PHUKET: The Boathouse, one of Phuket's best-known boutique resorts and eateries, is shipshape again. By the time the international yachting fleet weighs anchor off Kata beach for this year's King's Cup Regatta racing, its remake will be complete.
What we've seen of the Boathouse indicates that more than a caulking took place while the Boathouse was in for repairs. Barnacles are impossible to see now.
And the attention to detail is such that rumors that the iconic Koh Boo was towed 500 metres to the left to improve the picture-book view cannot entirely be disbelieved.
Work is still going on to fully integrate the next-door Oasis restaurant with the resort, shaping it into a beach club, but the plywood curtains are sure to come down before the regatta begins.
At the awards presentation party, we'll see just how well the whole shebang shapes up.
A tour of the resort and a peek in some of the renovated rooms shows there's still a jaunty and casual nautical air, without the place looking like the set for a production of HMS Pinafore.
While the full effects of this unusual takeover and makeover of a southern Phuket institution - the Boathouse - by a northern Phuket upstart - Trisara - have yet to be revealed, the early indications look good.
The sampling of the redecorated rooms showed them to be taut, traditional yet tastefully trimmed for modern tastes.
With Koh Boo looking as good as ever, whether or not it has been towed a little left, the Wine & Grill restaurant is likely to quickly regain the high regard in which it was held before the green construction screening covered everything earlier this year.
For those whose tastes extend to a pad thai at 680 baht ++ and beyond, the place remains as comfortable as a favorite pair of boat shoes.
What we've seen of the Boathouse indicates that more than a caulking took place while the Boathouse was in for repairs. Barnacles are impossible to see now.
And the attention to detail is such that rumors that the iconic Koh Boo was towed 500 metres to the left to improve the picture-book view cannot entirely be disbelieved.
Work is still going on to fully integrate the next-door Oasis restaurant with the resort, shaping it into a beach club, but the plywood curtains are sure to come down before the regatta begins.
At the awards presentation party, we'll see just how well the whole shebang shapes up.
A tour of the resort and a peek in some of the renovated rooms shows there's still a jaunty and casual nautical air, without the place looking like the set for a production of HMS Pinafore.
While the full effects of this unusual takeover and makeover of a southern Phuket institution - the Boathouse - by a northern Phuket upstart - Trisara - have yet to be revealed, the early indications look good.
The sampling of the redecorated rooms showed them to be taut, traditional yet tastefully trimmed for modern tastes.
With Koh Boo looking as good as ever, whether or not it has been towed a little left, the Wine & Grill restaurant is likely to quickly regain the high regard in which it was held before the green construction screening covered everything earlier this year.
For those whose tastes extend to a pad thai at 680 baht ++ and beyond, the place remains as comfortable as a favorite pair of boat shoes.
