Phuket is one of those places I dreamed of visiting when I was a child, especially since my family ended up going without me on two occasions. I’ve been wanting (but not dying) to go ever since, even though the general consensus isn’t exactly ‘Phuket is AMAAAZING’. Just one of those places I had to see for myself, you know.

First of all, Dream Hotel is beautiful:

There is a smaller rooftop pool available but we didn’t spend much time there. The big pool was too tempting – plus it had a swim-up bar.

A taxi from the airport costs 700 baht normally, but we managed to haggle it down to 600 – hey that’s over £2 in savings! Haha.

Dream Hotel is located halfway down from the airport to the popular tourist area  of Patong, so the ride took about 20 minutes (it’s 50 minutes to Patong).

We didn’t bother to visit Patong at all because we’d heard a lot of negative things about it (I don’t fancy big crowds).. and sincerely, I loved hanging out at Dream so much that I felt it better worth our time. We did do an island-hopping day-trip, which seemed mass-produced and not as idyllic as it sounds. It made us long to be on the clean, peaceful, and beautiful grounds of Dream even more.

Digression: A couple of nice photos I got from the island trip:

The staff will advise and help you book any boat trips or other activities you might be interested in, although you might find better prices if you looked around yourself outside or online.

Our hotel room was modern and clean. It also kept up-to-date with the trend of not installing any doors to separate the bathroom area. There was a pillow menu. I ordered all the pillows because I am one of those annoying people who needs to feel with my hands (and face) to decide. The bed was huge and I had a few good dreams on it. DREAMS.. geddit?? DREAM HOTEL?

You know what didn’t disappoint? The breakfast that was included in the room rate. No boring ‘continental breakfast’! I was so happy.

There was porridge – that’s rice porridge, not stodgy bland oats  – with all the amazing salty condiments like fried anchovies and salted duck egg and preserved vegetables. I looked forward to this every morning, along with the green curry, fried rice, noodles, and fresh tropical fruits..

PLAYTIME AT THE POOL

I went and bought these three yummy things – pink donut float, giant pizza float, funny pretzel float) – just for the trip. The pizza was definitely the best – it has holes to hold your drinks! Apparently you can buy eight and connect them all to form a whole pizza.

DREAM BEACH CLUB

Aside from the main hotel grounds, the resort also includes Dream Beach Club, which you can access via free regular shuttles that go back and forth every day.

I loved Dream Beach Club! There are beds (and towels)! And music! There are regular DJs there and the afternoon vibe is energetic and fun.

If you want some quiet there is a private beach – Dream Beach – that connects to/is a part of Layan Beach. We went there a lot. In these photos it seems pretty empty but that’s because I went there especially early (read: 11am) to get these shots before the place filled up.

LAYAN BEACH

An empty beach is a good beach. Except if you hurt yourself and there’s nobody around to help you? Haha

SUNSET

On some evenings the hotel puts on a fire show. Too bad it poured down so much on my visit but at least the flames survived..

SUNDAY BRUNCH

The Sunday Brunch at Dream Beach Club comes highly recommended – and we’d heard so much about it from Christine (our host at Dream) in the days leading up to Sunday. She said to expect A LOT OF FOOD.

There was a lot of food. All kinds! It was served buffet-style next to the pool so there were a lot of undecisive people skulking around with their plates – this includes me.

There were burgers and pizza and roast. Grilled seafood, stuffed croissants, and a variety of condiments. It was just amazing and made you wish you had eight stomachs.

I stuffed myself with a lot of papaya salad (my all-time favourite Thai dish).

BOAT AVENUE FRIDAY NIGHT MARKET

One of the little excursions you can enjoy from Dream is a jaunt to a buzzing local food market – the Boat Avenue Friday Night Market that happens.. every Friday (surprise).. in Cherng Talay. The hotel provides a free shuttle to and from – it’s about 15 minutes away. You just have to sign up at reception.

It’s exactly how you’d imagine an Asian food market – lots of stalls, lots of strong smells, and lots of food that appeal to your curiosity (and sense of adventure). It seems to be frequented by lots of local people too.

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If you’re ever in Phuket and want some fun and peace at the same time, do consider staying at Dream. It’s a little haven away from the touristy spots and you’ll be treated and fed well. They also don’t mind if you order ALL the pillows from the pillow menu!

Click here for rates & availability or book directly from the website 🙂

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At first I was a little bummed to be moving there from the amazing Holiday Inn Resort but.. WOW IT WAS SO GREEN AND BEAUTIFUL FULL OF PLANTS AND oh it was just so green.

It boasts two pools.. each one is relatively small, but set amongst tall palm trees and.. more palm trees. Haha!

They provide chalet-style accommodation. It’s really like a little paradise village where the walkways/paths are the streets.

The yellow building was our (mine and my sister’s) room.  Look at all the flowers and.. erm.. palm trees!

The rooms are not fancy and do not boast any luxury benefits such as cable TV or a built-in multi-phone-charger. But they have all the essentials and are comfortable and clean. Except that one morning, I found our bathroom had been converted into a communal home for a thousand wasps overnight. Luckily, I’m not afraid of insects and anyway, they died a couple of hours later.. further converting the bathroom into a wasp cemetery. I was not really bothered.

Rates start from €69 for a standard double room – during peak season this is €160.

More info on their rooms here.

This is just beside the reception, on the right leading to the restaurant and in the middle you’ll see a little opening to the stairway that takes you down to the pool area.

Even the restaurant is green and cosy!

There are little things scattered all over the place.. it was rather quirky in a sense. Like these birds above!

There was a little black cat that was always roaming about. He was surprisingly friendly and extremely playful! We put him on top of the pool table and let him play with the balls. Soon after, we got told off by one of the staff.

When the sun begins to set, the lights are turned on and LOOK how magical the place becomes! The pool is on the right side in this pic.

^My sister and I.

Every time we had time to spare at the resort, we would be lounging by the pool because it was the prettiest place to be. Erm, and also there was no wifi in the rooms….. Hahaha

I admit I think I spent a bit too much time on my gadgets.. but I had just gotten a new retina-display Mini Apple iPad from Argos and it’s fab!

It replaces my old iPad 2 and it’s a better size for little me.

I’ve been addicted to this zombie game called Dead Trigger 2. The gameplay is awesome and it’s so much fun!!! It also gets my heart pounding.. sometimes.

It suits me, right?? I think so anyway.

^Wasting time with my iPad in a boat that’s not even in water…

I downloaded some movies to watch on it during times when I was on the plane or bus but most times I was so exhausted I just didn’t bother.

It’s exhausting sitting on other people’s scooters for a photo, for example.

And it’s exhausting to see people squeeze into a tuk-tuk with their giant bags..  I mean.. it was SO HOT.

OH! I want to say a big thank you to the fantastic staff at Emerald Garden Resort for taking the trouble to send to me by post – free of charge – my set of earphones that I so carelessly left behind on one of the sun loungers by the pool. How efficient and kind of them.. I’m so pleased 🙂

This post was brought to you by Argos

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