Regent Cape Panwa
Add: 84 Moo 8, Sakdidej Road, T. Vichit, Muang, Phuket 83000
Tel: +66 76 200 800
Website: www.regenthotels.com/EN/Phuket
Email: reservations.phuket@regenthotels.com
Prices: Premier Sea View 6,024 THB/night ~ Ocean Pool Villa 12,384 THB/night
Visited: Feb 2015
Please note that this was a complimentary stay arranged by the resort.
Regent Phuket Cape Panwa is a relatively new addition to the island’s luxury resort scene, but has already been garnering oohs and aahs from guests all over the world – and it’s easy to see why. When I arrived in the late afternoon, the whole resort was enshrouded in a soft, glowing light from the setting sun, and before I even set foot in my villa I was already charmed at the reception area – the gold-adorned pavilions, lily ponds, lush gardens, a 55-meter infinity pool, and of course, the Andaman Sea as backdrop…Yes, I’m ready to check-in.
After a refreshing welcome drink, I was picked up by a buggy and escorted to my villa. Regent Cape Panwa has a total of 105 rooms and villas, starting with the 70-sqm Pavilion Rooms up to the 150-sqm Pool Villas. Regardless of size, all accommodations come with balcony or terrace with sea view, and each is loaded with amenities such as the mini-bar, an iPod docking system, Liddell bed linen, L’Occitane toiletries, and a wide selection of in-room movies.
I stayed at a Ocean View Pool Villa (12,384 THB/night), which is 150 sqm in size and consists of a huge bathroom (and by huge I mean huge, see photos below), a bedroom that extends into a living room, which includes a large opium sofa that can be turned into an extra bed if needed, plus an extensive sun deck with private pool in complete privacy. If skinny dipping is your thing, here’s where to do it. Villa guests also have access to the 24-hour butler service, daily laundry and pressing service, and usage of the Regent Club (more on this later).
For dinner, I headed over to The Grill, Regent’s casual fine dining restaurant. This is not the place to be if you are looking for Thai flavors, but if after days of feasting at local restaurants you would like a change of scene, The Grill would be a most excellent choice. Food aside, the setting is absolutely charming with candlelights after dark, though I imagine it to be delightful during the day as well. The menu has a focus on farm-raised, free range and organic produce, and just about everything that can be made from scratch is – the bread is house-baked, the bacon is house-smoked, the butter is house-churned, as are the ice-cream and yogurt…all by chef Justin Baziuk and his team.
We started the evening with a glass of Kiwi Walk (290 THB/glass) from Marlborough, New Zealand, a floral and crisp Sauvignon Blanc.
For starters, we tried Chef’s Signature Tasting for Two (980 THB), which was a platter of delicious small bites like scallop ceviche with soft shell crab, ginseng braised pork belly with prawn dumpling, and pan-seared foie gras with mango chutney and coconut espuma.
For the main course, we had a choice of meats or seafood to be grilled and served with two sides and sauce, whether you want it to be Béarnaise, Hollandaise, Wild Mushroom, Fresh Green Pepper Corn, Roasted Garlic Jus, Café de Paris or Natural Jus. The Bultarra Rack of Lamb (1,500 THB) was excellent, as were the sides of sauteed portobello mushrooms and steamed asparagus.
For desserts, the yogurt cheesecake was wonderful, though chocolate lovers might want to go for the chocolate texture, which is pieced together with chocolate ganache, chocolate soil, cocoa nib wafer, chocolate crumble, cocoa hazelnut paste, milk chocolate jam, and popping chocolate.
And of course, we were not to leave without a glass of fortified wine from Monsoon Valley, a treat when paired with desserts or simply on its own.
After a fine dinner at The Grill followed by a less classy evening at Patong (details shall not be mentioned here but it suffices to say that we had plenty to drink and plenty to see), I had a good night’s sleep and woke up to a very sunny morning. Breakfast was at Regent Club, and I must say that the combination of comforting food, soothing service, and warm breeze was godsend to me after a *slightly* overwhelming evening of pub crawl. I should also mention that the Regent Club is open all day to villa guests for coffee, tea, cocktails…or a swim in that outdoor pool. Basically, you can enjoy views of the Andaman Sea throughout your stay, regardless of what time it is.
For non-villa guests, breakfast is served here at The Restaurant, which is in this lovely tropical setting. Villa guests can dine here too if they so choose.
After breakfast, to the beach. The part exclusive to Regent guests can be reached via this little road, and conveniently, a bar is installed right near the beachfront for anyone who needs a glass while lounging in the sun.
There are a few other notable facilities at the Regent, such as the library and reading lounge, gym, children’s club, and a splendid spa which I will need to tell you about in another post…coming soon!