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The Sheraton's Enchanting Forest
Speeding away from the familiar Phuket sights, the landscape rapidly
took on a deeper more rugged tone. With every kilometre that passed
after the Sarasin Bridge, the mountains became weirder and more
wonderful in shape. These are the limestone crags and karsts for
which this area is famous, in particular, our final destination,
Krabi. We were headed to the Sheraton Krabi Beach Resort, the first
international hotel in the region, opened in February 2003 and,
as we neared it, I wondered what to expect. From an accomplished
chain like Sheraton, which has over 55 years experience in the trade,
some things are a given; five star service, clean, comfortable lodgings
and a plethora of fine food and dining venues are standards that
people have come to expect. What is exciting about this new resort,
is the location.
"I was a little surprised that Krabi is relatively undeveloped
and that was a nice reality, because I knew that Phuket was well
developed. It was refreshing to come here because there are still
a lot of opportunities. "We are now seeing guests who used
to go to Phuket coming to Krabi because they want to get away to
a less busy, more natural and relaxed destination," explained
Hotel General Manager Mr. Greg Findlay who has been working for
Starwood Hotels and Resorts for 13 years. "Of the Sheraton
brand there are definite expectations. Generally our guests are
well travelled with higher expectations than ever before and demanding
more value for money from their holiday. The greatest challenge
is in 'wowing' these guests and that is what we strive to achieve
here."
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As we pulled into the resort, my colleague and I were both audibly
"wowed", although, probably not in the way you are thinking.
The first notable point was how far the main buildings of the resort
were from the beach. From the high elevation of the reception area,
the view spans across treetops to an inexplicably distant sea. A
closer glance at said trees would reveal the uncanny reality that
the Sheraton
Krabi Beach Resort is built around a swamp!
A swamp, it may resemble, but the tropical mangrove forest that
this resort protects, fosters a fragile, yet thriving ecosystem.
Mr. Findlay explained, "The owners' intention was to protect
the natural environment. Thailand is losing many of its coastal
mangroves to development, which of course affects the ecosystem,
as the mangroves provide a habitat for many varieties of sea life
in the food chain for coastal fish populations. People from Australia
and New Zealand say "Hey you've got a hotel built on a swamp!"
but as soon as we start talking about it, explaining its beauty,
opinions quickly change and most people really appreciate it."
An Aussie myself, I opted to keep an open mind about this mangrove
and its proclaimed beauty. I have grown up learning the importance
of the mangroves,.
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The resort has 246 rooms spread within eight low-rise buildings
that arc around the mangrove forest. The contemporary architecture
of the resort loosely follows a Burmese style and employs the use
of dark woods and stark white walls, an original concept by Thai
design company P 49 Deesign and Associates. The effect is striking;
colour flashes in and out of view in the forms of giant floral arrangements,
simple Thai prints and artworks, the green tones of the mangroves
and the blue of the Krabi sky. The resort is set within a land area
of around eight hectares, including some 500m of beachfront land
along Klong Muang beach, and only half of this has been developed,
leaving a substantial amount of natural terrain in which the mangrove
can develop. The expansive area is connected by a series of ring-roads
that are serviced by golf buggies and walkways that lead through
the mangrove garden.
An English researcher, Ms. Clare Lees from the Good Governance
for Social Development and Environmental Institute recently conducted
a study of the mangrove to assess the ecosystem and the impact of
the resort on the environment. In her report, she praised the hotel's
"extensive replanting programme, which will stimulate growth
and encourage wildlife back into these areas." Her studies
revealed an enchanting world of flora and fauna thriving in the
swampy forest. She described it as "a world where trees stand
out of the water and have roots that breathe, where fish have feet
and crabs wave as you walk past." She refers to the mud-skippers
and the thousands of tiny fiddler crabs that inhabit the marsh.
Easily recognizable, with one enlarged pincer, these crabs are essential
to the existence of the mangrove. Feeding on the dead and decaying
matter in the mud, the crabs filter and protect the environment
and in honour of this vital role, the resort has adopted the fiddler
crab as its insignia.
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My ground floor superior room was spacious with just over 48 sq.m
of comfortably furnished space. The interior decoration reflects
the overall design concepts, with an abundance of dark wood and
white walls with bursts of bright colour from the bedding and an
eggshell coloured feature wall. The room offers all the modern comforts
that patrons expect from hotels with this many stars and to my delight,
the minibar offered a drip-filter coffee maker and generously-portioned
bags of ground Thai coffee, a welcome alternative to sachets of
bitter instant coffee. The privacy that the mangroves provide the
rooms was immediately obvious: point one for the mangroves! Beyond
the balcony was a dense patch of forest, populated by thick strangling
vines and hardy trees and the room was completely quiet until opening
the balcony doors allowed the sounds of nature to flood in. I sat
on this balcony at different times over the weekend, listening to
the birdsong and the click-clack of the crickets, marvelling that
no manmade sound was evident. I also spotted a number of animals
including snakes, monitor lizards and kingfishers and with each
sighting my appreciation of this wonderful environment deepened.
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The centre of resort activity, the pool and beachfront areas, exhibit
a pleasant balance between the development of essential resort infrastructure
and a lasting natural beauty. The infinity-edged pool has three
distinct sections; a large portion is shallow, for children, a small
niche has benches under shady trees and the remaining area of the
pool is rectangular enough to swim laps. The decked poolside area
has rows of sun-chairs with stark white umbrellas awaiting the opportunity
to offer respite from the hot sun and light snacks and beverages
are provided from the funky poolside bar, Coco Vidas.
Also located in the vicinity is the Watersports Centre, the source
of a host of recreational activities. Snorkelling, sailing, windsurfing
and kayaking facilities are all available and the recreation team
provides free scuba diving demonstration lessons in the pool twice
daily. Recreation Manager, 'Khun O', said "people find the
sample lesson so enjoyable that they generally always sign up for
a full diving excursion." The recreation department also runs
an interesting daily activity schedule which includes batik painting,
yoga and aerobics classes, a full kids' club programme and Thai
boxing lessons with a bona fide Muay Thai champion.
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For the child in us all, the resort has its very own, very cute
and very cheeky baby elephant named Ra Ra. She came to the resort
from Surin province and now takes daily delight in posing for numerous
photographs. Mr. Findlay vaunted "Guests definitely shouldn't
miss meeting Ra Ra our baby elephant, we also have the rejuvenating
Mandara Spa where you will be spoilt and pampered!" Mandara
Spa is a renowned Asian spa leader, offering a sophisticated range
of treatments that provide a nice blend of therapy and indulgence.
With six private treatment rooms and eleven therapists, I highly
recommend guests make reservations upon arrival and after one treatment,
book another! In my experience, one massage is never enough!
The Sun Moon Deck is situated right on the beach and so, is a great
place for functions or the Friday night seafood buffet, which we
attended. The buffet was a seafood lover's delight, offering a good
range of international seafood dishes and freshly barbecued items.
Those people, like me, whose constitutions are not agreeable with
Neptune's offerings, would be better suited to Gecko, the resort's
Italian restaurant. On the second night of my stay, I dined at Gecko
on pan-fried swordfish, two-way cooked duck and skewers of succulent
beef and lamb. The quality, variety and presentation of the cuisine
served in the hotel was excellent and displayed a contemporary flair
with some distinctly Thai twists.
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I feel, special mention should be made of the hotel's comprehensive
wine and alcoholic beverage menus and the lively bar outlets, in
particular Martinis Cocktail Lounge. Martinis is a great place for
high tea, a sundowner or an intimate nightcap and with over twenty
different sumptuous martinis, it certainly lives up to its name.
The bar manager Rose, is perhaps the most persuasive Thai person
I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. I watched her closely during
my time at the bar; with a manner that exemplifies the resort's
polite but casual ethos, Rose partakes in chatty conversation with
anyone that enters. Courtesy of her guidance and persuasive powers,
I tasted the wonderful concoctions of the parfait martini, lemon-tini,
Krabi-tini and the good old fashioned Manhattan, to sheepishly name
but a few. All were superior in taste and very well priced at THB
220 per glass and all cocktails are shaken and poured tableside
by a kneeling waitress, in true Thai fashion.
The Sheraton Krabi Beach Resort presents a great range of services
and facilities that strike a balance between entertainment and pure
relaxation, between light-hearted fun and intimate romance, making
it a suitable destination for families and couples alike. The service
is first-rate, the products, excellent but the ace up the Sheraton
Krabi's sleeve is definitely the mangrove forest for it offers more
than a sea view could. For peace, privacy and the thrill of spotting
tropical wildlife right outside your door, consider the Sheraton
Krabi Beach Resort for your next vacation in amazing Thailand.
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