PHUKET: Resorts on Phuket have filled more than half of the Top 25 Hotels for Families in Thailand in a readers' poll by TripAdvisor.com.
The first three positions are occupied by Phuket resorts, with The Chava Resort at Surin in top spot, followed by Marriott's Phuket Beach Club and Outrigger Laguna Phuket Resort and Villas.
The Chava GM, Larry Cunningham, said today he was pleased to be nominated by guests.
''It's an indication of how well Phuket is doing in difficult times,'' he said.
TripAdvisor and other sites like it have become more important in marketing resorts globally, even though critics say results can be rigged either positively or negatively.
''We're still a young resort - The Chava is four years old in August - but retaining a lot of our staff is probably one reason why we had 62 percent return guests at Christmas-New Year,'' Mr Cunningham said.
Such is the importance of modern internet marketing that Phuketwan received an email requesting support in an online poll the other day from a resort we'd never visited.
Holding the family market remains the most vital part of Phuket's future, so the domination of Phuket resorts is encouraging.
With a Hua Hin resort in fourth position, Marriott Mai Khao Beach comes fifth followed by Courtyard Phuket at Surin Beach, a Bangkok hotel, then Andara Resort and Villas, Kamala.
In eleventh spot is the Holiday Inn Resort Phuket, just ahead of the Centara Grand Beach Resort Phuket with Moevenpick Report and Spa Karon beach Phuket fifteenth and JW Marriott Phuket Resort and Spa sixteenth.
Friendship Beach Waterfront Resort fills 20th position with Karon Sea Sands Resort and Spa one spot back. Le Meridien Khao Lak Beach and Spa Resort in Phang Nga lies 24th.
The first three positions are occupied by Phuket resorts, with The Chava Resort at Surin in top spot, followed by Marriott's Phuket Beach Club and Outrigger Laguna Phuket Resort and Villas.
The Chava GM, Larry Cunningham, said today he was pleased to be nominated by guests.
''It's an indication of how well Phuket is doing in difficult times,'' he said.
TripAdvisor and other sites like it have become more important in marketing resorts globally, even though critics say results can be rigged either positively or negatively.
''We're still a young resort - The Chava is four years old in August - but retaining a lot of our staff is probably one reason why we had 62 percent return guests at Christmas-New Year,'' Mr Cunningham said.
Such is the importance of modern internet marketing that Phuketwan received an email requesting support in an online poll the other day from a resort we'd never visited.
Holding the family market remains the most vital part of Phuket's future, so the domination of Phuket resorts is encouraging.
With a Hua Hin resort in fourth position, Marriott Mai Khao Beach comes fifth followed by Courtyard Phuket at Surin Beach, a Bangkok hotel, then Andara Resort and Villas, Kamala.
In eleventh spot is the Holiday Inn Resort Phuket, just ahead of the Centara Grand Beach Resort Phuket with Moevenpick Report and Spa Karon beach Phuket fifteenth and JW Marriott Phuket Resort and Spa sixteenth.
Friendship Beach Waterfront Resort fills 20th position with Karon Sea Sands Resort and Spa one spot back. Le Meridien Khao Lak Beach and Spa Resort in Phang Nga lies 24th.
