Phuket is a whole lot bigger than what we expected, especially for an island. Having beach access was, of course, a top priority, as well as being able to get around to shopping and nightlife efficiently. During our initial search for places to stay, we were set on staying at a resort or hotel, but tons of reviews of the island itself advised against it. One because you don't get private beach access, there are lots of tours of the island being done and boats are constantly docked along the shoreline, and Phi Phi (pee-pee) Island is crazy touristy and that's not our thing. We expanded our search to other areas in Phuket and decided an Airbnb was the best option while there. We also set out a goal to stay under 1000$ for all flights and places to stay (per person) while in Southeast Asia and so that was a huge factor in deciding as well. Most everything in Phuket is reasonably priced, almost underpriced in my opinion; so staying in the budget was not hard at all. We looked at Airbnb and it was one of the first options that came up under unique stays. The pictures immediately had me sold. It was located in Rawai, which is about 40 minutes from Phuket International airport. It seems far out but everything from where we were we could get to within 15-20 minutes by taxi or mo-ped. Vin was our host and he could not have been better, he arranged a pick up for us from the airport and everything that we wanted to do while in Phuket he took care of. We arrived early November 10 at about 8am and check-in was not until 3 pm, my fault for booking such an early flight, but we only had two days in Phuket and wanted to get the true two full days. When we arrived we were greeted by the sweetest woman Lena, she showed us around the property and told us what to expect during our stay. The area is pretty much a campground, it's secluded and secure behind a gate that guest have the passcode to. The campground houses about 8 tents right on the beach, 6 standard tents and 2 upgraded. Each tent has its own porch sitting area in front and swings made from bamboo. Behind the tents, directly on the beach, there is a swimming pool and 5 different penthouse suites. Those were more apartment-style and when booking I did not see them as an option. If you continue behind the penthouses there are 7-8 more tents on the back of the property all upgraded and with private bathrooms attached. The property also has a covered breakfast nook and a full bar. Our tent was perfect, it had two queen size beds, a floor-length mirror, refrigerator, and lots of shelving space to put everything. Also, it's hot as shit in Thailand so the fan in the room was a huge plus. Each tent is assigned a private bathroom as well; (toilet, sink, shower, bidet) my only complaint about the bathroom is the water was cold to shower which was nice at night after being hot and sticky, but at 5am before a flight, for sure not my favorite. We ate breakfast on site both days we were there and it was excellent. The menu available is pretty vast but we didn't get a chance to eat dinner there. Cocktails were my favorite. Lena made us probably the best margarita I have ever had, and I'm from Texas. We had about 8 each lol. Neither Alliyah or I am super outdoorsy so this was way out of our comfort zone, but we're willing to try anything once. Lena arranged all of our activities while there, elephant washing at the sanctuary, and the boat tour to Phi Phi island. The property is pretty quiet, even with the number of people that were staying there. They have kayaks available for free on the property, pool table, and lots of board games and stuff. The last night we made lanterns for Loy Krathong and everyone on the property was there. There are also cameras all around so safety was not a huge concern for me. Overall the experience was really nice and incredibly cost-effective. For two nights we paid a total of $133, with all the amenities an added service we got I would of for sure been willing to spend a little more. The staff was exceptional, the Rawai area isn't the prettiest, but really that's all of Phuket. In the description, it does say something about low tide and I didn't really pay attention to that in my excitement of being able to sleep outside on the beach. So the beach was kinda non-existent in our area, but that's not a deterrent really because there are tons of other beaches and islands that you can hop on over to and we weren't confined to this space. I thoroughly enjoyed staying here and would recommend it to anyone looking to do something different while staying in Phuket.
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