JBR: Back from 4 days in Kata!

Hi kids!

It%26#39;s been a fantastic 4 days in Phuket. This report may pale in comparison to the 3 month type reports you get here but here goes in a nutshell.

Hotel: Sugar Palm in Kata. Pool access room, triple share. Great value hotel. Service excellent, always smiling and happy to help. We didn%26#39;t swim that much but it was nice having water at your doorstep. Hotel provided complimentary water, free slippers, towels the usual. It%26#39;s a small hotel so not sprawling grounds but it was what I expected. I liked that it was modern and well-maintained.

JBR: Back from 4 days in Kata!

Location: Excellent. It%26#39;s opposite Kata Beach Resort. 7-11, restaurants.

Food: All meal prices are for 3 girls and a drink each.

We ate at Kata Mama%26#39;s (meant to go to Kata Pen but could not find the sign) 2 units away from Ska Bar on the beach. This meal was ok but more fantastic because we had just arrived and we sat facing the sea listening to the waves, perfect start to a beach holiday. My friends thought the prawns could be fresher but they weren%26#39;t spoiled in any way. We had lunch there so maybe fresher stuff comes for dinner.

Tung Ka Cafe. This was fresh and nice but not that fantastic to me. My 2 friends loved it though. I think the 3 or 4 dishes we ordered all had that lemon and lemon grass flavour so it wasn%26#39;t varied enough for me. Freshness was very good and view was fantastic. Atmospheric and yet we found it cheap. (Abt 600bht). A driver to and fro from Kata cost us 600bht

Kwong Shop Seafood: Very fresh. We had crab with curry but I%26#39;ve had nicer curry sauce in Phuket. Service good, not pushy at all. We enjoyed this. I can%26#39;t quite rem but this was maybe 800bht.

Capinnanas: This was excellent homestyle Italian. Not a fine dining sort of place but yummy, tasty and calorific. With a 100bht tip, this was about 1000bht. Service excellent. Very quiet for lunch. We were very satisfied as this was less than half what we would have paid back home in Singapore. This is about 10m to the right when you exit the Sugar Palm hotel lane. There is a sign at the entrance of this small street (soi option 1) that says Buffalo steakhouse and Capinnanas among other restaurants.

Natalie%26#39;s: Right outside our hotel in the same lane, we had this for lunch. Big portions, fresh yummy and tasty food. We ate lots here for about 700bht with drinks.

Mali%26#39;s: We didn%26#39;t eat here because we ran out of mealtimes but just want to comment that the prices were as cheap as Natalie%26#39;s so no reason to be intimidated by the nicer surroundings.

Parlai seafood: This was our last dinner. We had crabs in curry sauce again. The waitress was friendly and spoke good English. She was also happy to make recommendations and we were happy with everything. We had 4 small crabs (the blue ones), 2 steamed, 2 curry. She invited us to choose our live seafood but we left it to her. Only 700bht but we had to pay for transport (see below).

Summer coffee house: From Sugar Palm to Boathouse, keep walking in the same direction. This is just a couple of metres down from Mom Tri%26#39;s boathouse%26#39;s entrance on the same side of the road. I didn%26#39;t want to spoil dinner but my friend had an ice coffee and it tasted good. Quiet place to rest out of the heat, free internet, we wish we had found it earlier to hang out with our books.

Shopping: My friends bought slippers and dresses and pashmina shawls and sunglasses. Prices ranged from 150-200 I think. Some unique handmade belts with seashels on them cost 3 for 1000. I bought tees for 150 to 180.

The way bargaining works is you just keep smiling. If you don%26#39;t like the final price walk on. But just keep smiling and both you and shopkeeper will enjoy the experience better and often you get what you want. It worked when bargaining for the one taxi we took.

Beach chairs: We paid 100bht per person for whole day but only spent 1 or 2 hrs. Both Kata and Karon. Kata is nice with its cosier feel. Karon beach seemed quieter and chairs more spread out? I%26#39;m not sure if it%26#39;s because Karon is more open or it was going to drizzle but it was definitely breezier on Karon beach on the day we sat there than Kata.

It started to drizzle and got gusty so we went to a taxi pedestal thing (they tend to be on the beach side of the road) and were offered 200 from Karon back to Kata.

Drivers: We used Mr Pong once. He offered 600bht to and fro for Parlai seafood. I asked if 500 would do and he agreed after asking how long we would spend there. One thing odd is when we got close to Parlai he suddenly started talking about another place Pong Pang or similar name and then he swung to the left towards the sign. But I had seen Parlai was straight ahead so I just said I wanted to go to Parlai and he turned back. I wonder if he got a commission for Pong Pang as it was weird that he said ';I think Parlai more expensive'; when every Thai person we had talked to said ';Parlai not expensive/cheaper';. Anyway he was agreeable once we restated our intention and he was polite. His car was a huge 4wd.

For airport both transfers, we used Mr Manop for 1000bht total. He spoke good English and was quite keen, rattling off figures and facts about Phuket. Nice chap. He was our transport for Tung Ka as well. He recommended Island Herbal Spa to us saying he could get us a freebie facial thrown in but we already had spa bookings so we did not try this.

Tailor: Wow, I got the recommendation from Pamies off this forum. Instyle. They have an outlet very near Dino Park and one in Patong. We went to the Dino Park one, the sign says Rich%26#39;s. Mr Manit picked me up from hotel after I called him. Young looking guy, very polite, very pleasant. Met the dog cesar who entertained my friend while I tried things. Highly recommended, I only tailored a pair of cashmere wool silk mix black pants for work. 1550bht, I did not even bargain. I loved that they did not push for anything, total professionals.

I went about 3plus and he asked when I was leaving. When he heard it was in a few days time, he said he would arrange one fitting for me that night if I could make it. I went back at 9pm and it was ready. It was a bit loose fit which I had asked for. He said they would adjust it after the fitting. His dad Mr Niphon was there and just as gentlemenly and professional as Mr Manit.

Anyway, I%26#39;ve written quite a bit about this because the extreme non-pushyness of my previous experiences with tailor in Bangkok and even my usual tailor in Singapore (who always tries to get me to buy an extra pair or two).

As promised, my finetuned pants were ready the next day and fit as I expected.

Spa and massages: Ooh, we spa-ed. We joked about being spa-ed out but we weren%26#39;t.

Body Mind Spa: They had no electricity together with whole of Karon the day we booked. The owner Andy was there and after their van delivered us, he apologised and told us we could still get the 20% early hour booking if we chose to have the spa at a later time, any time. We opted for that night. Very nice and relaxing spa, beautifully done up. We all 3 tried different things and enjoyed ourselves (2 hour sport massage, Jasmine Secret Rice, Scrub and Classic Thai).

Royal Spa: This was at Sugar Palm and they only have 2 rooms so my friend took one and my other friend and I shared. We tried a variety of things: Lymphatic massages, Royal Thai (2hrs), facial, body wraps, all good. On hindsight this was slightly cheaper than Body Mind Spa because they have a 100bht 1-year silver membership which entitles you to 50% off spa treatments!

We appreciated that the lymphatic massage was listed as 60mins and when my friend asked for 90mins, instead of charge 1.5x the usual price, they just charged what a 2 hr aromatherapy massage would have cost which was at least 100 or 200bht cheaper. Flexibility and good service.

We each got a 800bht voucher when we checked in and with the voucher, the Royal Thai (2hrs) I got was only 650bht in their nice room.

Lucky Friend: We used this for a foot and neck massage 1hr, 250bht the last night and it was very good. The room was not as cool as Royal Spa but for the price, can%26#39;t complain. Certainly the 2 girls who massaged us knew what they were doing and we were dozing off. My masseuse was called No (sp?).

For the trip back, we left hotel at 7am. Mr Manit was prompt. The drive was quicker than expected due to lack of traffic at the hour. Took about 40mins only.

Also, it was very pleasant meeting Ring0 / Chantal who was at her diveshop opposite Boathouse. She chatted with us and gave us tips on how to find restaurants. Thanks Chantal for all your sharing of information!

Wow, I think I%26#39;ve shared almost all the information I%26#39;ve personally experienced from this one trip alone. I think I better split most of this report into the second post so that there isn%26#39;t a huge chunk repeating on every page!

JBR: Back from 4 days in Kata!

I just realised how incredibly long my trip report for 4 days is haha but you can%26#39;t say I%26#39;m holding any info back.

Oh yes, I wanted to add that I did a horseride at Chalong with the Phuket Riding Club. I was picked up by the owner%26#39;s daughter Anna, to and fro 500bht. 1.5hrs on a quiet horse through a village and some trees and on the beach cost 1050. My guide was Plen and was very careful and friendly. I can already ride and we trotted a few portions otherwise think it would have been ever longer. It lasted 1hr 45mins.

Hello,

Do You have a business card with an address and phone number for the tailor as it is nice to have a recomendation as there are so many tailors and not all do a fantastic job. Last year i got ambushed by so many in the end chose one and the shirts i had made i was not that impressed with.

Even though you only had 4 days in Phuket i loved your JBR so informative especially the restaurants.

Julie

Thanks for your JBR cindy.

We%26#39;re considering Sugar Palm as an option for an extended stay next winter. It looks good but my only concern is the distance from Patong action.

Was this an issue for the location??

Jenson: You might say I%26#39;m a foodie :D. Tailor website - http://www.phukettailor-instyle.com/ all info there. Do call them to ask for a pick-up. Pls say hi from Cindy from Singapore and give the dog a pat! btw, I asked for washable fabric as I did not want to dryclean. The quality was noticeably better than what I got in Bangkok where they were quite pushy.

BobnJanette: I was told Patong is about a 15min drive away and that it would cost about 400bht and also noticeably more crowded even though it was off-peak season. We didn%26#39;t head to Patong due to lack of time and we weren%26#39;t looking for much buzz. I think it depends.

I%26#39;ll say it%26#39;s no issue as long as you don%26#39;t mind paying the taxi fare. You will be going around June to Sept I think which is offpeak season. Prices are a little more bargainable.

Great JBR Cindy. I love to have all the info you supplied makes for more informative reading and decision making on where to go/eat/see etc.

Cheers

Tink

Great trip report and it was nice meeting you Ladies Cindy. Glad you made it to Capanninas and the Kwong Shop (did you meet Mr Okeh?).

BTW Kata Pen Seafood is right next to The Ska Bar on the left of Kata Mammas facing the sea. This whole area is owned by the same family.

Hope you come back again someday.

Chantal

Chantal, thanks! You did say that but we had not enough meals left. So much good food in Phuket :D. We also passed by the Horn Grill you mentioned a lot and it looked reasonably priced (250bht for a steak?), we noticed they had a thai menu too but I%26#39;m not sure if they%26#39;re good for thai food as well? Next trip I guess :D.

Oh, we caught the firedancers at Ska Bar on the beach, it was a fun show. It started 10plus, the bar was full so we didn%26#39;t go in.

btw, my return transfer to the airport was by Mr Manop (not Manit, I typoed in my encylopaedic report haha).

And Chantal will definitely be back! Hopefully next time it won%26#39;t take 3 years to get organised, I actually meant to go back last year but I had a broken jaw accident so that nixed it!

Hi

Any contact details for your driver? Need a reliable pick up from Phuket airport to Kata Thani in 2 weeks time.

Thanks

Driver: Mr Manop Pukpaya

084 0612933

m_pukpaya@hotmail.com

The second driver we used just for a dinner trip was Mr Pong 081 5383431.