The Surin's location at Pansea Beach is, in itself, a very big plus for the resort. Only 2 resorts share this private beach, the other being Amanpuri. I find this the best quality beach in Phuket with its fine white sand, clear warm waters, clean and picturesque shoreline, and best of all, no crowds!

We chose to stay at The Surin to celebrate our anniversary. Every year, we strive to do better and The Surin certainly exceeded our expectations in many ways. Please read on at least the last part - “The Little Extras That DO Count” to find out more about why I was really compelled to write this lengthy and detailed review. They deserve it and hope you find this helpful.

The Check-in Experience:
We arrived at the resort around 7PM after a day spent island hopping around Phang Nga Bay with Phuket Sail Tours. (I'll write a separate review for that after this one.) Check-in was swift. We were seated and offered two glasses of cold refreshing lemongrass tea, and a fragrant corsage for my lady.

The first thing we noticed on our way to the room was the "maze" of staircases leading to each room perched along the hillside. It maybe is of a concern if you have kids or elderly travelling with you. For us, it was more of a fitness activity to balance off all the calories we have been amassing throughout the trip.

The Room:
We booked the deluxe room but were graciously upgraded to the beach studio suite right on the first row fronting the beach. As we entered the room, we were greeted with a generous basket of fruits with a personal note from the manager. The in-room lighting, furniture and the Bose SoundDock with iPod mini that came with the room filled the air with romance. The en suite bathroom was just marvelous. It made us feel right at home. The bed was comfortable and the plush pillows were tempting, but I wasn’t too tired yet for a snooze. After settling down for a few minutes, we heard a gentle knock on the door and a hotel staff offered us some sweet treats with compliments from the chef. The love of my life was just smiling ear to ear. And this was just the beginning of many more memorable moments in this resort.

The Dining Experience:
Beachfront Restaurant – We had our first dinner here as it was nearest our suite. It’s at the opposite end of the resort. We had pasta for the night and it came with a basket of assorted bread and breadsticks. The spaghetti was really good and is of right firmness. I loved how well the herbs went with the tuna. The serving size of the osso buco ravioli was slightly smaller for the price, however, the flavor was rich and it certainly did not disappoint.

Lomtalay – This Thai restaurant nearest the resort lobby also serves the daily buffet breakfast. The spread has everything you need and it even has an egg station and a waffle station to cater to how you want these dishes done.

Lomtalay has a magnificent view of the Phuket sunset. Our dinner service was excellent and the food was superb with very innovative Thai presentation. We found the mixed appetizer platter to be fun. Choose 4 among the samplers and they pick small portions of each and combine them to one platter. We especially liked the garlic mussels which came with a ceramic plate with 7 of these small ceramic cups covering the mussels to preserve the heat. Peek-a-boo! The phad thai was one of the best I've tasted. I was hoping their menu had Khao Kluk Kapi Talay (fragrant shrimp paste fried rice), but they didn’t have it - maybe next time.

The Pansea Beach Experience:
Absolutely gorgeous! There's an ample amount of loungers and beach umbrellas to enjoy Pansea Beach under the shade or under the searing sun. There are many activities you can do at the beach apart from enjoying a good book. We tried kayaking, snorkelling and wanted to try the catamaran but unfortunately it was under maintenance. The picturesque view, the tranquil sound of waves gushing on the shore, my darling on my left and an ice cold beer on my right all amount to PARADISE!

The Little Extras That DO Count:
It’s the small things that count and our experience with The Surin was Thai hospitality at its best.

Our flight out of Phuket was 10PM that night and we had checked out 12 noon same day. We had just spent the entire day enjoying the beach and at dusk, their staff was thoughtful enough to arrange one of their hillside cottages to have us shower and freshen up. It came truly unexpected and we definitely give The Surin lots and lots of brownie points for their kindness. First, the room upgrade and everything that came with it, then this. It just keeps getting better and better. They even went as far as arranging to have all our stuff brought up to the room and to think it was a rather steep climb up to the cottages.

We enjoyed the smooth ride to the airport in the resort’s Mercedes E-Class service. It took us twenty minutes to reach HKT and the driver drove very safely and was kind enough to help us with our luggages.

Now as we reminisce our Phuket trip through the countless photos we have taken, we remember the people who have made our stay and anniversary truly special and enjoyable. Thank you very much to the staff at The Surin for extending to us that true Thai hospitality.

Till we meet again, korb khun mak krub!

we where here and were came at Sunday to munich back it was the best holiday in my Life
The BEACH: its very cosy and clear water it was so 31° and 26° in the water the sand is so nice and at the mornig you can hear all the animals who theyre live
THE ROOM: My Husband, my Children and I have got a beachbungolow it was very expencive it gaves twobedroom and onebedroom huts for example: on one evening we had see a little snake 3 meter OMG
THE BREAKFAST : My Family we were every where and it was so nice BUT this it is our favourite hotel in the winter months because the breakfast had so much food and a very big omelete station where you can make omletes and fried egg juice it gaves a lot of juices
HOW LONG : were come ever at 29th Decamber and stay their 3 - 4 weeks cause its amazing. you cant stay their 1 week its too short Thanks for Antonyo and were come this year again

We stayed in the Surin Phuket for 2 Weeks over New Years Eve. It was the first time we visitied Thailand.
The resort is just amazing and the staff is extremly friendly and helpful.
The breakfast buffet just offers everything from danishes to good bread,from the omelette station, fruit bar, great variety juices and homemade marmelade. Thanks again Chak and his staff for being soooo nice ever morning.

The Beach bar at the pool offers a good variety of warm dishes for lunch. The best was the tuna sandwhich, but also the lobster sandwich with dark bread. The cold drinks like sprite and water from the hotel are expensive and the thai people working on the beach offer way cheaper drinks and coconuts, mangos, watermelon etc.

The pool area was very clean and it is a unique pool with its black tiles and the pool washrooms were extremly clean and smelt like lemongrass.
The fitness room is new and has the newest mashines. The size of the gym is sufficient for it is most of the time empty-its just too hot to do sports but it is airconditioned and you can find refreshments.

THE BEACH: we have travelled a lot in the world and seen different beaches and places.
BUT this beach we must say is paradise. It is so wide and the bay not very long. There are hardly people on this beach. There are only Surin guest and the guests of the Amanpuri hotel swimming in this bay. The water is very clean and turquoise. We never saw garbage or little pieces of plastic anywhere.

The thai people working on the beach are very friendly and after 3 days you talk to them like a close friend. The massages we must say are better than in the spa and of course wayyyyy much cheaper. A massage 60min at the beach cost 400 baht and in the spa 2200. by the way the pedicure is also good.

We booked a hillside cottage which was not new like the renovated ones. We were the first row from this category and walked from the pool ca. 160 steps. But you always have breaks like the lobby so you actually dont noticve them. That was our fitness. But this resort is not handicapped accessible.

The hut 236 had everything you wanted but you must get used to the fact that the sliding doors dont shut completly 100%. There is a little space even after closing both sliding doors where little insects can find their way in. The second night we had a gecko in our room which was 30cm long. But even the new huts have the same doors but you get used to the noises and are not afraid of the little insects.

The 2 x 2meters bed was very comfy and we really liked the closets and the bathrooms which are open with the bedroom. Having your own patio feels like you have your own little house in this resort. One really interesting thing to mention is that we packed loads of clothes and shoes and in the 2 weeks we only wore shoes leaving the hotel and walking barefoot was just a real holiday.

We must say though that the dining is expensive in the resort.
The first night we just wanted to eat one dish after the long flight from Germany and wanted to go to bed quickly. So we went to the main restaurant down at the lobby and almost fell over when the bill came. It was 5500 baht so about 130 € like one of the best restaurants in Munich. The room service offers great options of food but we must say the hotel should offer 1 or 2 more european dishes for after staying 10 days you want a normal pasta and not the childrens option of spaghetti bolognaise but which was great but small a portion. A really good club sandwhich is a must on a room service menu or fish and chips or etc.

What we really missed was that the hotel boutique was closed because of renovation. We wanted magazines, sweets or small presents. To get all these things you must leave the resort and go to the supermarket down the road ( 5 min) but still in the heat you want everything close by.

Eventhough renovation was in progress, the noise wasn't disturbing.
Antonio the manager told us that in April/May 2012 the hillside cottages will be renewed like the rest and everthing will become more beautiful but we cannot imagine how this resort can get any better that it already is.

Antonio gave us the chance of seeing every category- the beach bungalows,the superior cottages etc . These rooms are very nice and elegant, but we find the dark wood interior from the hillside match better than white and grey because the dark is more cosy. But still the new ones are very classy and unique.

We already have looked if it is possible to book for next year because we miss the resort sooo much. Reading all the comments of this hotel are helpful but you actually cannot explain the real fealing of being there - the scent, the breeze, the warmth, the atmosphere. One must experience this paradise by themself.

We must say staying here was just amazing - we left the hotel 2 times to visit James bond island with the June Bahtra (we recommend this trip) and the local weekend market in phuket,which was 30min away-also a very good trip.

Thank you Antonio and his extremely friendly staff for giving us a time to remember and we will be back in 11months.

The beach and view alone are a complete sell for this resort. I have traveled the world and the beach and sunset are one of the most beautiful I've seen. The individual cottages are private and tucked into the natural landscape. The remodel is beautiful and tasteful. We had fresh fruit and flowers in our room everyday and the resort supplied an endless amount of water. The pool is huge, well maintained and right on the beach. Most of the resorts in Phuket are not on the beach and you have to walk or take a shuttle to a crowded beach. This resort is right on the beach and you can hear the waves from your room. Definitely well worth it!

Here are a few recommendations:
-Order drinks from the local vendors on the beach during the day as they are about one third of the price of the resort.
-If you want to eat at the resort, walk down the beach to the restaurant. It is a great view, larger menu and wonderful food.
-If you can splurge, get the beach front cottages, but I would not recommend the hilltop cottages.
-Take advantage of the breakfast which is wonderful and included.
-The resort had some great restaurant recommendations, but I would avoid Catch Beach Club. It's fine for drinks, but the food and service is not good.