If pool villa was Banyan Tree Phuket’s gift to travelling civilisation, it’s been re-gifted countless times without any reinvention for almost twenty years. Considering Amanpuri’s open suite formula of ‘contiguous living-bedroom-bathroom’ hasn’t been innovated on for 30 years, you can’t blame the unimaginative hoteliers. What’s more Phuket, over the years, has taken the concept of pool villa quite literally … a (smallish) villa with a (even smaller) plunge pool… repeat endlessly.
The Naka Phuket presents a truly new kind of pool villa, worthy of distinction as descendent of Banyan Tree reimagined for the modernists. One bed room villa at The Naka is the shape of matchbox manifolds with the glass encased bedroom cantilevering out from the wood and steel framed living and bathroom. Private pool juts out to the side with sun deck doubling as the entry corridor. All this creates an architectural feat in the world of countlessly over-done pool villas. Two bedroom villas are the shape of matchboxes stacked in two or three levels. The three level makes extra room for living and kitchenette in the middle with two bedrooms on top and bottom.
What adds to the intrigue of these minimal, modernist structures is the abundant natural elements blended in. Unobstructed views of Patong bay, rocky sand banks fronting the communal infinity pool and the lush green you’d expect from the hills of Kamala. But it not just raw nature that blends itself into the modernist villas: it is the natural materials incorporated into design. Perhaps it is the inexperienced local contractors who underappreciated the harsh Phuket elements in the vast sprawling hotel such as this – natural teak with light maroon patina is ageing rapidly yet masterfully. Teak flooring in the villas are rising and creaking, showing signs of (thankful) lack of chemical treatment.
All this architectural marvel isn’t without faults. In fact with almost three years on its belt for phase 1 development, the fault lines are in full display. Concrete workmanship was poor and the cracks are appearing in many places. Finishing and condition of phase 2 and 3 are even worse and they reveal the haste in completion. I hope I’ll find the right tact to raise these issues with the owner next time I meet him in Bangkok.
Travel tips – ask for villas closer to the beach. These older villas (less than three years at the time of writing) have been finished at superior workmanship and you’ll witness less missing pool tiles, mismatched replacement flooring and cracks in polished concrete facade.
The Naka Phuket a member of Design Hotels
Kathu Tambon Kathu, Amphoe Kathu, Changwat Phuket 83120 Thailand
+66 76 337 999
Approx. 40min south of Phuket Intl. Airport, 15min north of Patong Beach
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