First time ever o/s holiday in two weeks time. Looking for info if possible, on what to pack, what to see and where to go while staying in Phuket for ten days at the Gracelands Resort from seasoned travellers. Staying in a Gracelands Suite with wife and 18yo daughter. Thanks in advance for any replies.
Gracelands @ Phuket, Thailand
LTothy on 19/11/2013 - 12:49
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Thanks any little bit of knowledge helps…
Tafe is right. Pack light as there are plenty of shops that sell almost everything at a very cheap price ( I mean $ to Bhat). Fantasia and Cruise to Phi Phi island is a must. Bangla road is for night life. Close to this strip is another big shopping mall. For your wife and daughter there are plenty of pedicures / manicure / hair parolours all over at a very cheap price. (For guys there are always a place to relax at 'massage parlours' wink wink :))
Currency Exchage: Please have only around $50 worth of Thai Bhats exchanged before you leave Aus. Do not change any more that as you will be losing a lot in this process. Avoid currency exchange at airports. There are lot of Bank operated currency exchange booths in Phuket. You get much better rate. KASIKORN Bank provides a better rate amonst most others. Look for green booths around town. You will have a very good service provided to you by staff in hotel, restaurants etc. Dont be shy in tipping if you think you were looked after. A tip of 100 Thai Bhat (around $4) and you will be treated like a king. While shpping around in markets for clothes and memorabilia dont accept the price marked on a product. Haggling is part of the market culture so get into it. Try to book airport pickup and breakfast as part of your hotel package. Enjoy your trip.
Very helpful info here…once again thanks for your insights. Just another thought tho….what do you do with your mobile phones? All on contracts here, can we just use them as usual but being mindful of costs incurred by being o/s?
Using a post-paid contract phone overseas is a terrible idea. It's how >$1000 bills get racked up by surprise. Buy a local sim card when you arrive. Will only cost a few dollars and you can get plenty of sms and some mobile data. Plenty of free wifi around for messaging via internet too.
"Currency Exchage: Please have only around $50 worth of Thai Bhats exchanged before you leave Aus. "
Why on earth would you do that when you can pull THB out of an atm at the airport at a better rate of exchange.
No charge at atm if using Citibank Plus everyday account
Long time lurker, had to sign up just for this one!
Just got back from Gracelands 3 days ago - lovely resort, but here are my observations, many of which match those already posted:
- Pack light - you will come back with WAY MORE CRAP than you took there.
- Try not to buy much in the first couple of days, until you've got a feel for the value of things there - I got way more scorched on deals in the first day than any other point.
- When haggling, don't be afraid to walk away! Not that this is likely a problem for many OzBargainers, but it can close a good haggle if the vendor is digging their heels in. Also, remember to do it with a smile on your face - it's all part of the drill for them, but I personally witnessed a couple of meat-head Australians (unfortunately) abuse the crap out of one vendor for not selling them 20 pairs of sunnies for 400 baht (~$13AUD). Just wasn't cool.
- The Eden mini mart around the corner is great for snacks and drinks. Long-necks of Singha are 60 baht (~$2AUD), they've got cans, Bacardi breezers, liquor, the lot. Nice and cozy too. It's super-cheap compared to the resort, and even the guys on the beach (who are still pretty bloody cheap).
- The breakfast food at Gracelands is pretty good, but nothing compared to the food you will find out and about.
- Yep - 100 baht seems to be the pretty standard tip for good service.
- Definitely don't change your cash here is Australia, those cash places charge a WHOPPING commission as I found out. I'm with Suncorp, and we could just withdraw our money from savings at every ATM we tried there, and the bank's fee was more reasonable, plus the ~$5AUD ATM fee.
- Gracelands rooms have umbrellas, not a bad idea to carry one around: it can pour for half hour at midday, then be hot again.
- Mobile phones - unless you need to use HEAPS of calls/data, we just used my wife's Woolies mobile prepaid. Roaming and data work fine in a pinch, didn't even get charged that much. That said, local sim cards cost 300 baht, so get one of those for everyone, if you're taking all your phones (wife, daughter).
- There's free wifi at the resort lobby, but it's always getting smashed by people checking Facebook constantly. Expect it to suck, but I only need to use it for internet banking occasionally, mostly used the above-mentioned roaming 3G
- Street food vendors, generally pretty safe, if you see them cook it there in front of you. DO NOT BUY THE FRIED CRAP THEY SELL ON THE BEACH! You have no idea when that was cooked. That was the only time my wife got sick.
- General rule of thumb on the beach - don't buy anything from the beach guys walking up and down - you can get the same crap from the stalls usually after haggling and comparing prices for much less. As is always the case, price-wise they shoot for the stars hoping you don't know any better.
- Speaking of street vendors, definitely hit the banana pancake lady that always parks of an evening just down from the Eden mini-mart: 40-60 baht!
- There's not much point haggling about the 200 baht tuk-tuk ride around patong - that seems to be the standard fare
- Phi phi island tour was amazing, but a warning, depending on timing, some places you go will be BUSY
- Be really careful about hiring bikes - I personally stick to one rule overseas: "No you can not have my passport". They all want to hold your passport as security, and depending on the bike you hire, they can try to claim damage after the face. Try to get them to accept a copy of your passport. Also, the roads are MENTAL, and I ride daily in peak hour here in Brisbane. Same caveat sort-of applies to the jet-ski hire on the beach.
- Bangla road - only one comment - drink tequila shots, you're gonna have a bad time! Heh. It's party night every night there, gets pretty crazy. We went with small children, so only really saw it properly one night when we got a babysitter. Oh, and make sure you brush up on your Connect-4 strategies.
- Definitely get a massage/mani/pedi etc on the beach - it's lovely, and cheap
- Generally, just about everywhere we ate was amazing, but I personally really loved the "World Fair" (I think) food-court stall street just off Bangla road (also opposite Jungceylon mall), the BBQ pork ribs are AWESOME
- Speaking of Jungceylon, if you're a techie like me, the top floor above Robinsons at the back is awesome. If you're braver than me, buy the iPhone 5c knockoff. Crazy cheap, actually runs Android! Couldn't quite justify another stupid purchase that day… heh.
- Finally, drinking on the beach, where they're very particular about keeping the Singhas nice-and-cold and watching the sun set over the southern tip of Patong is a lovely way to close out the day and get ready for the night!
That's about off the top of my head, I'll update if I think of anything else.
gunny-o has said it all. Print his tip out :)
WOW…thanks for your reply…this is all great info, much appreciated. ;-)
A group of 6 of us had a great stay at Graceland a few years ago. We spent a lot of time up and down Bangla Road and surroundings. From the back entrance of Graceland facing the beach turn right and go up the road to the top of the point - there is a great restaurant up there and you can see lovely sunsets over the water. It is an easy walk. We also went to Fantasea which is like a theme park only open from 5pm. It has the biggest buffet restaurant you would ever see and the whole place was quite interesting and well run. We had a day trip to Phi Phi too and snorkelled, but it wasn't nearly as nice as Rasha Island which was to die for. We did think we had died and gone to heaven. It was just divine, so I do recommend this. You have to go on an elephant ride too. A tour person came to the hotel and arranged all our bookings and pick ups and the prices for day trips was very reasonable. The people are very friendly and obliging everywhere you go. Have a great time - we did!
Certainly looking forwards to having a great time….once again thanks guys for your replies and words of wisdom.
Once your done with Patong, dont be afraid to hire a car and day trip north along the coastal road to some of the nicer beaches and resort areas. They aren't far away. Bang Tao is a favourite. South to Karon and Kata beaches if you prefer.
Lookout for a local laundry to drop off all your gear to be washed and folded during your stay (next day pick up). And on the last day get all your gear laundered again before packing your bags for home, all for less than $10.
Saves washing it all when you get home.+1 for banana pancakes
bringing up an old topic I know.
But what makes this place so good, i notice its a 3 and a half star resort, yet it outprices half the 4 star resorts
there's a huge market on the weekends that's like 20-30 mins by taxi (from memory) from the main drag. i found in most cases it was cheaper than most places near graceland as i think the 'vendors' there actually buy stuff from that bigger market and sell it for more. Our taxi driver that we had for the 2 weeks told us about it and took us there and back for something ridiculous like $8 for three of us! Also make sure you get a pancake from the guys on the mini bikes/carts at night, those condensed milk and nutella pancakes were up there with the best thing i've ever eaten!
That would be the markets in Phuket Town (administrative centre of the island/province) on the eastern side of the island. Worth a look unless you're heading back to Aus via BKK where all of the same kitschy souveniers & knockoff tshirts etc can be acquired for a bit cheaper.
For first time travellers to this part of the world I'd suggest taking probiotics whilst in country, this will assist in preventing you getting sick, as it's almost never the quality of the food, but foreign bacteria present in the environment. Probiotics give a boost of 'positive' bacteria in your gut which will offset the unfamiliar ones you may encounter in Thailand.
probiotics? Yogurt?
Or just pills you can get from the chemist?
BTW, where/which company should you get a sim card from, primarily data with some calls of course
Tablets, preferably 30+ billion organisms per dose. They don't need to be refrigerated.
Every 7-Eleven (on every 2nd corner practically) sells prepaid kits, they have "tourist SIM" packs as well which have english instructions.
Are u talking about the Nakama market, next to the big C??
I pack extremely light whenever I go to Thailand (or anywhere in S/E Asia for that matter)… A couple of singlets, Tees shorts and thongs. Add bathers/shorts and a pair or walking shoes if you plan on doing any walks or day trips.
Anything else you need you can buy there! There are chemists/convenience stores everywhere and everthing is cheap.
Not sure if that's helpful or not!