Absolute Nakalay Beach Resort Phuket

Have you ever been stopped in the street by someone offering 3 nights accommodation at a resort, if you listen to their “holiday” seminar, and pay a $100 administration fee? These salesmen are usually offering timeshare in our domestic Gold Coast resorts.

If you were offered 7 nights’ accommodation in Phuket for $US100, staying in a 3 bedroom, luxury penthouse with large flat screen TV’s in every room, your own private pool, spa, sauna and entertainment area, would you agree to listen to the sales pitch?

Kamala Beach Phuket
Kamala Beach Phuket

As you can see, I am in Phuket Thailand in the name of research.  Mr GG and I have dragged the family along to see what happens when you make that leap of faith, and pay your admin fee to a faceless offshore bank account?

Naturally before booking I Goggled the resort, Nakalay Beach Resort, Phuket. Reading the comments did not inspire me. The resort isn’t on the beach, despite what the name may suggest, and there were a series of grievances which were echoed by a number of past guests.   The complaints however were very minor so I went ahead and booked the accommodation.

Nakalay Beach Resort Apartments
Nakalay Beach Resort Apartments- Teenager giving it the thumbs up!

Fast forward to yesterday we flew from Singapore to Phuket and were collected from the airport by a gentleman in a nice vehicle. The car seated six people comfortably, and we were driven the 45mins to our accommodation between Kamala and Patong Beach.

So far things seemed to have worked out very nicely. I had booked a two bedroom self contained apartment but as we are shown through our accommodation it becomes apparent we have been upgrade to the three bedroom penthouse. It is the first time in the trip the family hasn’t been split into two rooms, so I am delighted.

The whole second level of the apartment was dedicated to the lounge bar area, pool table and our own private outdoor rooftop spa with a view of the ocean.

Nakalay Penthouse Spa
Nakalay Penthouse Rooftop Spa

If you take a walk around the apartment you will notice that it’s beautifully modern and very spacious.

Nakalay Beach Resort King Room
Nakalay Beach Resort King Room

Mr GG and I have a room with a King bed, large TV, a huge walk in wardrobe and our own ensuite.

Nakalay Ensuite
Nakalay Ensuite

The little ones have a room with twin beds and the teenager has a queen sized bed.  There is a full kitchen and spacious lounge room.  There is plenty of room for the family.

Nakalay Beach Resort Twin  Room
Nakalay Beach Resort Twin Room

As we were being shown to the apartment I noticed that we would be staying in an apartment on the roadside, and not the beach. One of the major complaints online was road noise.  With the windows and doors shut there is still noise. I agree it is significant.  The road doesn’t have a lot of traffic, but the cars and bikes fly down the hill, and then need to accelerate hard to make it up the other side.

Nakalay Beach Resort Double Room
Nakalay Beach Resort Double Room

Admittedly I was very tired, but it the noise did not bother me or keep me awake.

Another of the complaints directed at the resort was in regards to the beds being hard.  Are they hard… yep!! Amazingly hard, I don’t think there is any “give” in the mattress at all.  Again, it didn’t bother me, I still slept like a baby. All the beds we have stayed in throughout Asia have been exceptionally hard, although this may be the hardest of all.

After a day of travelling the family was tired and hungry so we ordered room service. I thought the pricing was very reasonable for a hotel but I know others online have complained about this also.

We were famished so we ordered and demolished quite a lot of food.

Nakalay Room Service
Nakalay Room Service

I shared an entree with husband of Thord Man Goong, fried shrimp and pork cakes with spicy dipping sauce.  They were crisp and delicious.

As a main I chose a Gaeng Mussaman Curry with beef and a bowl of rice.  I love spicy food and travelling through Asia everything has been so much more spicy than at home. The Mussaman Curry was no exception; it was sheer joy to take the first mouthful of this hot, spicy curry with the thickest creamiest coconut milk gravy I have ever tried.  It was exactly what I needed, spicy, comfort food.

Nakalay Massamun Curry
Nakalay Massamun Curry

Mr GG chose the Phad Med Ma Muang Gai, a stir fried chicken dish with cashew nuts, he also ordered an additional bowl of rice and a bowl of chips.  His stir fry was just he had felt like. It has been so long between vegetables and these were crisp and delicious.

Nakalay Stir Fry
Nakalay Stir Fry

The children had grilled chicken burgers with fries.  We ate in a tired silence before falling into bed.

Nakalay Chicken Burger
Nakalay Chicken Burger

The meal was delicious and had totaled Bhat 1710 which is a grand total of $A59  not expensive in the least  when you consider we fed three adults and two children, granted it’s more expensive than eating from a cart on the street, but the quality and convenience was well worth the charge.

So tell me readers, have you ever taken a timeshare holiday.  Would you go to a hard sell seminar for 7 nights accommodation in Phuket?

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