Hotel review: Angsana Laguna Phuket is a great escape for families

As mentioned, the Angsana Laguna Phuket has 378 rooms, ranging from 40 sq metre rooms to a 226 sq metre two-bedroom suite. All of this translates into a good range of options for all families. 

We checked into a 113 sq metre Island Two Bedroom Island Suite. It came with a spacious living room, dining area, and two bedrooms—one with a double bed and the other with two twin beds. We added an extra bed into the larger bedroom easily. 

The interiors are classy, with a nod to Thai design. The furnishings were, most importantly, comfortable, and the children didn’t need to feel precious about how they “lived” in the space. Our suite looked over the lagoon, beyond which was the beach and the Andaman Sea, and was situated conveniently just above the Bodega & Grill, where we could get meals throughout the day, and pick up a buggy—the resort provides free on-call buggy services all day. 

Just off the Bodega & Grill was also my favourite part of that 300-metre-long pool. This beautifully designed small pool area was designated as a quiet zone, i.e. for adults seeking refuge from noisy little people. That said, my kids did slip into the quiet zone—with me hushing them repeatedly—multiple times during our stay.

While there, we spent an inordinate amount of time in the water. The kids discovered a semi-secret jacuzzi area. They also absolutely loved the pool bar—my eldest I believe had at least two banana smoothies a day there—and a giant inflatable water slide and over-water obstacle course. These kept them busy for a fair portion of each day. 

We also checked out the kids club, which was fantastically well-run and offered a range of activities from bracelet making to T-shirt painting, along with a playground and a bouncy castle. In the past, our kids have chosen not to spend too much time in kids clubs. But at Angsana, they went back repeatedly. 

One afternoon, while our youngest and I were at the kids club, and the eldest was chilling out, my wife took our daughter to check out the spa—the former got a massage and the latter a manicure. The massage was so good that my wife booked another before we left. So definitely check out the spa, and do book your appointments as soon as you check-in. 

On another afternoon, while my wife looked after the youngest (yes, parenting involves a lot of child swapping), I took the older kids paddle boating around the lagoon. Amusingly, the resort’s paddle boats are shaped like giant yellow ducklings. I also took my daughter sailing around the lagoon on a small catamaran. The lagoon has a water fountain right at its heart, and the evil dad that I am, I had great pleasure sailing us around it in a way that ensured my daughter got drenched. The older two kids also tried their hand at Thai Boxing. They endured a very tiring but very fun lesson. The instructors were super nice, super helpful and quite humorous. Because our daughter mentioned that she should stretch after the exercise, one of them spent an additional 15 minutes coaching her through various yoga poses. 

We also spent a fair amount of time at Xana. Across from the beach, to the side of Azura, there is an elevated pool that is lined internally with stools. It’s a fun spot for lounging in the water as well as a lovely spot for catching the sunset. Bang Tao beach itself was lovely, and as all kids love to do, ours spent a chunk of each day just playing in the waves.

One of the things that we look for in choosing a family resort is picking a property with enough (good) food options that we don’t get bored. Angsana Laguna delivers in this aspect. Bodega & Grill opens for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Lunch is a smaller menu of Mediterranean and inventive Western dishes, while dinner is more focused on grilled meats.

The Marketplace is the property’s main buffet breakfast joint. Interestingly, eating there was the only time each day that we felt that the property was crowded. Unfortunately, the Poolside restaurant wasn’t open when we were there; it was just in the final stages of completion. And given its menu is built around fried snacks, pizzas, pasta and sliders, the kids were very upset. We had one enjoyable dinner at Baan Talay, but the restaurant we went to the most was definitely Azura. 

With a location just set back from the beach, Azura offers perfect holiday vibes. The menu is Mediterranean and surprisingly well-executed. And because you can order off the Xana menu there as well, you can also enjoy simpler dishes, like burgers, pizza, sandwiches and Thai classics. So really, you get the best of both worlds there.

I have to admit we did sneak off property twice during our four-day stay. Once was to check out one of the many beach-facing restaurants that line Bang Tao Beach (it wasn’t as good as Azura so I won’t recommend it), and the other was to check out a sourdough-centric cafe called Bartels, which I will highly recommend. I discovered that the Phuket branch of Bartels was in Bang Tao, and just a few minutes from Angsana. I had heard such good things from friends in Bangkok about this hipster sourdough specialist, founded by a Dane and Norwegian. In addition to just great quality bread, it specialises in grilled cheese sandwiches, which my eldest is simply obsessed with. So we couldn’t resist sneaking out one morning for a spectacular breakfast, and the best coffee I had the entire trip.

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