Palm Garden Resort

Palm Garden Resort offers standard and deluxe rooms as well as a bungalow. Rooms can have air conditioning, a fan, a private bathroom, a mini bar, a refrigerator, an electric kettle and an in-room safe box, and rooms can also have a balcony or terrace.

Rooms sleep up to four guests, and several measure 18 m². Beds include king beds and double beds, and some rooms offer a choice of bed set-ups. The Deluxe Double or Twin Room has a garden view.

Guests can use an outdoor and an indoor swimming pool, and the grounds include a garden and a terrace. Restaurants, a bar, room service and a coffee shop cover eating and drinking, and Asian and continental breakfast are served.

Luggage storage, safe deposit boxes, laundry service and daily housekeeping are offered, as are the 24-hour front desk, an airport transfer, car hire, a shuttle service and a taxi service. Tours can be arranged, and the resort has massage, diving, snorkelling, canoeing, fishing and a game room.

Free parking on site is available, and free WiFi is available in all rooms. Languages spoken include English, German and Thai, and there are books, DVDs and music for children, as well as satellite or cable channels. A kids meal is offered too.

Chalong is a quieter part of Phuket island, centred on the bay of the same name and on the boat pier from which boats leave for trips around the island and to nearby islands. It makes a calmer base than the busy strips of Patong, and Chalong Pier is 400 m from Palm Garden Resort.

The Chaithararam Temple, known as Wat Chalong, is 3.2 km away and is one of the best-known temples on the island, while the Big Buddha stands on a hill 3.3 km away with wide views over the island. Kata Beach is 4.7 km away and Patong Beach is 9.4 km, and Chalong Beach is also on the bay. Phuket's roads connect the beaches, and the resort offers car hire, a shuttle service and a taxi service for trips further afield. A night market is close by, and the Phuket Orchid Farm and the Phuket Botanic Garden are also worth a visit.

A good day could start at Wat Chalong and the Big Buddha, then continue to Kata for lunch and a swim, and end back at Chalong Pier to watch the boats come in. Sea trips from the pier can be affected by rough seas in the rainy months, so a day out by boat is best planned around the weather.