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The Evason Phuket Your own private island. What more could one want? There's a certain finality to those words, a closure. Game, set, match. I am not speaking in the broad sense of private, which might apply to an island with only one resort. Rather, I speak of the Evason Phuket Resort's Koh Bon Island, where a single luxury bungalow perches like an eagle's nest in the tops of coconut palms, affording bird's eye views of the sea below. From five in the afternoon until about eight in the morning, the only people with whom you share this paradise are your butler, your chef and waiter and your security guards, all of whom are stationed down below, well out of earshot and sight. The only pressing decision you face, though admittedly one of some burden and consequence, is whether to dine on your balcony or at a pavilion directly on the beach. I would choose the former, but that's just my prejudice against sandy feet. Koh Bon's honeymoon suite is without a doubt the most secluded of all of Phuket's deluxe bungalows. Access is through a gate in the wooden fence that runs behind the beach. A stairway leads up into the jungle heights; lemongrass and flowers growing along its sides. By the time you reach the top, you may well find yourself winded, but the view is even more breathtaking than the climb. Dozens of islands dapple the surface of Ao Chalong Bay and the Andaman beyond, inviting daydreams and fantasies of further exploration, a landscape in shades of blue, from the sparkling water to the ethereal sky to the distant outcroppings of forested rock islets. In fact, you can see, on a clear day, all the way to the famous islands of Koh Phi Phi near the horizon. Perhaps most incredible of all, especially for one who has seen the more developed areas of Phuket, is that nowhere in this panorama is there a hint of civilization; no lights are visible, no radio towers, piers; no noise from dreadful techno music or overplayed Bob Marley albums bleeding into the milieu; for all the bars are well out of aural range. Not only is this island bungalow romantic, it is absolutely unique to Phuket; no other resort can dangle such a tantalizing bauble before its guests. Life simply does not get more idyllic than this.
I shouldn't say there are no signs of man at all. That's actually a lie. In fact, you are virtually guaranteed to bear witness to the passing of numerous fishing boats hunting your next dinner. It's just that many people find ships quaint, more a part of the landscape than a blight upon it. Though, following that logic, the same presumption could probably be applied to billboards and oil refineries. For the time being, however, all you see are islands, ocean and boats; the very epitome of a tropical island view. In keeping with castaway sensibilities, the bungalow is built of raw logs and has a thatched facade on the roof, preserving the illusion that Robinson Caruso himself may have built it with his own hands from gathered jungle material. Fortunately for both the guest and resort management, this rusticity is but a smoke screen; the interior is every bit as well-appointed and luxurious as the rooms in the main resort. As with all the units, a desk area serves as the bed's headboard, an ingenious, space-saving design which reduces clutter and permits the eye to focus on a central point of magnificence; bringing these major elements together and combining them with the airy sexiness of a mosquito net canopy creates a singular piece of contrasting colour. The pure white and deep, almost black hues of the hardwood desk/bed, the earthy orange and yellow tones of the silk pillows.
Of course the most important aspect of a bed is not how it looks, but how it feels. The mattress is a top of the line Sealy model, perhaps the nicest bed I've ever slept on; achieving that wonderful perfection of being both firm and featherbed soft at once. The only drawback is that these beds are excruciatingly difficult to rise from; they seem to have an intelligence of their own, emotions, a fear of separation. They do not want to be left alone for even a minute. Though, one might suppose, honeymooners would have no objection to the notion of remaining pillow bound. The entertainment system is state of the art, though one might question why you would want a television and stereo system at all if the purpose of your visit is to explore the sensations of nature and your partner. Certainly, the smallest degree of imagination could conceive of more interesting plans than turning on CNN and catching up on the latest market news. Down below, Koh Bon's beach is one of white coral sand. Two swimming areas have been roped off; both have the remains of small reefs where fish cruise in search of food. Sadly, the vast majority of coral here is dead, as is most often the case this close to Phuket, but over the course of a half hour's snorkeling, we spied a number of interesting creatures, most notably the almost translucent sand fish which, aside from small yellow and black markings by their gills, camouflage nearly perfectly with the bottom. During the day, long tailed boats run from the Evason's pier to Koh Bon hourly. Fortunately, other boats keep clear or service the tour operation on the other side of the island, which also shuts down in the evening. (Don't worry, no-one stays the night; there is no accommodation over there. This is, after all, your island.) Thus there is none of the noise from jet skis, parasailors, water-skiers, or taxis that one, unfortunately, finds on nearly all of Phuket's beaches despite laws prohibiting some of those nuisances.
For a different type of exclusive experience, the beach itself offers day bungalow pavilions, some of which rise up to nine metres above the ground; luxurious chez lounges are available for those who don't put such a premium on their privacy. The lounge chairs are nifty in that they have trays that pull out of the sides for drinks or books and drawers for stashing sun block and other personal items. A cute little jungle bar built around a large tree serves deliciously refreshing tropical drinks and fruit shakes; a sports centre provides windsurfing and sailing opportunities and lessons. A souvenir shop peddles such necessities as sun cream, beach sarongs and hats, just in case you left yours behind. The restaurant, Onto The Island, cooks up some of the same scrumptious fare that you enjoy at the main resort, including a lavish buffet. On our first day, we were caught in a rain storm and huddled beneath the thatched roof. Before long the manager arrived bearing two small bowls of bright yellow mango sorbet. "To bring a little sun back to your day!" he said. The gesture was sweet, as was the sorbet, but sadly the rain paid no attention and continued its relentless assault. As the Taoists say, "When it rains, there is only rain."
Lest one get the impression that the Evason Phuket Resort is only its private island, let me ferry you back to Phuket's shores, where the hotel proper resides at the far end of a coconut plantation, overlooking the bay. As we leave the island behind and approach from the water, you can't help but notice the swimming pool. Built up on the rocks, with infinite edges and a solitary palm tree growing from a tiny island in its centre, it may be one of the most dramatic of all the pools in Phuket. When the tide comes in, the waves crash against the stone walls of its base, which stands like the lower parapet of a castle, casting sea spray and mist high into the air. When one sits inside the pool, for it really is better suited to leisure than swimming laps, one has the sensation of being in suspension above the surface of the ocean, which is quite close to the truth. Views from here, as from Koh Bon, stretch forever to the islands of Krabi. Aside from the private island, the most striking characteristic of the Evason Phuket is its interior design. Local Thai developers call excessively frilly and busy details "Louis," as in the fourteenth. Thankfully there is no evidence of that decadent old king at work here. Quite the opposite. Furniture and decoration are understated, the walls are clean; no mass-produced paintings of ancient Thailand mar their surfaces. You will not find a single seascape or flower painting. Instead, the richness of the wood and silks are brought to the fore. Are the words earthy sophistication contradictory? Not here. Let me assure you that nothing could be farther from the fact. The colour schemes, emphasizing very dark brown wood; mustard and cream tinted cement, sanded to a smooth, soapstone-like finish and the warm oranges and yellows of the pillows and sofa cushions provide the earthy, natural tone. The crisp lines and minimalist furnishings add the neat, modern sophistication.
The Evason's restaurants are stunning, clustered together upon the bluff, enjoying the same panorama as the pool, but the venues are more than just pretty. During last year's King's Cup Regatta, the general consensus among sailors was that the Evason served up the finest of the many feasts. Into Fusion, downstairs, is the most formal of the eateries, and one of my favourites in Thailand. Don't miss the lamb with Indian spiced eggplant and galangal gazpacho. Into Thai is lighter, a more family-style atmosphere; the food is both authentic and delicious, a rarity even at some of the finest resorts, since the quality of Thai food can often tend to be inversely proportionate to price. The main restaurant, Into The View, is home to the breakfast and luncheon buffets. I was most impressed by the selection of sixteen kinds of fresh juices ranging from the ubiquitous OJ to star fruit, peach, pomelo, and champagne. Oops! That's not a juice, but the bottle looked right at home in the ice and it most certainly puts a fine sparkle to those tropical delights. Originally we had planned to take our leave of the Evason at about two o'clock, but we ended up extending for an addition three hours beyond our already late check out, in part because I hadn't fully researched the island accommodation, in part because the prospect of stuffing all of our bags back into the trunk of my motor scooter and driving up the road to my humble abode seemed a grave sentence indeed. We dragged our legs from our most generous duplex pool suite, which after two nights had come to feel so much more like home than the real thing and plunked ourselves down in the lobby. It was a pleasant evening, with the sun peaking through the low clouds and the sky mirrored in the magnificent reflecting pool. The lobby really is an experience unto itself. With four separate "sala" pavilions for individualized attention, it seems more like an exotic antique trading post, a stop along the Eastern and Orient Express perhaps, than part of a hotel. The Evason Phuket is managed by Six Senses Hotels, Resorts and Spas, bearing the motto, "Sight, smell, taste, touch. . . and beyond." Our experience was beyond all right, beyond expectation, beyond luxury, beyond romance. As the Taoists say, "Be like the forces of nature: when it blows, there is only wind; when it rains, there is only rain; when the clouds pass, the sun shines through." |
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Benjarong Magazine - November 2003, Volume 6 Issue 11 |
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