40699 4 Location 548226 <p>this is my second time at the Indigo pearl, last December the place was still under renovation (most of it) so it's kind of nice to come back to see how it looks completed, i.e. where I'm typing this right now, the "library" is beautiful. </p><p>I like Nai Yang Beach (Hat Nai Yang) it is 2 km only from the airport, good if you are only escaping to Phuket from the city jungle for the weekend like me (but you don't hear the planes) and is quite sleepy (not sure if business has just generally slowed down post tsunami as Nai Yang was hit hard &amp; therefore the new Indigo Pearl is actually a renovated version of the destroyed hotel. Naiyang beach is not the cleanest beach (not sure if the trash is washed in from the ocean a la Hong Kong style) bu is a family local beach, you'll see kids here play soccer/football, no touts, and if you eat at the local family run seafood restaurant a couple times, they 'll remember you like an old friend (try the excellent seafood at Mamamia bar) </p><p>the rooms here are reasonable (around $110/$120) and if you don't want to sit by the multiple choices of pool all day the beach is very quiet compared to the other beaches in Phuket (Patong for one)</p><p>I remember the front desk manager with fond memories coz the last time I was here they didn't have a biz center ready and he let me use one of their computers in their backoffice. His attitude reflects the attitude of the hotel, they try hard to please. (i.e. I got to check in 8:30 in the morning and check out 2 p.m. -- no questions asked, everytime you ask for directions in the hotel, they'll walk you to there)</p><p>at the pool the area was a bit under staffed so you have to take charge in order to order food or drinks, they bring little things by (ie fruits or nice smelling wet towels) but after guests leave there seems to be no one to clean up immediately</p><p>the spa treatment is nice and again reasonably priced, but not the prettiest spa I 've seen (not being fair here but I still have memories of the beautiful Mandarin Oriental Chiang Mai spa).</p><p>food is good, but expensive compared to the ones you can get right on the beach that are run by the moms &amp; pops, Black Ginger is a beautiful space, breakfast at the Tin Mine feels overrun (a bit) by companies running their conferences here and everyone wearing their dog tags around their necks.</p><p>some people don't like the modern hotel &amp; rooms (the kind you'd expect to see in the next hip hotel book) coz it's not very Thai -ish at all (there 's a tin mine theme-- NaiYang used to be before the phuket tourist boom a mining town) I actually think the design of the whole hotel is quite well executed. While there are lots of gardeners around, it looks like some of the plants/trees/flowers are struggling to grow .....</p><p>all in all, a lovely place to spend the weekend.</p> 2007-08-24T21:25:38-07:00 1235222530 2007-07-31T17:00:00-07:00 0 16 237050 5382463 40699 0 265588 0.0 2007-07-31T17:00:00-07:00 Published 0.0 2007-08-26T02:54:05-07:00 92589 0