My hard working husband set me the brief for our upcoming half-term holiday break: “find a two-bedroom villa, with private pool, stunning ocean views, quiet location, kids activities and a spa, with steam and sauna.” Tough call but I surpassed his expectations on this occasion, even he had to admit it!
By Joanne Wark
Thailand’s always a good place to fly to from Hong Kong, where we live, so with modern AI tools available I asked ChatGPT for some ideas. Phang Nga Bay, next to Phuket, was a destination that appeared on the list several times, with some good looking options on small islands to the east of Phuket. They sounded idyllic, but we would lose time getting ferries back and forth from Phuket, and to be honest none of them had appealing spa facilities; which was the feature most important to me !
The Phang Nga part of the equation definitely seemed to work (sea views and away from tourist hotspots), I just needed to find somewhere that was within a 60-minute transfer of Phuket’s airport, with a well reviewed spa and good facilities for the kids.
Bingo! Up popped Cape Yamu, I’d never heard of it. Here there was a residential villa estate, but all of the properties were way too large for a 2-adult + 2-young teenagers family. However, at the far end of the estate, on the very tip of a peninsula was a perfect looking resort, the COMO Point Yamu.
It was night-time when we got into our taxi at the airport, so we couldn’t see much of the surroundings, but the journey was just over 30-minutes, on a fast and empty road. When we arrived at a security barrier, we knew we must be getting close. Up a hill, passed some expensive looking villas, and after a short climb we arrived at the entrance to a very modern, chic looking hotel.
The lobby is vast, open on two sides, with a four tier antique Toh Mhoo Bu Cha buddhist altar in the centre; this created a spiritual atmosphere giving our arrival a sense of calm. After a quick check in we were taken to our 2-Bed Pool Villa, which required a 2-minute buggy ride, much to the kids delight!
The villa was large, about 250 sq metres we guessed. The decor was white, with all walls, large mirrors and linen covered sofas providing a clean, crisp atmosphere. By contrast the flooring was varnished teak wood, and at the ends of the lounge space were our two ensuite bedrooms; a king and a twin. I won’t go into every amenity, as they had everything you would expect at a 5-star resort.
Housekeeping had already done the turn-down service, and they had cleverly left the blinds in the living room open, so we could see the well lit infinity edged private swimming pool. A fantastic sense of arrival, and one that required some firm parental discipline to stop the kids jumping straight in.
Beyond the pool it was pitch black, no idea what the view was like, we would need to wait until the morning to discover this. 30-minutes of screen time, to compensate the kids for no-swimming, and it was off to bed for an early start on Saturday. “Let’s leave our curtains open, so we can wake up to the view” my husband announced. He wasn’t totally convinced I had ticked all the boxes on his brief. “Let’s hope we don’t wake up to a cement factory in the morning!” he said, with some threat in his voice !!
I needn’t have worried, what we were confronted with at 6am the following morning… Well, let’s just say it took our breath away! Miles of endless calm water, dotted with countless small islands, some green in the foreground, and hundreds, a misty grey on the horizon. A huge, wide vista of tranquillity, I’ve rarely seen anything so stunning, I knew I had hit the jackpot when I got a hug, kiss and “well done darling” from the husband.
Breakfast was served in the La Sirena Italian Restaurant , which faced north-east, alongside the resort’s main swimming pools, and here the views were the same, it felt like we were on a small island, surrounded by water, with every single point of the property having a sea view. It was no surprise when a member of staff told me that COMO Point Yamu is THE most instagramed hotel in Phuket, people show up here just to selfie in front of this view.
The spa was no different. My treatment room had this incredible view too, as did the relaxation deck, with its twin hydro-pools. Khun Tukta, the Wellness Instructor walked me through the massage options and on her advice I went for the ‘COMO Shambhala Massage’. It seemed that most of the staff have worked at the property for years, and my excellent masseuse, Khun Dow joined in the very beginning, back in 2013. She delivered just the right amount of pressure, using the minty ‘invigorate’ oil I had chosen. I drifted in and out of sleep, waking up to a hot towel wrap around my shoulders and neck; exactly what the doctor had ordered.
Our villa had a full kitchen set-up, so we organised a shopping trip to TOPS deli at nearby Robinson’s Mall . I fully intended to dine in the restaurants at every opportunity, but this option suited us with the kids, so we could feed them early on some nights, and then head up to Nahmyaa , the resort’s Thai restaurant.
Saturday night was to be our first dining experience at Nahmyaa (which simply means ‘curry’). They offer southern Thai cuisine, with a choice of sharing set menus, or full à la carte options. The restaurant itself is quite large with 70 covers, and was designed in a whimsical fashion by leading Italian interior designer Paola Navone.
Fortunately for us, Executive Chef Steven Black was doing his table rounds when we arrived so we were keen to get his advice on what to order. To start with I chose the fern tip salad, with three huge prawns (Yam Pak Kud Goong Sod), and my husband went for duck wafers (Kanom Bueng Ped) which looked simple but had many ingredients, including meringue, grilled coconut, crushed peanuts and a nice spicy kick.
For mains, Chef Black recommended the Crab Curry (Kaeng Kati Poo Bai Chaplu), aromatic and rich with blue swimmer crab meat and coconut milk, and an enormous steamed Andaman Seabass fillet (Pla Krapong Nueng Manow).
We both had a glass of local NV Monsson Valley , a respectable sparkling wine from Hua Hin in Thailand, and then shared a bottle of Pecorino Velenosi , a medium dry white from Italy, with its clean notes of citrus and almonds; an excellent companion with spicy food. For dessert we chose the same dish, a refreshing baby coconut filled with its milk, and red dyed water chestnuts in a pandan syrup (Tup Tim Grob), highly recommended.
We were told that Nahmyaa was only available for dinner, which wasn’t totally correct! They actually open at 3pm for afternoon tea, Thai style. There is a typical international afternoon tea menu available, with scones, cream and strawberry jam, but the Thai version is very interesting with some unusual savoury bites from Phuket, such as Toon Thong, chicken in a crispy wonton wrapper. I definitely recommend you try this afternoon tea, you won’t get it anywhere else in the world, but probably best to skip a big dinner afterwards!
The spring break ended all too soon and we were back on a flight to Hong Kong on Wednesday evening. There was a unanimous consensus that COMO Point Yamu had delivered a fantastic short break, with the amazing Phang Nga Bay backdrop an abiding memory for me. But I will be in a lot of trouble with the kids if I don’t mention how impressed they were with the Play by COMO facility. In addition to many games such as table tennis, pool, table football, archery and video games, the friendly staff kept them busy making art, learning some Muay Thai boxing moves and even a Thai cooking class; on one afternoon they took them on a bike ride around the estate. This was a huge hit with the younger members of the Wark family!
