Nothing can ever quite prepare you for Phulay Bay. As we drove up to the resort, its tall and thick brick walls gave off the impression that we were somehow intruding into some secret enclave. As we ambled up a couple of steps, we found ourselves face to face with to two enormous teak doors. And what lay behind them, literally took our breath away. A huge square, closed in by plum walls, a wooden pavilion sitting at its center, surrounded on all sides by glass-like water. It took a minute or two to realize that to get to the pavillion, one had to step on floating squares that ran along its sides. Such was the effect of Phulay Bay that the mere act of walking on this floating path, was a magical experience in itself.
At the pavilion, hotel manager Marta Martin, and executive chef Gaetan Biesuz welcomed us and smiled understandingly at our incredulous faces, while attendants offered water and cold towels. This theatrical welcome area was called Sala Srichan, now made famous by its cameo in the Hollywood movie, The Hangover 2. In the midst of superlatives and expressions of awestruck wonder, we managed to go over the day’s plans. “Your , JB will help you settle down,” Marta said. “And for now we’ll let you enjoy your room.”
And so we made our initial foray into the grounds of Phulay Bay, riding on the buggy driven by our butler, JB, as she navigated expertly through narrow roads bordered by bamboo and frangipani. Designed by renowned Thai architect Lek Bunnang, Phulay Bay was all at once modern and traditional, Moroccan and Thai. Walls were of an opulent mauve and purple color. Bamboo gardens could be glimpsed through colossal circular openings through the walls. Thai-style doors, roofs, and pavilions were everywhere. Water sprinkled unexpectedly from walls and onto the side of the road. At every turn and at every possible chance, members of the staff put their palms together to greet us "Sawadhika."I could not help but feel as if we had stumbled into some secret kingdom, and the experience was close to sacred.
Where the mountain meets the sea
The name Phulay Bay emerged from the combination of two words—phukag (Thai for "mountain") and thalay ("sea"). To most people, the name itself means nothing, until they see that it is a "Ritz Carlton Reserve," and all at once images of elegance, class, and luxury come swimming into their heads. Yet Phulay Bay is drastically different from any Ritz Carlton experience they might have had. As the first Ritz Carlton "reserve," the resort necessitated a whole new level of experience–one in which the location is exotic, the entrances dramatic, and the rest, a seamless blend of the traditional and the modern.
The royal treatment
The teak doors of my villa were high and heavy. They opened up to an infinity pool that looked like it was spilling over to the Andaman Sea. Right in front of this private pool, heavy sliding glass doors showed a double-king sized bed. Which one to enjoy first—the pool area, with its great view, or the room, which required a full-on tour all on its own? The full meaning of Marta's words "We'll let you enjoy your room," dawned on me as I walked slowly around. Behind the bed was another huge teak door with a lovely painting done in Lanna style–a style that originated in northern Thailand between the 11th and 18th centuries A.D. This one opened up to a sunlit hall (courtesy of a skylight that hit the centermost part of the area). The hall led to several nooks–his and hers changing and bath areas, all bright and airy because of the floor to ceiling glass walls that looked out into a garden enclosed by mauve walls.
This was the Royal Villa, which literally makes one feel like a princess in her elegant private quarters. It's just one of six in the entire resort. And though these Royal Villas are the most luxurious, and at 578 square meters are also the biggest, the rest of the rooms–the Pavilion Rooms, Reserve Villas, Beach Villas, Ocean Pavilion–each had something unique to offer.
"The details of the room are just beautiful and incredible," says Anna, who is from Germany but is based in Shanghai, and is celebrating her first wedding anniversary in Phulay Bay with her husband. They were staying in one of the Reserve Villas, which had dramatic wooden steps that led up to a private infinity pool and a small pavilion.
The Beach Villas, on the other hand, had a Jacuzzi and was just a couple of steps to the beach. The Ocean Pavilion had an upstairs terrace with a picturesque ocean view. All of them had magnificent interiors, done in white, creams, cozy browns, and complemented by the warm oranges of the ubiquitous Lanna paintings on mai yang wood. Yet all of them were laid out differently from the rest, a unique touch that makes guests feel as if their room is uniquely their own.
"Many of the guests, when they get here, have all these activities that they want us to arrange, like island hopping and jungle trekking," Marta says. "But they take one look at the rooms, and they say, 'Oh can you cancel some of the things we asked for?'"
Dining and beyond
And just as sleeping has been elevated to whole new level, so is eating in Phulay Bay. Executive chef Gaetan Biesuz literally walked us through the dining options that guests have. And boy, are they spoiled for choice. Chef Gaetan explains the beauty of such a good ratio of guests to dining options. The food and beverage outlets are able to cater to a specific style and taste.
Jampoon is Phulay Bay's international restaurant that gratifies all of the guests' cravings for comfort food. "Home Sweet Home," is, in fact, chef Gaetan's unofficial name for this restaurant, which serves buffet breakfast, and dishes such as pasta and noodles from the kitchen, and pork chops and steaks from the grill.
On the other hand, Lae Lay is the seafood pavilion, which has a dining deck surrounded by a clear glass of water and views that look out to the Andaman Sea. The seafood served here–red snapper, salmon sweet scallops, tiger prawns, and ahi tuna, to name a few–are all fresh and fashioned in such a way that it is a true fine dining experience, but done in such a relaxed atmosphere that a coat and tie is deemed unnecessary.
There's none more informal than dining and drinking outdoors at the infinity pool, the Plai Fah. One can just swim up to the bar, sit in the stools submerged underwater, and order up a drink or two. One of the best places to catch the sunset though, is Chomtawan. With lounge chairs and beds nestled on the sand, cocktails nearby, and even a baby elephant that is especially brought in for a bit of fun.
But of course, what's a stay in Thailand without a taste of Thai food? And this was precisely chef Gaetan's designs for Sri Trang. This restaurant is located a few steps from Jampoon, this outlet has large picture windows that show the resort's lawn where the whimsical pavilion which the producers of The Hangover 2 built for the wedding scene in the movie, and subsequently left to the resort. "I told the chefs–cook the way your parents cooked at home." The result is authentic Thai cuisine that was so good that Sri Trang was named as Asia Tatler's Best Restaurant for 2011.
As if these six dining outlets weren't enough, there is a somewhat secret, seventh dining option for Phulay Bay guests. It is one which might take place on a terrace under a star-strewn sky, in a private dining quarter with a romantic sunset backdrop or on the beach, with torches and the waves lapping lazily on the shore. "Dining Beyond" is an event that truly brings the chef and the guest together–the menu is specially crafted according to the guests' personal taste, and the location and all its attendant details, uniquely the guests' own.
We were able to try two of these. One was barbecue by the beach–a meal that ran the full course of salads, satay, grilled potatoes, lobsters, salmon, beef, and sumptuous cakes and pastries. Another was a sunset dinner at Sri Trang by the sea, where we enjoyed som tum, a sweet and spicy traditional Thai salad of green papaya, roasted peanuts, shrimp, and chili; gai hor bai toey, fried chicken wrapped in pandan leaves; and lovely braised chicken in sweet, creamy coconut milk called tom kha gai.
Emerald Lagoon
As hard as Phulay Bay makes it for you to leave its grounds, it would be a shame to miss Krabi's famous beaches. And so we were given a tour of Hong Island. On the beach in front of the Chomtawan restaurant, the resort's private hua thong (a traditional Thai long tail boat) whisked us to the island. A mere 15 minutes later, the boat slid through a narrow opening among rocky cliffs, we were slack-jawed at the emerald green lagoon embraced on all sides by majestic limestone karsts. Later on we found out that hong is the Thai word for "door", and the key to unlocking this "door" is the tide. (High tide to be exact, because it enables the boats to enter into the green lagoon.) Further on, we were brought to a beach with crystal clear waters and soft creamy sand–an ideal place for a picnic lunch, which was exactly what JB, our butler, packed for us. It was a splendid way to eat, savoring our poached lobster Caesar salad, khao pad (stir fried rice), and dessert of fresh mango and lychee, while watching a mom and her son build a sandcastle nearby. Later on we got to chat with this mom, Alicia, a doctor from Cleveland, who was here on vacation with her husband and two young sons. "We've been all over the world–Greece, Mexico, Costa Rica," she shares, "But Phulay Bay has been the most beautiful [destination] so far."
A night lit by two thousand lights
Will Phulay Bay ever run out of breath-taking experiences for its guests? When we saw Sala Srichan at night, the answer was apparently, "no". Can it get more romantic than this: a pavilion that was surrounded by four walls of dancing candle light; soft, lovely melodies piped in through unseen speakers, a table set for two, surrounded by scattered rose petals? It was the perfect setting for a proposal–which was exactly what is was used for just the other night, as the staff helped a guest propose to his girlfriend by setting up the words, "Marry Me?" on the candle-lit walls. No wonder it was voted on the Trip Advisor website as one of the most romantic resorts in the world. Sala Srichan alone trumps all other attempts at romantic settings, and yet there was the rest of Phulay Bay to consider.
It is a resort that is skillful in its marriage of seemingly contrasting things—the grand and the personal, the majestic and the intimate, the luxurious and the laid-back. It's almost like a lost fantasy land, where the best of both worlds can be had, and time has stopped to accommodate your own schedule. Is it such a surprise then, that one feels–with utmost certainty–that there is no place in the world, one would rather be in, when one is in Phulay Bay.
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