Andara Resort attracts rave reviews
Sea views and infinity-edge pool, naturally - view from one of the villas. - Photo courtesy Andara.
Andara Resort & Villas, the recently opened resort element at the Andara villa development in Kamala, is already drawing rave reviews, despite being a month or so away from its official opening.
One guest, writing on TripAdvisor.com commented, “Wow, this place will blow you away – ultimate in luxury but without the price tag.” Another wrote, “We have stayed in numerous 5 star hotels around the world, but I can truly say this is one of the finest experiences we have ever had.”
So they reckon it’s pretty good, then.
Andara started out as a very high-end villa development near one end of what has come to be known as Millionaires’ Mile because of all the other very high-end villas perched along the hillside. One acquaintance of PhuketObserver.com bought a place at Andara right at the beginning for US$2 million, and says he’s recently been offered $5 million for it.
Now the developer, Hong Kong “taipan” Allan Zeman, has added hotel facilities with full resort amenities (40m swimming pool, beach club, gym, wine cellar, concierge, spa, etc etc), creating a very tasty resort and also generating revenue for villa owners when they’re not staying there themselves. The resort currently consists of 37 apartments and 26 villas, ranging in size up to six bedrooms.
Adding lustre is the highly-respected Silk restaurant, formerly on the top floor of the nearby Surin Plaza shopping centre (also created by the ever-busy Mr Zeman). It has now been moved to Andara.
Bored of all that landward luxury? Get some on the water instead, aboard the yacht Andara. - Photo courtesy Andara.
The GM of the resort is Andrew Whitaker, appointed last September. He moved to Phuket from the Amara Sanctuary on Singapore’s Sentosa Island. His CV includes 12 years in management of upmarket clubs in Asia, and six years at GM level with the luxury Shangri-La hotels chain.
Rack rates range from around $700 a night for a one-bedroom terrace suite up to $4,480 for a six-bedroom villa (fill it with 12 adults and that’s just 373 buck apiece, or a pretty reasonable 11.500 baht a night).
And in case you ever get bored of all this luxury on land, you can experience more on the water, by chartering the resort’s own 85-foot Italian motor yacht called, yes, Andara. US$3,500-4,000 a day, depending on the season, for up to 16 passengers.
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