Nelah@Villa Zolitude, Phuket - Thailand

Can't believe there were 3 incidents of earthquake in a span of one week in Phuket after we left. What a close call -my goodness gracious!! I am telling you if only I scheduled this tripis a week later, we would certainly experience the shock of our lifetime running up the mountain for lives and had a set of exciting/unexpected memories to share with you all. Not the kind of experience anyone want. Imagine the chaotic scene once a Tsunami warning had been issued!!



If you remember from one of my posts before the trip, you knew I was terrified as you can refer my condition as a Tsunami phobia. Much to my relief and fear, the resort I picked was not the beach front facility. It is up on the mountain far away from any beaches yet still in Phuket and is easily accessible to the beach with a car. I chose this place for the very obvious reason. The closer to the mountain, the better..wahaha.Villa Zolitude was my safe, peaceful haven during our stays in Phuket.


[Part of the resort from a distance view]


[Reception area]




[More photos from a reception area - the view is just gorgeous since this is on a higer level]

First off, most resorts in Phuket are designed with honeymoon couples in mind, thus this resort is ideal for love birds out there. I went with it anyway even though we traveled as a family because we all fell in love with the serene and lush green setting of the resort. It was so different from all front beach facilities out there in Phuket. It is actually the best of both worlds where you take a relaxing stroll in a tropical jungle paradise-like setting while enjoying the luxuries of Phuket beaches within 20 mins drive.





[Main pool across from the restaurant

]

If you are nature lovers and do not want the hustle bustle of night life, you are in for a real deal. The resort doesnt have "no children" policy but i can tell you that it is quite rare to spot families with small children here (per the ladies at the reception). So if you dont like the noisy kids while on vacation, Villa Zolitude is a good option. For family with small child, try to stick with a one story villa like what we did for safety reason.

Overall, the resort is serene and gorgeous all around. You will constantly hear the sound of nature (bugs/insects) pretty much all day long but I dont' mind that. When reading reviews on Agoda and Tripadvisor, I just couldn't believe how some people could be such idiots. The resort is in the mountain and they complain about the insects' noise. To me that is just ridiculous. They should have booked a hotel in a concrete jungle. Once you shut the door, you don't really hear a thing. We didn't experience any mosquitoes or bug bites though, we were lucky I guess.


[Lovely seating area in front of a library]


[Restaurant]



A private villa exceeded our expectations in person in terms of beautiful design, functionality and did i mention "size"?? Boy, it was spacious and HUGE with two seperate areas divided by a huge divider which allows the person in a bedroom to sleep or rest without being interrupted by a person in a living room but I shall talk more about that in a seperate post and show you more photos of the villa later.

On another note, this resort is very popular among Chinese-speaking tourists so there is a Chinese speaking staff onsite for your convenience. It is also particularly popular among Korean tourists as well. Not many Europeans nor Americans from my observation during that time.

Now the price tag, Phuket's high season is between November - March and we happened to be there during the high season thus more expensive. The best deal my younger brother and I could find was on Agoda.com. The price listed on Villa Zolitude was over $400/night/villa for a one story private pool villa but Agoda offered a little over $300+/night/villa so it was a better deal. When booking with Agoda, make sure you call the hotel/resort about two weeks in advance to confirm the booking because I have heard many unpleasant stories of people who had the surprise of their lives when arriving at the hotel/resort just to find out the hotel/resort didn't receive the booking from Agoda. For us, it was a good first experience both with Agoda and Villa Zolitude.