Every year we try to do at least one big family holiday. This year we decided we would meet in Thailand for a 3 night, 4 day vacation. The grandparents would fly from Hong Kong, my sis-in-law and her kids from Boston and our family from Singapore.
When you are young and childless choosing a hotel for a vacation is quite simple. But when children are involved there is a lot more planning and thought that goes into a vacation. Naturally I searched the internet and read all the forums to find the perfect place for our Thailand holiday. After reading countless reviews and numerous conversations with my friends, we decided to stay at Angsana Laguna Phuket.
There are many reasons why we chose to stay at the Angsana Laguna Phuket versus the many other hotels out there. Let me tell you our reasons….
Spacious Family Style Rooms
Although most adults can usually be out in the sun, shopping and dining all day and night – kids (especially the little ones) need a comfortable place to just “chill out”. Angsana Laguna Phuket has 409 rooms with varying configurations from views of the lush gardens to rooms that allow you to dive into the swimming pool. We decided that the two bedroom suites would be the best choice for our family holiday. The set up of the rooms was just perfect; we had two side by side suites which made it easy for the 10 of us to coordinate and assemble before activities.
During the evening (around 5:30 pm) the four little kids would gather together in our suite and eat an early dinner (either hotel take-away or room service). The suite also had multiple flat screen tvs with ipod cable attachments, so we were able to plug in our ipad and the kids were able to enjoy their favorite movies while eating and playing together. The Angsana suites really made us feel like we were at home and not at some hotel in Thailand.
The kids had an awesome time just hanging out in the room. It really was a home away from home!
Super Note: The room also had a microwave, which made it easy to heat up food and for the kids. This is not mentioned anywhere in their brochures, so it was a pleasant surprise. I just wished I would have packed some microwavable popcorn.
Fun in the Sun, Sand & Sea
Something that is very important when selecting a hotel for a “beach” holiday, is to actually make sure the hotel actually is located on the beach (or in walking proximity). Angsana Laguna Phuket is located on the white sandy shores of Bang Tao Bay and has unparalleled beachfront access to waters of the Andaman Sea.
The beach area surrounding Angsana was very clean and not crowded.
We collected seashells, built sand castles and of course rode the waves. The kids just couldn’t get enough!
In addition to the fairly sizeable beach area with lounge chairs and hotel service, Angsana also owns “Xana Beach Club”. Xana Beach Club is a great place to enjoy a good meal and cocktails, all while hanging out in the 35 metre infinity pool overlooking the beach. They also have VIP cabanas and lounge chairs.
Kids Eat, Stay & Play for FREE
One of the great things about Angsana Laguna Phuket is that kids under the age of 12 get to dine for free. What this meant was that every time we ordered an adult meal off the menu we were able to order something for the kids as well. Not only did the kids get to order a main, they also got a dessert at the end.
Since we had 4 kids as part of group, we did save a lot of money because of the “kids stay, play & dine for free” promotion. I also liked the fact that there was a kid’s menu at ALL of the Angsana dining establishments, so the kids were able to have their favorite foods, while the adults were able to enjoy a variety of cuisines.
The Treehouse Kid’s Club
The Angsana Treehouse Kid’s Club is an awesome place for kid’s to hang out. There was massive outdoor, fully covered playground – which was great for the kids to burn off that extra energy.
The playground included a variety of slides, rock climbing, seesaw, tunnels, zip slide and much more.
We were easily able to spend an hour just outdoors at the playground without the kids complaining of getting bored.
In addition to the outdoor playground, Angsana also has an indoor air-conditioned “soft” playground for the younger kids.
For the older kids, there was an indoor entertainment area and video game stations.
Special Angsana Birthday Celebrations
One of the main reasons why we try to meet up as a family over the summer holidays is because both my husband and father-in-law have birthdays that are one day apart. This way they able to celebrate their birthdays together. When we arrived at Angsana I informed them of our special birthday celebrations and they provided us with complimentary cakes (and candles) to make the celebration extra memorable.
Angsana’s Resident Elephant “Lucky”
Angsana has a resident elephant named “Lucky”. He roams around the hotel and has scheduled visits as well. Naturally the kids just loved him. We even got the opportunity to hang out with lucky when he was taking a swim at the beach. This was a total surprise for us. We were the only people on the beach so we really got some personal time to play with Lucky. Definitely a highlight of the trip.
Long Winding Pools Throughout the Resort
Most resorts just have one main pool area for all the guests to enjoy, Angsana is different! One of the main reasons why the kids just loved this resort was the variety of swimming areas.
There is a man-made beach area, swimming pool with a poolside bar, toddler pool, Xana Beach Club and then also a bunch of winding pools that intertwine between the rooms and resort facilities. If you are really lucky you might even be able to get a poolside room with direct access to the swimming pool straight from your balcony!
There were definitely a lot of different “swimming” options to keep the kids entertained.
Spa Treatments
Angsana is known as a “spa” hotel. Whether or not a hotel has a good spa really doesn’t matter to me because I never get a spare moment to enjoy a treatment. However, thanks to the awesome kids club activities, my sis-in-law and I did have the opportunity to sneak away for a much needed massage.
We signed the kids up for an arts & crafts activity, which ended up keeping them quite busy, so they didn’t even realize we were gone for almost 2 hours.
Angsana also offers a “kid’s spa” menu of treatments which is a nice little holiday treat for the little girls. My nieces did love being the nail art and pampering by the Angsana manicurist.
Angsana is part of “Laguna Phuket”
I just love concept of the Laguna Phuket. Laguna Phuket is Asia’s first integrated resort with a variety of deluxe hotels and villas over 1,000 acres of land and eight kilometers of beach at Bang Tao Bao on Phuket’s West coast, in Thailand. Since we were staying at the Angsana Laguna Phuket, we were easily able to access all the restaurants, bars, botique shopping spas and other hotel’s activities within minutes by their complimentary shuttle boats and buses.
During the day, we took the boat around to the various other hotels and to Canal Shops. Normally when we are on holiday is a nightmare trying to gather 10 people in the same area and organize transportation to go exploring off hotel property. Staying at the Angsana was different. It was really easy to get around and explore on the shuttle boat – plus the kids felt that they taking a mini cruise. We were never bored because there were so many restaurants and activities at all of the various Laguna hotels to choose from.
Best of all, even if you are at another Laguna hotel you can bill everything directly to your room (no need to carry around tons of cash).
SuperMommy’s Overall Opinion:
We loved staying at the Angsana Laguna Phuket! The kids keep asking when we are going to go back. This was definitely one AMAZING holiday that the whole family will remember for the years to come!!!
-xoxo-
SuperMommy
