![\"beach](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.drd4sevenr.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/beach-3-r.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nAs\u00a0mentioned in the Introduction<\/a><\/span>, our main stay in Thailand was going to be at the Santhiya Koh Yao Yai Resort\u00a0in the Koh Yao Island region of Thailand. In order to get to the Santhiya\u00a0Koh Yao Yai you need to take a speed boat from Phuket to Koh Yao Island. Because of our later flight, we would arrive after the last boat transfer for that day.\u00a0 So, we needed to get a room for our one night in Phuket.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n After doing a little shopping we chose the Anantara Layan Phuket Resort. Anantara is a large luxury name in the Asia hotel market, and we were very happy with the deal we found through hotels.com. For the evening of our arrival the Anantara had a Deluxe Seaview Suite for $268 U.S. The room was 850sqft, had a king bed, and included breakfast for 2. Reviews were positive so we felt save in reserving this room.<\/p>\n The best part is we had a $216 redemption credit with hotel.com that we able to apply to the night. That brought our room cost down to $52 for the evening. Taxes and fees ran $51 so the grand total came to $103 for the room.<\/p>\n Once we cleared immigration at the airport we were meet by a friendly hotel driver that we had arranged for our arrival ride to the resort. The drive was about 40 minutes and we were taken directly to the check in lobby.<\/p>\n This was our first trip to Thailand and one of the things that immediately struck us was how sweet, kind and hospitable the Thai people are. Smiles, wai gestures, and friendliness immediately relax you and give you a feeling of acceptance in a new land. This was also true of all the staff at the Anantara Layan Phuket. Immediately upon walking into the entrance of the lobby the welcoming gong is struck to announce your arrival. After a short check in process we were escorted to our suite.<\/p>\n The resort is fairly spread out, and so carts (buggy\u2019s) are used to transport you to your room. Once we reached our structure the hotel associate showed us inside and familiarized us with our suite. We had been traveling for the better part of 35 hours and after our orientation it wasn\u2019t long before Susan and I went to sleep.<\/p>\n When you enter the suite is your step onto a small entry landing. It acts as a large hallway \/ transition room\u00a0to the closet and the rest of the space. There is a small desk for working on and back wall with a minibar and furniture. The closet is walk-in and generous in size. The master space is separated by a solid wall with a framed see through.<\/p>\n In the morning we prepared\u00a0to go to\u00a0breakfast and then later to explore the resort. The hotel had instructed us to call for \u201cbuggy service\u201d which we did. After a few minutes a cart with a friendly driver showed up in order to transport us to breakfast. We both enjoyed the views of the resort and grounds on our short ride to the restaurant.<\/p>\n At the hotel restaurant we were promptly seated with a sea view. I usually prefer a menu\/order breakfast; Susan loves the buffets. This breakfast was a buffet and it was beautiful, and I really mean beautiful. The dining area was a shaded outdoor patio overlooking the pool and the bay. Inside the restaurant they had a main room with the majority of the breakfast on display. To the side of the main room was a wine and cheese room with an impressive cheese and cured meat display.<\/p>\n The main room had breakfast items included grains, fruits, smoothies, pastries and other assorted goodies. Most of the items were served in small \u201cmason\u201d styled glass jars. It made the food clean, fresh and stylish in its presentation. There was also a large fruit presentation table with a cutting station for preparation. To the right was an egg station with many hot breakfast items available. Again everyone working the service side was very friendly and helpful.<\/p>\n After breakfast we decided to walk the beach and the grounds. The resort sits on Layan beach which lies in a small bay leading out to the Andaman Sea. The beach and back drops are lovely. I wouldn\u2019t have described this as my favorite swimming beach, but it certainly was pleasing to walk around and enjoy the natural beauty.<\/p>\n The resort resides on a lush jungle hillside and grounds that are manicured and well maintained.\u00a0 There are 30 rooms and 47 villas spanning the grounds and small trails and roads weave around the hillside joining everything together. Because this was a 1 night stay we didn\u2019t have the time to review the other restaurants, spas and facilities of the resort, but it all looked 5-star and consistent with what we had already experienced. After our short hike around the beach and resort we returned to our room to check out and proceed on the trip.<\/p>\nThe Setup: Unforeseen Events<\/a>
\nIntroduction: Planning for Thailand<\/strong><\/a>
\nReview: Cathay Pacific Lounge SFO<\/strong><\/a>
\nReview: Cathay Pacific International First Class – San Francisco To Hong Kong<\/strong><\/a>
\nReview: The Pier, Hong Kong International Airport<\/strong><\/a>
\nReview: Dragonair International Business Class – Hong Kong To Phuket<\/strong><\/a>
\nReview: Anantara Layan Phuket Resort – Deluxe Seaview Suite<\/strong><\/a>
\nBoat Transfer &\u00a0Check-in:\u00a0The Santhiya Koh Yao Yai Resort & Spa<\/strong><\/a>
\nReview: Santhiya Koh Yao Yai – Ocean View Pool Villa Suite<\/strong><\/a>
\nReview: Santhiya Koh Yao Yai Resort<\/strong><\/a>
\nDay Trip: National Marine Park – Koh Hong Archipelago<\/strong><\/a>
\nFinal Thoughts & Monkey Business – Santhiya Koh Yao Yai<\/strong><\/a>
\nReview: Thai Royal Orchid Lounge – Phuket<\/strong><\/a>
\nReview: Lux Pay In Lounge – Phuket<\/strong><\/a>
\nReview: Dragonair International Business Class – Phuket To Hong Kong<\/strong><\/a>
\nReview: Regal Airport Hotel – Superior Room<\/strong><\/a>
\nReview: Cathay Pacific International First Class – Hong Kong To Chicago<\/strong><\/a>
\nReview: American Airlines Flagship Lounge – Chicago<\/strong><\/a>
\nReview: American Airlines Domestic First Class – Chicago To San Francisco<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n
\n<\/h4>\n
<\/a>Main Reception<\/p>\n<\/a>Reception desk<\/p>\n<\/a>Open air lobby<\/p>\n<\/a>Another view front lobby<\/p>\n<\/a>Announcement gong<\/p>\n<\/a>Entry 46<\/p>\n<\/a>Susan loved the orchids and bed art<\/p>\n<\/a>Entry and landing area with desk<\/p>\n<\/a>Walk in closet<\/p>\n<\/a>Desk looking into the bedroom<\/p>\n<\/a>Master bathroom<\/p>\n<\/a>Commode<\/p>\n<\/a>Shower<\/p>\n<\/a>Bath<\/p>\n<\/a>His and her sinks<\/p>\n<\/a>We woke up to this view from our room<\/p>\n<\/a>Buggy pickup<\/p>\n<\/a>Carting to breakfast<\/p>\n<\/a>Breakfast view<\/p>\n<\/a>Morning drinks<\/p>\n<\/a>Wine and cheese room<\/p>\n<\/a>Another view wine and cheese room<\/p>\n<\/a>Egg station – so friendly<\/p>\n<\/a>Fruit station<\/p>\n<\/a>Fruit compotes<\/p>\n<\/a>Smoothies, sticky rice and other breakfast goodies<\/p>\n<\/a>Breakfast grains<\/p>\n<\/a>Beach hammock<\/p>\n<\/a>Resort beach at low tide<\/p>\n<\/a>Beach bar<\/p>\n<\/a>Gym area<\/p>\n<\/a>Adult pool<\/p>\n