Day One - First Day in Phuket

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Geo: 7.97501, 98.3515

We have been to Phuket three times before and we love the place. Hate Patong but love staying down at Kata Beach.

As my brother lives in Perth and our mother here in Melbourne with us, it was decided to go to Asia for her birthday instead of my brother and his family flying here to Melbourne. Stupidly it is actually cheaper for them to go to Thailand by plane and stay in a hotel than to come to Melbourne!

Originally we were going to Bali, but as it appears to be high season there, it was looking quite expensive, especially for us from Melbourne. The hotels were crazily expensive in comparison to Phuket and none of them seemed to be in the type of location we were after, so we decided to go back to Thailand.

As mentioned, my husband, son and myself had been a few times before, Mum and her husband had been once m any years ago and my brother and his wife and two daughters had never been. My brother's family flew from Perth and we met at the hotel in Kata Beach.

We have previously used Daj as a driver. He is fantastic, so we obviously booked him again. He picked us up at Phuket airport and we arrived at Kata Palm Resort and were able to check in early. We had five rooms between us all, so that was pretty good. My brother's family room was on an upper floor, overlooking the pool area and Mum's, our son's and ours were pool access, which we had on our previous stay here. Once you have stayed in a pool access room there is no going back!

Here is my review of the Kata Palm Resort:

http://www.tripadvisor.com.au/ShowUserReviews-g1210687-d447539-r117256624-Kata_Palm_Resort_Spa-Kata_Beach_Phuke.html

We spent the first day (Monday) showing the family around Kata, changing money etc. and swimming in the pool. We had dinner at Bella Vista restaurant overlooking Kata Bay which was wonderful. We were given a fantastic table right on the edge of the deck with spectacular views of Kata beach. The food was magnificent. Most people had lobster, but I had pork as I don't eat seafood and it was meltingly tender. I had mentioned that we were there to celebrate my mother's 70th birthday, so she was presented with a complimentary cake and beautiful orchids which was lovely.

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Photos

Kata Beach from Bella Vista 15-8-11
Kata Beach from Bella Vista 15-8-11

The Family at Bella Vista 15-8-11
The Family at Bella Vista 15-8-11