Banyan Tree resorts

[mary-j]

We have just returned from our second visit to a Banyan tree Resort and we were yet again so impressed with our stay there. We stayed at the Banyan Tree Phuket in a lagoon pool villa (we were upgraded free from a pool villa) and the villa was beautiful. We had our own pool which could be reached just three steps from our bed, private walled garden with dining sala and massage sala, double padded sunbed and from our garden was a little cobbled path down to our own sunbathing deck overlooking the lagoon. We also had an outdoor sunken bath. Staff at the resort were the most lovely people you could ever hope to meet. You should visit their website to get a better idea of how this place is so wonderful. For someone who wants total luxury or for a special occasion, then the double pool villas are "out of this world". We stayed previously in the Banyan Tree Seychelles and that too was "pure heaven".

I beg Luxury Link Moderators....please, please consider Banyan tree Resorts for a future auction. They have other resorts in China,Bali,Bangkok amongst other places andare due to open many other properties in Mexico, Bahrain and Morrocco.

They are a First Class company and ooze luxury in all their resorts./

[claassenam]

Mary J,

Welcome back! How was the rest of your trip? Did you enjoy Thailand? Please let us know what you thought.


Also, I love your descriptor: "ooze luxury" - that's perfect!

[mary-j]

Claasenam, I could say it is good to be back but I would be lying!!! We had a wonderful time in Thailand although never managed to do or see half the places we intended to. Bangkok was very busy as we had expected but a lot dirtier than we had imagined. As we were only there for 2 nights we really didn't see much. Wewanted to visit the Grand Palace and the Reclining Buddha so we made sure we visited them. They were as spectacular as we had imagined but made the mistake of going to see them as a tour. The tour of the Palace lasted 5 hours and by the end of it we just was so glad to get away from the place. Our guide was very informative but tended to go on a bit. At first we were all very enthusiastic but after about 2 hours the novelty was wearing thin!!!! It actually got quite boring after a while so my advice to anyone thinking about doing it as a tour....DON'T. It cost us over 3,500 bahts for the 2 of us and we found out later it costs 15 bahts admission to the palace and we could have got a boat from outside our hotel to the palace which was about 10 minutes away. But, I am glad we went to Bangkok but don't think we would return. Phuket, on the other hand was wonderful. Our villa as I said previously was amazing. We just chilled out completely. We went to Patong one afternoon to do some shopping but apart from that never really left the resort. Our hotel was part of the Laguna complex with 4 other hotels which we could reach by boat from the lagoon or by shuttle bus. We were given a complimentary dinner cruise on their long-tail boat- The Sanya Rak. It was for my birthday and it was very nice. It was only the two of us on it along with the driver and the girl who cooked and served our 5-course meal. There was also a girl playing music throughout the cruise. We had champagne and I was presented with flowers and a cake too. It was romantic as we set sail just before the sun was setting and we sat in the centre of the lagoon while the sun was setting. It lasted around two and a half hours. If anyone is thinking og going to the Banyan Tree Phuket then I would highly recommend this. We were blessed with perfect weather our whole time and our flights with Thai airways were excelent too. The only downside of the holiday was on the return flight when I became unwell. About 3 hours into the flightI started feeling unwell. Anyway, I won't go into details...but.........all I can say is that Thai airways are needing to reconsider getting better quality sick bags!!!! OfcourseI am fussy where I decide to become ill.....must be business class for me. I wouldn't lower my standards and vomit in economy....now that certainly would not do.

p.s.....hope I have not put anyone off their dinner!!!SORRY !

[cruisinred]

HI Mary



Thanks for updating us on your Thailand trip. Sounds like you had a great time.

Can I make a request for you to please post your comments on the Asia thread as well so that others can see your comments?



Re. Banyan Tree----the hotel in Bangkok is in the portfolio and is often offered at auction, but I don't recall seeing their other resorts offered on LL.

http://www.luxurylink.com/fixedprice...45771&nav=dest



Cruisinred



PS- Hope you're feeling better....

Message Edited by cruisinred on 05-08-200712:56 PM

[mary-j]

Cruisinred, Banyan tree Bangkok is the only one of their resorts which does not have individual villas.It is thevillas with private pools that really attract me to the Banyan Tree resorts. I have seen the Bangkok one up for auction before but out of all their resorts that is the oneI am least interested in. Hopefully they will consider adding some of the other Banyan Tree resorts to their auctions. I am sure they would do very well.

[cruisinred]

I just came across the website for the Banyan Tree Ringha, in the Yunnan province of China, near to the mythical Shangri-la. The phots on the site look amazing....the resort is very thoughtfully decorated withlocal antique furniture.

http://www.banyantree.com/ringha/index.html

I think Banyan Tree would be a great match for LL