Grand Adventure 2017 Day 17: Suite Life
There's no doubt that we've been excited for each and every stop on this Grand Adventure so far. Today though we had a little extra pep in our step when we woke up knowing that for the next four days we'd be stopping all tours and just relaxing. More on that in a bit. Before we could relax we had to wake up at 5 AM to make our 8 AM flight from Siem Reap to Phuket, Thailand. We were down in the lobby at 6:30 AM with our bags ready to go to the airport.
We arrived at the airport and made a beeline to the only Starbucks in Siem Reap. We missed it when we arrived in Siem Reap but were not going to do the same thing this time, we needed our Cambodian Starbucks mug. Unfortunately, they were out of Siem Reap mugs so we went with a cool Cambodian one making our total six mugs so far on this trip (and more to come). After we grabbed the mug (priorities) we dropped off our bags in super long line for AirAsia and went through security.
Shockingly even though this is a super small airport there was an airport lounge that our American Express gave us access to. What's great about an airport lounge is that its a place of quiet in an otherwise insanely busy and noisy airport. We got in and sat down on two loungers and for the next forty-five minutes just relaxed. I had a cappuccino and nuts while Jenn listened to music.
We once again walked outside to board our plane and spent the next hour and a half flying from Siem Reap to Phuket. It was an easy flight, Jenn continued to listen to music and I listened to my book (Crash Override) and enjoyed the smooth flight. We arrived in Phuket a little before 10 AM and about twenty minutes after landing we had our bags and were being driven to our hotel in a Mercedes that picked us up from the hotel.
The drive to the Renaissance Phuket Resort and Spa only lasted twenty minutes. When we arrived three members of the hotels staff opened our doors, greeted us, gave us some lemonade, and walked us straight to our room very similar to what happened in Hong Kong. Because we are Marriott gold members we got a free upgrade to a beautiful King Suite which is basically the size of our apartment. It has a kitchen, dining room, beautifully appointed living room, bedroom, and a giant bathroom. The room is stunning and so too is the resort.
Once we got settled into our room we went out exploring walking to the pool, the beach, and spa. After we got our feel for the resort we made our way to lunch and were the first ones to arrive. We got a nice seat overlooking most of the resort. Jenn went with the fish and chips and I had the fried noodles with chicken. Both hit the spot after our morning of travel.
After lunch we went back to our suite, let our food settle, and then went back out to the pool to enjoy some fun in the sun. Before we got to the pool we made a quick pit stop at the Spa to schedule appointments for us for Sunday which will be a full spa day. From there it was time to find some shaded loungers. Similar to Siem Reap, it's quite warm here in Phuket, reaching close to 90-degrees. We were lucky enough to find two loungers with decent shade, but it still required us to go in the pool at least every fifteen to twenty minutes. We laid out and relaxed for a couple hours, enjoying a pina colada, and the beautiful warm day.
We went back to our room at 4 PM, cooled off a bit and got ready for dinner. We made reservations at a Thai restaurant at the hotel for 6:30 PM. We left our room a little before 6 PM to see if we could catch the sunset and I am so glad we did. Not only did we catch one of the most beautiful sunsets I've ever seen but we also got to see a wedding happen on the beach as well as the reception on the lawn above the beach. It was stunning.
We arrived at the Thai restaurant at 6:30 PM and got a window seat overlooking the ocean, although it was pitch black by this point. Jenn got a glass of sparkling wine and I had a glass of Cab. It still shocks me that I've converted Jenn to champagne, I love it. We started off with their Thai calamari which was out of this world. I've never been the biggest calamari fan but this one was delightful. For Jenn's entree she went with lamb and I had fried duck both which were in beautiful thai sauces. Both entrees came with our choice of Thai rices and we both went with Jasmine rice. The food was insanely good, easily in the top five best meals we've had on the trip so far and that's saying something. We didn't order dessert but we still got a nice small sorbet to finish off the meal.
We walked back to our room after dinner, enjoying the cooler weather and a nice breeze. We passed by the newlyweds at their reception and wished them congratulations and were back at our room. We finished the night watching the show Love on Netflix (Jenn's not a fan) and falling asleep looking forward to a couple more days of nothing but fun in the sun.
