02 May 2024

Phuket

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Other Asia Reviews

On Honeymoon Island, strictly alone at last

After that Come Dancing triumph, newlyweds Tom and Clare Chambers waltz off to Phuket for rest, relaxation – and some overdue romance

Phuket - Magnificent mooring at Koh Phi Phi

1 The perfect vista 2 Infinity pool villa at dusk 3 Magnificent mooring at Koh Phi Phi

WHEN WE AGREED to delay our wedding by 24 hours to a Sunday so that Tom could participate in Strictly Come Dancing, broadcast live on Saturdays, we had no idea how much his involvement in the television show would take over our lives.

As he practised his quickstep and perfected his American Smooth with professional dance partner Camilla Dallerup, we were simultaneously trying to find time to make final preparations for our Big Day, which fell halfway through the series.

Then, after our wedding in Derbyshire, instead of heading off on honeymoon we found ourselves in the slightly surreal situation of sharing the first days of married life with Camilla as she put Tom through his paces for the final stages of the competition.

Magical Panoramic View of the Ocean

We were immersed in the phenomenon that is Strictly: a thrilling rollercoaster ride that resulted in Tom and Camilla lifting the coveted glitter ball trophy – making all the sacrifices worthwhile.

But the demands of the show had taken a toll on us both, and as the end of the series drew close and Tom signed up for the Strictly Come Dancing Live Tour in the New Year, we found ourselves desperate to get away for time alone together. We had a brief window of opportunity between Christmas and the first week of January, when Tom started rehearsals. Determined to make the most of it, we booked a honeymoon at Sri Panwa, a mountaintop hideaway in a remote corner of Phuket, just off the west coast of Thailand. On Boxing Day we boarded a plane to Bangkok. Just us two. Finally.

Arriving in the heat of early evening at a bustling Phuket airport, after a short domestic connecting flight, we were greeted with a warm smile by Mo, who settled us in the airconditioned comfort of our transfer car .

As we embarked on the 45- minute journey to the resort, the exhaustion of the past few months melted away.

Perched high above Cape Panwa beside the Andaman Sea, Sri Panwa occupies 32 acres of tropical forest.

At our villa, a young Thai called Arty explained that he was… our personal butler.

He showed us into the villa, which was breathtaking. We were immediately drawn to the beautifully-lit infinity pool, hugging the villa in a U-shape and seeming to blend seamlessly into the ocean. Everything in the villa was amazing, from the Bose sound system, the flatscreen televisions (yes, plural!) and the outdoor shower to the enormous bubble bath (filled ready for exhausted guests and scattered with rose petals) and the indoor shower with steam facility.

Arty left us to settle in, and we noticed the rose-petal-strewn bed was the size of our whole bedroom at home and that there was a complimentary minibar stocked with beer, ice- pops and fruit juices.

It was an easy decision not to venture out again. We ordered food from room service and opened a bottle of bubbly by the pool. Suddenly Strictly seemed a distant memory and we felt as if we had just got married all over again.

We woke next morning after a very long sleep, and were greeted by a simply magical panoramic view of the ocean with distant islands on the horizon.

With a hop and jump out of bed and through the double patio doors we plunged into the infinity pool and admired the resort’s private beach, nestled in a cove at the bottom of the cliff.

We called a tuk-tuk rickshaw van to take us to breakfast, where we chose from fruit, croissants, omelettes and cereal.

We spent the day luxuriating in each other’s company at our villa; reading by the pool, enjoying the steam room and dozing.

Come evening, we felt more sociable and ventured to the beach club for dinner by the pool.

Drinks are fairly pricey but the food is exceptional, served in chic surroundings. We returned to our villa to find it cosily lit, with gentle music playing and a small shell on each of our pillows with a little quote promoting dreamy sleep.

Next morning we hired a longboat and headed off to one of the neighbouring islands. We were quickly on our way, with our guide, a driver and a picnic box packed with complimentary drinks. We spent three hours sunbathing and snorkelling before setting off to nearby Coral Island for a bite of lunch.

Perfect for a Midnight Swim

It was busier, but still charming in a Thai way, and we both had a fabulously long foot massage on the beach, all for about a tenner. It was a wonderful and pretty cheap day out.

As evening fell, we ate at a Thai restaurant on the stretch of shops and bars at the foot of our resort. Wonderfully simple cuisine at extremely good prices made for a lovely evening.

We took a tuk-tuk back up the steep hill to our villa, where Arty had left a thoughtful note on our bed with a box of chocolates. We tried to muster all the Thai we had learned to write a thank- you note.

The following day, we checked out Sri Panwa’s private beach: it’s larger than we had originally thought from our bird’s-eye vantage point. Best of all, you can use the resort’s excellent kayaks. We paddled off for a good couple of hours around the island.

It’s the most strenuous thing we had done all week and we rewarded ourselves with a glass of wine at the beach bar. A glass turned into a bottle when we were told that all of Phuket had suffered a power cut, and we sat in charming candlelight at the poolside until the electricity came back.

We headed back to the villa with the remains of the bottle, where we ordered prawn tempura and steamed snapper from the room service menu – excellent.

It was a crisp, clear night and all the stars were out, perfect for a midnight swim and outdoor shower overlooking the sea.

We had an early start the next day for a trip to Koh Phi-Phi, one of Thailand’s most famous and beautiful islands, which sadly was hit very badly in the 2004 tsunami.

We joined 15 other people on a speedboat that took us across to Phi-Phi’s Maya Bay, famous as the location of the movie The Beach.

Yes, as we turned in to Maya Bay it was very busy (we’d been warned) but undeniably beautiful. Vast cliffs framed each side and the beach was lapped by the most aqua-green water imaginable.

Perfect Place to Recharge

We headed off to Monkey Bay, which is home to more than a dozen very tame monkeys. We snorkelled in a nearby cove among a dazzling array of fish and one rather large barracuda – on seeing it we leapt back on to the boat.

We were back at Sri Panwa in time to get ready for the New Year’s Eve party at the beach club with live music and dancing into the early hours. The set menu was an exquisite five course mix of Japanese sushi and Thai. Champagne was served as we saw in a perfect New Year in a perfect location.

We had been told that Sao Spa at Sri Panwa was second to none, so we indulged ourselves and booked the honeymoon massage.

Masseuses Aoi and Sao welcomed us with lychee tea, then offered a range of amazingly fragranced skin scrubs and oils for us to choose from for our simultaneous massage in a double room. We began with a soothing footbath and the next two-and-a-half hours were spent in utter, hedonistic bliss.

After being dowsed in a coffee skin scrub, we spent 20 minutes in a rose-petalled milky bath before changing into Thai pyjamas for a mind-blowing Thai massage, energetically performed by our two ladies, each an expert at applying just the right pressure to transport us to another world.

The heavenly session ended with a shoulder and neck massage using lemongrass oil, and we walked out to the pool area dazed and totally relaxed before being somewhat revived by a ginger tea.

Although the week at Sri Panwa flew by, we somehow felt as if we had been there a month.

It’s a heavenly retreat and the perfect place to recharge your batteries. We are often asked if it was worth postponing our honeymoon for Strictly and we can, without a doubt, say that it was.

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