Mom Tri’s Boathouse, the island’s first five-star boutique hotel, which opened 21 years ago on Kata Beach, has been sold to the owners of the luxury Trisara resort.

Hong Kong tycoon Alan Zeman’s Andara and Swedish developer Carl Langenskiold’s Baan Yamu each picked up a bundle of honours at the recent Thailand Property Awards 2010.

The Indigo Pearl Resort and the Dusit Laguna Resort have both scored awards in the annual “Oscars of the travel world” – the World Travel Awards.

Centara Hotels & Resorts has signed a contract to manage the first property under its new budget Centra brand.

The Centra Ashlee Hotel Patong will open at the end of this year, bringing the total number of properties under Centara management in Phuket to six.

The owners of the Phuket International Academy (PIA) are to open, not one, but three boutique hotels in the next 13 months.

The five-star Indigo Pearl Resort at Nai Yang Beach has launched its first “eco-tour” package, inviting guests to “give back to the community” during their vacation.

When it begins to pour with rain in Phuket and then sunbirds fly back to their homes in the west or north, hoteliers’ hopes turn fondly to those of us who live here. “How about a weekend away from the housework?” they ask. “Or how about a special deal at our restaurants?”

Phuket has scored a number of useful hits in the sixth Smart Travel Asia poll. The Hong Kong-based online travel magazine (run by writer Vijay “He’s Everywhere” Verghese), asks visitors to rank a variety of business hotels, luxury resorts, spas, destinations, business cities, shopping spots, airlines and airports.

A small guest house called Rommanee @9 Be My Guest. It’s easy to find – Soi Romanee is a short street.

Plenty of hotels in Phuket have Thai cooking lessons. Others teach wine appreciation or Thai-style fruit carving. But to our knowledge, The Pavilions, a high-end all-pool-villas resort in the Layan area of Phuket, is the only one that has a perfume-making course.