The only problem was a 2 1/2 delay on the return flight, due to a delayed flight from Japan. A lot of hanging about! Many thanks for your excellent service Richard.
Great holiday and great communication via email dealing with queries. The only small problem was the plane returning back to Manchester was old and dated. Is there any way of finding out what plane you are booking when you check timings?
As usual, everything went as planned by DialAFlight.
Another great trip, we look forward to our next
Danny was amazing from start to end. Best in the business!
An excellent trip organised by an excellent team at DialAFlight!
Everything went according to plan even KLM got the assistance right - first time in three itineraries.
Thanks to Matilda. This trip was booked at short notice. She listened to my requirements and assisted in ensuring that I got the flight and hotel that ticked all the boxes.
Sally Burton is the top travel agent
Always a brilliant service
All worked well.
Everything was great
I have dealt with your firm for many, many years. I can pick up the phone, pass Keely Papworth the information and she does all the hard work sorting my travel plans (normally last minute as my life is hectic). Tis takes the sting out of planning for me. Through the years I have built a rapport, and have 100% trust and confidence as I’ve NEVER been let down. This is “customer service” done right.
Very pleased - will definitely use you again
Helpful from initial booking through to departure.
Was particularly pleased that we were phoned a couple of days before we went and asked if we had any last minute questions
Bradley excelled once again, He always delivers
Thank you for the holiday of a lifetime
I have always booked my flights and holidays with you and I have not been disappointed. Ryan has always looked after me and I trust his judgment.
We were totally satisfied with the arrangements made by Monika and Tamarind Global and as a result we had a marvellous and memorable experience. The comfort and food on British Airways was poor and put to shame by the performance of the internal airlines.
Thank you Eve/guys we had a wonderful trip and look forward to booking again soon
Excellent as always
The app worked well and the whole customer service was fantastic.
Efficient and friendly service, straightforward to arrange multiple flights and hotels. Would recommend and use again.
Excellent service from start to finish. Have already recommended DialAFlight to others on holiday too. Now back at home thinking about the next one.
Thanks to Brandy for sorting our flight and hotel arrangements - it all went smoothly!
Fantastic helpful service. Like you have done over the last 15 years
Great service from DialAFlight
Everything was done very professionally
All went fine! Thank you
On my first full day at the Anantara Layan hotel, I’m told that lunch will be cooked by...me!
Perhaps this is pay-back time from dinner the night before, when the chef presented me with something I can only describe as edible art.
I had been faced with amuse-bouches of olives hung on a miniature tree; a plump, pink disc of yellowfin tuna tartare; seabass smoked with Jack Daniel’s, revealed with a flourish from under an opaque glass dome.
It transpires that Anantara, on the northwest coast of Phuket, does things differently.
To immerse guests fully in the local culture, a cooking school called Spice Spoons is offered - and you get thrown in at the deep end.
It starts with an 8am visit to the food market in the small, dusty village of Talang, a ten-minute drive away, with the hotel’s chef. The market is a cavernous covered space full of stalls selling everything from fresh seafood on ice to buckets of coconut cream, and displays of garlic, ginger, green papaya, mint and more.
FRAGRANT FEAST
There are containers of home-made red, green and yellow curry pastes, fragrant Thai basil and weird fermented cabbages.
The cooking class takes place at the hotel’s Dee Plee Thai restaurant, which overlooks the rest of the sprawling resort (comprising 77 villas and suites).
On the menu today are shrimp tartlets, green chicken curry and mango with sticky rice. Before I know it, I’m mixing batter for tartlet cases, marinading mini-aubergines in coconut milk and curry paste, and simmering the sticky rice (the trick is to ensure there is just a finger’s width of water over the rice).
Phuket is roughly the same size as Singapore, with a population of 600,000. It is under two hours away from a truly exquisite archipelago that includes Phi Phi Leh (where The Beach was shot), Khai (home to nothing but a bar) and an island nicknamed ‘Bamboo’.
A boat trip that takes in all these is the perfect way to get a flavour of what draws so many visitors. We speed across the turquoise water, passing giant granite islands covered in greenery, stopping off at Phi Phi Don, the larger sister island to Leh.
Pausing to go snorkelling near a reef among swarms of colourful fish, we then pull in to Pileh Lagoon, a body of crystalline, emerald green water surrounded by more hulking stone outcrops of the kind you see on postcards.
That evening, the head chef does the cooking, thankfully. He serves up a delicious soft-shell crab curry, a local dish called Khao Soi - a tangle of spicy, crispy egg noodles served with chicken, onion and lime - and a light coconut sorbet. Somehow, Thai food just doesn’t taste like this back home.
KOH PHANGAN
For a different island experience we also visit Layan’s sister resort, Rasananda, on the much smaller island of Koh Phangan. Its population of around 8,000 doubles once a month as hordes of partygoers descend on Haad Rin beach, to the south, for the infamous full moon parties which started here in the Eighties.
Apart from those wild nights, though, it appeals mostly to families and couples, while Phuket draws a younger crowd. The Rasananda is bang on the beach, but has all the design touches of an elegant resort: an infinity pool featuring a swim-up bar, spa and 64 villas and suites, each with their own private plunge pool.
Mine has a carp pond outside, and all have a free mini-bar. Everything seems to move at a different pace: slowly. But there’s plenty to do such as snorkelling or kayaking around the Ang Thong National Marine Park, which contains more than 40 tiny islands. And you can also go elephant trekking, commune with local monks, or indulge in yoga every morning on the sun terrace.
Yes, there is a cooking school here, too. And yes, I could sign up to perfect my Pad Thai - but I demur. It’s time to let someone else do the hard work.
First published in the Mail Online - May 2017
More articles below...
Not quite what you're looking for?
We can easily customise an offer to suit your exact requirements