This island is a fantastic place for every age and type of visitor and things are only going to get better: before the end of this year there’s going to be an even bigger choice of brand new, top end hotels here.

Hotels: the newcomers

On one of the quietest beaches in Phuket, Mai Kao Beach, the Sala Resorts & Spas and the Anantara, Phuket are both close to completion.

In Patong, the Mercure Patong Phuket is under construction and the two hotels inside the Jungceylon shopping complex are shooting for soft openings towards the end of the year.

To the east of Phuket itself, on idyllic Naka Yai Island, the Six Senses Erawan, a new destination resort and spa, is also nearing completion.

Scheduled to open in 2008 is the Shangri-la Phuket Resort and spa at the north end of Bangtao Bay, and the Puravarna Resort (a sister of the Royal Phuket Yacht Club - see below) on Nai Harn Bay.

Three more high-end hotels that will open in the next couple of years on Phuket or nearby are the Raffles Resort Phang Nga, The Yamu on the east side of the island and Jumeirah Phuket Private Island Resort on an island in Por Bay.

Hotel Rebranding

Centara Karon Resort

A large number of hotels are being re-branded, many with names already recognised around the world, others with the plain intention of becoming more widely recognized. In all cases, upgrades are a major part of the process.

Central Hotels & Resorts changed their hotel brand in late June to Centara Hotels & Resorts. They own three properties in Phuket, now known as the Centara Villas Phuket (formerly the Central Karon Village), the Centara Karon Beach Resort Phuket, and the Centara Kata Resort Phuket. In Karon, the company is also building a new 330-room resort in Karon, the Centara Grand Beach Resort Phuket, which is scheduled to open in late 2009.

Marriott has landed on the island. The 399-room Grand Tropicana Hotel Phuket will become the Courtyard by Marriott Phuket at Patong Beach, while the Surin Beach Resort will be re-branded as the Courtyard by Marriott Phuket at Surin Beach.

One of the oldest resort hotels in Phuket, Le Royal Meridien Phuket Yacht Club, will soon be re-launched as the Royal Phuket Yacht Club. It is receiving a very expensive upgrade that will pitch it into the “more than 5-star” range.

Up in the air

New Bangkok Airways Airbus 319

After a timid time following the tsunami of 2004, airlines are now once again flying high. Indeed, they are flying more frequently than ever before, and there are more of them.

In November Krabi Airlines will become the newest Thai airline, with plans to first service two international routes: Munich in Germany and Oslo in Norway. In two years’ time, Krabi Airlines plans to add Australia and New Zealand and within five years aims to expand to Japan and the USA. The airline will use two Boeing 777-200ER aircraft in its first year, increasing the fleet to five within five years and to ten by 2013.

Bangkok Airways received delivery of a new Airbus 319 last month, the first of seven that will join the airline by 2009. Configured with a single class, the aircraft will each carry 144 passengers and have a maximum range of seven hours. The first has been assigned to operate Bangkok-Phuket and Bangkok-Siem Reap (in Cambodia, close to Angkor Wat). The new plane increases Bangkok Airways’ fleet to 16 aircraft, the others being eight 70-seater ATR 72s, four Boeing 717-200s (120 seats) and three Airbus 320s (162 seats).