I was fortunate enough to celebrate my birthday on the other side of the world in Thailand. I was beyond excited to ring in my 23rd year on the planet in such a beautiful place. It was my birthday after all so… I decided to splurge on one night in a nice, fancy resort. Let me tell you it was a big upgrade from a $12 hostel bed.
I arrived at Cape Sienna Gourmet Hotel & Villas in Phuket with my best friend of 20 years. Our smelly hostel backpacks, shirts that were rinsed out in the sink and messy buns were slightly out of place. BUT we had no problem switching gears and embracing a little luxury. Many travellers we met abroad spoke of the need to treat yourself here and there on your backpack adventure. Sleeping in a room with 10 strangers on little bunk beds definitely builds character but we welcomed a taste of the high life.
I have to admit that I’d never experienced anything like this before in my entire life. We arrived at the hotel entrance where we were met by security, they took said smelly backpacks of ours and put us in an elevator. (The lobby wasn’t even on the ground level). Once we reached the top, we exited the elevators and all we could see was palm trees and the stunning turquoise water. We both looked at each other and giggled like 4 year olds getting a second cupcake. It was pretty neat.
We got a real kick out of the next part – we were escorted to a couch and there were welcome drinks waiting for us. But what really gave us a chuckle was the fact that we got to smell 3-4 different scents to choose which shampoo, conditioner and lotion scent we wanted in our room. (UMM WHAT?!) For the record we picked the citrus one. After this elaborate process, we were escorted to our room.
As we walked into the room, my jaw literally dropped to the floor. It was gorgeous. The room was huge, with a super comfy bed, sitting area, rainfall glass shower & jacuzzi/hot tub on the balcony overlooking the ocean. I could not believe this was my real life but I was so grateful.
The hotel had 2 big swimming pools and many little ones. The main pool was situated by one of the property’s restaurants, The Poolside Restaurant & Bar. The other large pool was located across the street and just so happened to be an infinity pool. It was a lot of fun. We definitely soaked up the rays, worked on the tan and enjoyed one too many iced teas by the pool. (Seriously, the peach iced tea is the best thing ever!).
We ate at the restaurant near the pool a number of times. It was delicious – and there were a ton of me-friendly options. It was so nice to be able to sample traditional Thai cuisine that wouldn’t make me sick. I loved the fried rice. After dark, we headed up to the rooftop bar and enjoyed a drink. We seriously did not want to leave– it was amazing.
We soaked up every minute that we had at the resort. The staff were super friendly, the accommodations were incredible, & the view, well, it was unbelievable. If anyone is curious in checking out the hotel– we stayed in the Sea View Jacuzzi Junior Suite (highly recommend)!
Thailand, I will be back!
xoxo,
linds
P.S. This post is not sponsored – we seriously just had the best time!
P.P.S. Can I please have my tan back? haha
Check out the next leg of the adventure: Phuket
Isn’t it great to go from a hostel to a luxury suite! So hard to go the other way!!! But both are adventures to remember. You have become quite the globel traveller and you aren’t even close to being finished.
It was incredible! I have so many more places on my list. 🙂