My husband and I returned at the beginning of May from our second visit to the Chandara. We had a fabulous time when we went in 2007 so going this year we were a little concerned and kept remembering the old injunction about ' never going back'.

We needn't have worried it was fabulous. Our greeting at the airport the WELCOME spelled out in flowers on the bed, everything was just perfect again. The staff at the hotel can't do enough for you and they are always happy and smiling. Rob the General Manager certainly leads by example.

The food is great and just nothing is too much trouble.

We have just booked to return again next year, the first time EVER that we've even remotely considered staying three years running in the same place.

If you want peace and quiet then this is the place for you.
If you want nightlife and lots of bars and shops then it's not.
It also wouldn't suit you if you feel you must have a beach on the doorstep although a short complimentary boat trip will take you to a lovely beach.

If you are after a tranquil and relaxing Honeymoon, Chandara is the place for you.

As all the reviews have said, this hotel is a million miles away from Phuket (or anywhere!), however this was the very reason we chose it. We splashed out on a 1bedroom villa with private pool for 7 nights.
We booked through the hotel directly and organised our transfers through them also.
Once we arrived at the hotel we were greeted with warm Thai welcomes and a flower thing and cold hand towel. Also, we were upgraded from a fr 15 min massage, to an hour each as our honeymoon bonus.
We got in a buggy to be dropped off at our room and we were blown away once she showed us inside. It was beautiful. We truly were in paradise!
They also scattered petals over our bed, which was a really nice touch. Every evening we got fresh fruit and chocolates delivered.

The private pool was the best. Get up in the morning, take a dip. Stay at the pool all day. Feel like a swim at night, just jump in.

As it's on the bay, with no beach you must take a boat to go the their private beach. We did not do this as you are restricted to the set timetable. Of a morning, there are heaps of fisherman boats with noisy engines going back and forth near the hotel. This distracted from the otherwise tranquil surroundings and view.
This hotel itself is very quiet. Not sure whether there was many staying there, but you hardly see any other guests at all.

Breakfast was good. You select one eggs style, then help yourself to pastries, fruit and Asian style breakfast.

As for the restaurant / pool bar/ room service food.... I HATED it. My husband thought it was just alright, but we both agree it was OVERPRICED for the tiny portions you get. Some examples : A plate of hot chips would work out to be almost $10AUD. 2 Spring rolls cut into quarters $10AUD. A tiny portion of spaghetti $20AUD. Thai dishes were also around the $18 - $20 mark. I tried the Pad Thai the first night and was utterly disappointed. I have had better Pad Thai here in Australia and Singapore!
Everything had WAY too much onion throughout - the Pad Thai, the Thai fried rice, the hash brown at breakfast.
Because you are so far away, there is nothing else to do except eat their food.
However, we paid to go to Phuket twice and stay for lunch and dinner, and also went to the shopping centre Central Festival and took home takeaway to have for dinner.

The transfers by private car are a bit pricey, so try and take advantage of the shuttle bus which is a bit cheaper but you are restricted by the shuttle timetable.

The hotel manager was friendly and checked how our stay was going each time we bumped into him. Staff had that beautiful Thai hospitality - with varying English levels.
The other thing I didn't like (besides the food) was everything gets charged to the room, so it's hard to keep track of how much you're spending on food and drinks. Although they do give you the tally the night before you checkout.

We had an amazing stay at Chandara. It was great for a once in a lifetime experience, however we don't think we would return to Phuket again.

We have very reluctantly returned home after the most wonderful stay at the Chandara.
From the moment we arrived, we have received nothing but the most excellant, unobtrusive and yet so personal service from EVERY member of the staff, from housekeeping, in the restaurants, Tour East rep. Miss Peach, through to Robert the Manager and all his staff. They are a credit to him and the Hotel`s owner.
Firstly, let`s say if you want the noise and brashness of Patong don`t go! But if you just want to go in for a look around and want an eyeopener (we visited during Songkran weekend) then get the taxi and go, but what perfection to know to where you will be returning after your trip out. It costs 800baht for an air-con taxi. We were there last Jan. 2007 and The Jung Ceylon centre had just opened, so we wanted to go back and see it now all the shops had opened. A great place to shop and get cheap beauty treatments, a big Carre Four for those essentials to put in the huge fridge provided in your suite, also a big Tesco on the way into Phuket Town or at the Central Festival in Phuket Town, large shopping mall and supermarket.
Robert introduced himself to us on our second evening and he kindly gave us a tour around the immaculately kept grounds of the hotel. He said there was a small seafood restaurant in the village along with the requisite Seven Eleven, and if we wanted to go and buy fresh caught seafood at the dock, to bring it back and the Chef would be pleased to cook it for us! What more could you ask? Overall, after visiting Thailand over many years and to many resorts, we just felt that this place topped them all. Everything was so relaxed and peaceful, exactly what we needed after a busy time at work.
The villas were exceptionally well thought out. A small kitchen, huge fridge, crockery and cutlery and everthing else you would need. A very comfortable lounge area with plenty of seating for the 6 of us when we all got together in the early evening, (we had three adjacent villas), four poster bed, and a bathroom to die for, with a fantastic seaview. Outside there was a jaccuzi pool, outside private shower, sunbeds with deep mattresses and a large umbrella, and a table and chairs, perfect for when you felt ready for a cup of tea just to slip inside and put the kettle on!
The housekeeping team kept the whole immaculately clean and the jaccuzi was cleaned daily.
We all felt that the food was very reasonably priced compared to some 5 star hotels, and the food in The Eclipse restaurant with its beautiful views over Po Bay, was extremely good. Room service was excellant and not expensive, as was the selection of mini bar products in the fridge. For example, we had just visited The Merdian in Khao Lak and a can from the fridge was 90 Baht , here it was 50 Baht, go to the supermarket and o.k. it only cost 13 Baht, but sometimes you run out of essentials after a long hot day doing nothing! Also the `Happy 2 Hours` was rather good as well!
The beach looked lovely, but due to the tidal water wasn`t really as beautiful as that at Khao Lak, but as were not particularly "beach people" this was no problem at all to any of us, and we spent the days around the lovely pool or on our terraces by the jaccuzi.
We spent the whole of Sunday afternoon at the `Spa` getting a range of treatments that would have cost double at The Meridian, and even more back home. We were made to feel very relaxed and comfortable, and again it was excellant as was everything else we experienced at this wonderful, relaxing little hideaway.
Shall we go back? Oh yes indeed, have only been back a day but we shall be booking for next year without a doubt! This place and its staff are truly something special.

My husband and I together with our four children, aged 26 - 16 and our son's girlfriend, have recently returned from a holiday at Chandara. My husband, myself and three daughters shared a two bedroom villa with its own infinity pool while I booked a jacuzzi suite for my son and his girlfriend. The resort was fantastic. Chandara is located away from the madding crowd, with a mini bus costing 800BT to venture into Phuket town or Patong - with so many of us, this was great value.

Although you can't swim in the water, the beach in front is lovely. My husband was delighted to keep up his 'running' regime in the workout room with a great outlook - though why you would want to go all the way to this idyllic spot and exercise is beyond me!

Outings, such as the "elephant safari" and the hire of a speed boat were arranged easily at the tour desk. Breakfast was a wonderful array of exotic fruit and juices, fresh baked pastries and various hot and cold treats.

After spending most days exploring, shopping etc we were happy to return to the resort and relax poolside enjoying cocktails during "happy hour" (which was actually two hours long). While my son would eat a large meal at night, we were happy to order a few small dishes to share, which was quite sufficient after a big day.

Shopping for women was a non-event - although I did manage to buy six handbags - there were however lots of shorts (300bt) and t-shirts (150bt) for men.

If you want to be in the middle of things then Chandara probably isn't for you. As for me, I loved relaxing away from it all and my children had no problem with getting to and from the resort if they decided to stay out later (500bt for a cab back to the resort).

Thankyou Robert and staff for a wonderful holiday.