23
Apr
2008
Hi Kiki,
Well I was in Phuket recently (left 11 April) and it was my first Club Med experience so it's hard to rate it against any others but I absolutely had the best holiday of my life!
The village: lovely grounds and a great flow about it. Big pool (warm) which sits between the restaurant and the bar. Food is of a very good standard and consistent and lots of choice. The beach is a 2 minute walk from the pool and the water is clear and warm. No surf but apparently the next beach down has waves (bummer I found that out on my last day).
Village activities are probably much the same as other villages but they are really efficient at putting the notice up in the mornings showing when snorkelling, power walks, circus etc are on. Notice also displays dress code which when I was there was "white" one night, "Asian" another night as well as "brown and white" and I think there was a "black" night too? Oh, and there was a "jeans and white top" night. I found that GMs didn't really stick too much to the dress code but it didn't matter, people kind of half did it. The GOs of course all participated properly. Shows seem to be really well organised. Of course as a GM I'm not sure if there's any drama going on behind the scenes but it looked to me to be a well run place.
Staff: AWESOME! Karim was nice but I didn't chat to him too much. He seems to be well liked by the staff. Nick the barman is great but the stand-outs for me were some of the Circus team. I have to mention the wonderful Benny, Daniel and Wes (aka Wez) as they were phenomenal to me and they really made my holiday brilliant. The were great circus teachers (soooo patient with me), great party buddies but also great lads.... professional, fun, kind mind-readers!
Fawn, Alil, Gid, Dane also just fab. Righetto was very friendly, I don't know what he does there but he was always busy but always stopped to say hi.
For me, the holiday was great because I love to chat and socialise and not really into the small talk so much so people like Benny, Dan, Wes were great because the chats weren't "how long have you been at Club Med?". They were much more interesting.
Local amenities: Very close to the ATM (out the front, turn right, walk for 5 mins and there's a convenience store with an ATM). 5 minute Tuk Tuk ride (100 Baht) to Kata Village where you can find souvenirs, t-shirts, clothes, a Starucks (!), fake designer bags, pirate DVDs, fake sunnies, real sunnies etc. Also bars but the better bars outside CM are a little closer to CM (walking distance from the front gate, turn left).... Friends Bar, Zanzibar... there's a strip of them and you can't miss them.
On the beach you can hire a jet ski or parasail and it's quite cheap and you can have massages on the beach too (great for after circus, my abs killed me).
GM rooms were nice and clean, didn't see a GO room.
Phi Phi island is lovely but so crowded. My friends and I hired a twin motor boat ad the 4 of us (plus 2 Thai drivers) took us so we were more independent than a big group. Tey took us to a lagoon which was less crowded for a swim and that was lovely. We also went to a cove where you could lean up into the trees and feed wild monkeys. That was great. There is a place called Monkey Beach but I only saw one monkey there and it was also pretty crowded.
Half an hour from the village is Patong and the nighlife. I think tht was 400 Baht in a Tuk Tuk. Bars, loud music, strip shows and shops. Quite cool but once is enough.
All in all, I just rate CM Phuket highly enough. For me it was a 10 because of the village layout and the people (although the lady that did the trivia was a little annoying, had some incorrect trivia answers. I don't know her name.
In terms of partying, bar closed at 12 and then the nightclub is open until about 2. Wasn't really pumping but I had great nights there thanks to Benny, Dan, Wes and some other GMs.
Ages of GMs ranged from about mid 30's to mid 50's. Q
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