Indigo Pearl: A Mini Break with the Minis

A few weeks back this mama realised that she was going to be spending a public holiday alone in Singapore with her two boys. Helper-less and husbandless, in situations like this you can either choose to book yourself in for a weekend of soft plays and roam around the condo pool for hours or…you decide it’s time for a solo getaway avec les minis!

For some reason, I though a quick trip to Phuket sounded plausible. I found some reasonably priced tickets and suddenly they were booked and paid for. Whaaa! Next step, where to stay in Phuket? I wanted something that would please Mama’s sensitive holiday soul without having to spend the entire trip apologising on behalf of my two boys. I decided to drop our friends at Mr & Mrs Smith an email asking for suggestions and an hour later I had the answer to my Phuket prayers, Indigo Pearl, a boutique hotel located just 10 minutes away from Phuket airport.

The fact that Indigo Pearl is so close to the airport makes the transfer totally survivable with kids – 10 minutes in a cool van and you’re there. Beat that! Check-in was fast and a group of smiling hotel staff magically appeared on cue to play with my kids. You’ve got to love Thailand!

We were taken to our room in a golf cart; I guess I don’t need to point out how popular golf carts are with little boys? I was told by our driver, that the hotel was blessed with no less than three swimming pools. A sumptuous family pool with a dedicated children’s pool, and two adults-only infinity pools. It’s a brilliant idea that means your kids can go absolutely bananas in ‘their’ pool without annoying the non-parents trying to catch some quiet time by the adults-only pools.

Once we were in our room (and my boys had done their best of trashing the place) we were ready for lunch and a swim. We decided to hit up the pool café for a light snack but unfortunately they didn’t start service until noon that day, which for a traveling toddler is a set back of gigantic proportions. Two screaming kids in tow, I dragged everyone up to the main restaurant where we quickly got some food prepared for the boys. During our meal the hotel’s sous chef, Jack, came up to our table apologising for the inconvenience at the pool café and told us lunch was on the house. Hey, who am I to hold a grudge?!

There are quite a few kinds of rooms to choose from. But all the rooms are super-nice with a modern yet cozy decoration. I had booked us into a Pool Pavillion, which is a room with a small garden and a decent sized plunge pool. In hindsight, I would have been better off in one of the other rooms since the plunge pools are rather deep and my eldest son didn’t want to go in.

On my second day I spoke to the reception about changing rooms and they kindly upgraded me to their Cocoon Spa Suite (free of charge!). It’s a truly amazing room (or should I say house?) with an enormous private spa section, including a sauna, massage shower bench, and a big Jacuzzi plus a big outdoor swimming pool! In all honesty, this room wouldn’t have been offered to me had I not had a GoldSmith card from Mr&Mrs Smith attached to my booking reference, but still…

At Indigo Pearl there is also a kids club with a big indoor play area that is staffed by three lovely ladies from 8am-6pm daily – free of charge! Naturally I booked myself in for a few spa treatments whilst the kids were being kept busy (who wouldn’t?). They were nice but nothing to rave about.

Since I know that our Sassy Mamas want The Whole Truth, here is what I found slightly less fabulous about the Indigo Pearl:

There really isn’t much to see around the hotel and the nearby beach was pretty dirty so we didn’t even bother going. All of the children’s DVDs on offer were rented out the whole time, which was a bit disappointing for a mama looking to relax. For all the effort spent on making beautiful rooms and great service it would have made sense to put the kids menu in the in-room dining book (which they hadn’t).

Lastly, the mozzies! I am Scandinavian and I still don’t think I’ve ever seen so many of them before. I can’t blame the hotel for the mosquitoes but some fogging or something would have been good to keep them under control.

Would I go back? Absolutely! Either as a couple’s getaway or with the whole fam. Indigo Pearl really is super accommodating to families, it’s easy to walk around with a stroller and high chairs are readily available, but it is first and foremost catered to adults – which is probably why it’s so nice!

Indigo Pearl Phuket
Nai Yang Beach and National Park
Phuket 83110, Thailand
Tel: +66 (0) 76 327 006
[email protected]