Shanti Lodge

We booked into Shanti Lodge to give us a couple of days R & R whilst we planned the next stage of the trip, but we were so taken with the place that we had a complete rethink.......

Travelling with young kids in hot, humid conditions can be a bit of a trial, even with our little angels (hmm!). By staying here, doing trips away and then missing out Malaysia and Singapore and just flying straight from Phuket to Singapore to connect to the Australian flight, we save at least 3 days of travel - days that we can spend having fun in Thailand!!

So - Shanti Lodge - in every respect better than we expected from viewing the website. It is conveniently located near the Chalong Circle, the staff are friendly and helpful, the menu contains enough items that Rhiannon will eat (!!!) and plenty of vegetarian options for Heather, the pool is great (the kids practically lived in it) and the whole place is tastefully and thoughtfully designed and decorated, with ponds, waterfalls, carvings, plants, muted lighting, etc. And they play good music (and Dido!).

Our room is very large, airy, Thai-styled, with air-conditioning and at 750 baht per night (11 pounds) is truly resort standard at backpackers prices. We have the A/C set at 25 degrees which is seriously refreshing to walk into!

So we're staying here for the duration.