THE Courtyard in Patong opened today, with GM Sigrid Stelling flinging wide the largest pair of doors on the island to make the point for an audience of two.

There was no sudden inrush of customers. The Marriott group has decided to take today's opening slowly, step by step, without hoopla or hype.

A little more of both of those may come early next year and again in April, when the much-anticipated Hard Rock Cafe opens at one end of the same six-storey building.

But it's good to know that Patong and Phuket are still seen as places deserving the support of a well-known international brand that could just as easily have said, ''Let's put everything on hold until the customers come back, maybe next high season.''

A delay was never even discussed, Ms Stelling says.

The rapidly growing collection of Marriott resorts of different styles is now gradually beginning to challenge Laguna Phuket for supremacy as the island's largest private employer.

For Ms Stelling, who began reshaping the Courtyard Patong property in September 2007, the opening today marked a significant milestone, with more to come.

Edged by a wide veranda walk and colonial-style colonnades, the 390-room resort has an urban European feeling . . . with the bizarre Patong addition of a group of taxi drivers, awaiting business out front on plastic chairs.

Among the first guests today was Louise Byrom, general manager of Courtyard North Ryde in Sydney, whose Phuket holiday with her family happened to coincide with the Courtyard Patong opening.

Female GMs are still unusual but less rare these days than they once were, and perhaps a source of unspoken inspiration to the women among the Thai staff.

Making a slow, steady beginning means there are just 130 staff for now, but the number will grow with the resort's reputation.

The Courtyard has a comfortable modern ease about it, with the emphasis on international style, coupled with Thai hospitality.

MoMo Cafe, visible from the street through the glass beyond the colonnades, offers a tempting mixture of Thai specialties among sandwiches, pastas and Western bits and bites.

Once the Hard Rock begins to attract people looking for good food and a good time, both cafes should prove extremely competitive.

Along with the Courtyard at Surin that opened earlier this year and the Courtyard at Kamala that will open early in the new one, the Patong version offers guests the important choice of frills or DIY when it comes to such extra costs as stocking the room fridge or ironing clothes.

Space that the guests never use but pay for is not part of the deal, but quality beds, pillows and duvets are considered to be essentials.

The Courtyard Kid's Club is cool enough to satisfy any mobile-using young Internet addict, or a sweet young girl (or boy, for that matter) who just wants to dress up as a princess.

The appealing cribs for young babies in the creche and the running machines in the fitness centre are almost enough to make one want to start a family after a marathon. Almost, but not quite.

For those who may have grown increasingly concerned, the opening of the Courtyard Patong today indicates that Marriott is not one of the brands planning on deferring expansion until business looks brighter.

A little faith in Phuket deservedly goes a long, long way.

The Courtyard can be found towards the southern end of Patong, fronting the two-way street that runs from the beach road to Rat-U-Thit-200-Pi, on the opposite side to the Holiday Inn.



Courtyard by Marriott Has Come to Play on Phuket
The first of the Courtyards on Phuket has opened and a tour demonstrates the strengths of the Marriott brand as it broadens from five star to four star on the island. Kidsworld, anyone?
Courtyard by Marriott Has Come to Play on Phuket