Rising Sun Residence, Phuket  

This is a gem in Phuket, especially if you are looking for a large place for your family and/or friends. We stayed in the 3-bedroom villa and it was quite nice. Housekeeping services were provided for most of our stay (with the housekeeper available throughout the morning and afternoon). Each bedroom also has its own safe, which is a plus. The master bedroom has a nice-sized balcony. The 3-bedroom villas have their own pool. However, some pools, although private, are too close to the resort's main road (although there is little vehicular traffic). Owner and wife are very accomodating and friendly. Best part, in my opinion, is the use of the driver for 9 hours of the day. They're very flexible on which 9 hours, so that's good if you want to do something in the morning, relax at your villa in the afternoon, and go out at night. My only real complaint is that air conditioning is only in the bedrooms, which allows for all of the common areas (including the ground floor kitchen, dining room, and family room) to get very hot. I know this would be quite expensive to provide air conditioning throughout the entire 3-story villa, but for $400+ per day one would expect to be comfortable, especially if one is traveling with small children and/or elderly. Also, the only way to get anywhere is by car; it's too far up in the hills to walk.