warning for those squeamish about getting naked in front of others, there was a lot of nakedness involved in the scrub.  For the Thai massage they give you special wraparound pants to wear so that's a safer bet if you don't want to expose yourself to the world.