Hotels in Phuket
On Phuket the beach is the decision. The island is large, the coasts are genuinely different from one another, and moving between them takes long enough that you will spend most of your time near wherever you sleep. Choose the bay first and the hotel second — that order round, the trip works.
Patong
The centre of everything loud. Restaurants, bars, shops and the beach within a few minutes of each other, and Bangla Road running through the middle of it. Good for a first visit and for anyone who wants the nightlife downstairs. Not the place for a quiet week.
Kata and Karon
The next bays south, and the sensible middle. Beautiful beaches, good resorts, restaurants that are not competing with a nightclub, and Patong close enough to visit but far enough not to hear. This is where most families and couples end up, and for good reason.
Bang Tao and Surin
Up the west coast, and the upscale end of the island: large resorts, beach clubs and long stretches of sand with very little built on them. Quiet in a deliberate, expensive way. You will want transport or you will not leave the hotel.
Phuket Town
Not on a beach at all, which is the point. Boutique hotels in Sino-Portuguese buildings, local food at local prices, markets, and the island's actual life going on around you. The choice for anyone staying more than a week, or working while they visit.
When to come
November to April is the dry season, with the best weather and the highest prices; book a few months ahead for those months. Outside them the island is cheaper and quieter, and the sea on the west coast can be rough enough that swimming is restricted.
What to check before booking
- How far the hotel actually is from the beach, on a map — 'beach access' covers a wide range of walks
- Whether airport transfers are included, since Phuket's airport is a long way from most of the beaches
- Pool, Wi-Fi and on-site food, if the resort is somewhere you will spend whole days
- Recent reviews rather than the photographs
Types of place to stay
Luxury resorts
Private villas, infinity pools and spa treatment, concentrated on the west coast. Phuket does this end well and prices it below the equivalent almost anywhere else.
Mid-range hotels
Comfort and location without the villa, which on this island is where most of the value sits. Kata and Karon are full of them.
Budget stays
Guesthouses and hostels, clean and plentiful, concentrated in Patong and Phuket Town. Staying cheaply here costs very little in comfort.
Getting around from wherever you land
Phuket is bigger than it looks on a map and public transport is thin. Taxis and tuk-tuks are plentiful and not cheap, and a rented scooter is how most long-stay visitors solve it. Whichever bay you choose, assume you will spend real money or real time getting out of it, and let that weigh on the choice rather than surprise you afterwards.
A note on the west-coast sea
From roughly May to October the Andaman side can be rough, and the red flags on the beaches are not decoration — the rip currents are real and people drown in them every year. If you are booking in those months, a hotel with a good pool matters more than one with beach steps, and the quieter east-coast and southern bays are the safer swimming.