Phuket with kids: how to choose accommodation so the holiday does not turn into a quest
What matters in accommodation on Phuket if you are travelling with children: distance to the beach, a kitchen for children's meals, kids' pools and playrooms, two bedrooms and two bathrooms, sleeping arrangements for a child.
A holiday with children works differently from a holiday without them. It is not even a matter of needing more things. It is that the whole logic of the day changes: there is a daytime nap, a meal schedule, the need to keep the child occupied when it rains or it is too hot for the beach.
Accommodation either supports this logic or breaks it. Let us look at exactly what to check.
Distance to the beach — in metres, not in words
With children, any walk is longer than it looks on the map. Getting ready takes time, along the way someone gets tired, someone wants a drink, someone changes their mind.
That is why the phrase “close to the beach” means nothing — you need a number.
From our complex to the beach it is ≈ 750 metres, roughly 12–15 minutes on foot. Distances to the other beaches:
| Where | Distance |
|---|---|
| Bang Tao Beach | 712 m |
| Surin Beach | 769 m |
| Pansea Beach | 912 m |
| Kamala Beach | 1.7 km |
| Phuket FantaSea theme park | 2.4 km |
What walking distance means in practice: you can go to the sea after the daytime nap instead of deciding “is it worth travelling for two hours there”. You can come back earlier if the child is tired, without breaking the whole family’s plans.
A kitchen is not a convenience, it is a necessity
With small children a kitchen moves from the “nice to have” category into the “hard without it” category.
The reasons are simple: a child’s meal schedule does not match restaurant hours, familiar food is tolerated better than unfamiliar food, and you need to reheat, boil or simply wash fruit at any moment, not when the kitchen opens.
In our apartments the kitchen is fully equipped. That covers both breakfasts on your own schedule and evening “I want to eat” without leaving home.
Washing machine
With children the amount of laundry grows unpredictably: the sea, sand, food, the sea again. Your own washing machine in the apartment is what removes a daily household task.
Present in every one of our apartments.
How many bedrooms you need
Here parents usually have two different requests, and both are normal.
One bedroom (40–45 m²). Suitable for a couple with one child, especially a small one. In our one-bedroom apartments the sleeping arrangements are: a King Size bed, a folding sofa and a child’s bed. That is, the child is accommodated, and this is taken into account in advance.
Options: Deluxe Ocean View 40 m², Deluxe Ocean View 45 m², Deluxe Pool View 40 m².
Two bedrooms (54–69 m²). The option parents more often choose deliberately, and here is why: the child’s daytime and night sleep no longer means the adults have to sit in the dark and in silence. The children are in their room, the adults in theirs — the evening becomes an evening again.
In addition, the two-bedroom options have two bathrooms. With children this saves nerves in the morning and before bed.
Options: Family 2 Bedroom 54 m² — up to 5 guests, Grande 2 Bedroom Ocean View 69 m², Grande 2 Bedroom Jungle View 69 m² — up to 5 guests, Grande Luxury 69 m².
In the two-bedroom apartments the sleeping arrangements are: a King Size bed (180×200), a Double Size bed, a sofa and a child’s bed on request.
What there is for children on the property
A separate factor that is greatly underestimated on a first trip: what to do with the child when the beach is not an option. And often it is not an option — too hot, too sunny, rain, the child is not in the mood.
If all the entertainment is outside the complex, every such day requires a trip. If there is something on the property, the day is saved without logistics.
What there is in our complex:
- 6 swimming pools, 4 of them on the roof, 2 with bars;
- 2 children’s playrooms;
- 2 gyms — for parents who do not want to lose their fitness;
- a restaurant, a Starbucks cafe, a rooftop cafe;
- a garden lounge — shade and a place to sit;
- a library-coworking space — if one of the parents works;
- 2 covered garages and parking areas by the buildings.
Nearby outside the complex — the Phuket FantaSea theme park 2.4 km away.
The complex is in the 4+/5★ class, buildings up to 9 floors.
Why the area matters particularly with children
A quiet area with children is not a question of taste but a question of sleep. In a noisy place an early bedtime for a child conflicts with music from the venues next door.
We are located in Surin — this is a quiet part of the west coast. At the same time the livelier Bang Tao is 712 metres away, so the infrastructure of the neighbouring area is within walking distance.
More about the area: Surin district — who it suits. A comparison of the neighbours: Surin or Bang Tao. An overview of all the west coast areas — here.
Practical conditions worth knowing in advance
With children planning matters more than without them, so here are the specifics of our conditions:
- Check-in from 14:30, check-out by 11:00. Early check-in or late check-out — on request for an additional fee. With small children this is sometimes critical: a long journey plus waiting to check in is hard to handle, so ask about early check-in in advance.
- Prepayment: 10% of the booking value; in high season (20 December – 10 March) — 30%.
- Refundable deposit on check-in: 5000 THB for one bedroom, 10000 THB for two.
- Discounts: 10% for bookings from 14 days, 7% for bookings from 3 months. With children trips are often longer — the discount is noticeable.
- Cleaning on request: from 600 THB for a one-bedroom apartment without a change of linen to 1600 THB for two bedrooms with a change of linen.
- Payment: cash baht, baht transfer to a Thai card, roubles to a Russian card, tenge/EUR/USD to a Kazakh card, cash EUR and USD, USDT.
In full — on the rental and payment terms page.
Checklist for a trip with children
What to ask any landlord:
- How many metres to the beach? (as a number)
- Is the kitchen fully equipped?
- Is there a washing machine in the apartment?
- How many bedrooms and how many bathrooms?
- What sleeping arrangements are there for a child — a child’s bed, a sofa?
- Is there a children’s pool or a children’s area?
- Is there a playroom on the property?
- How quiet is the area in the evening?
- Is early check-in possible?
- What is there on the property in case of rain?
Our option
We manage 7 apartments in the Mida Grande Resort complex in Surin: with one and two bedrooms, 40–69 m², with a sea view or a pool view.
For families the options with two bedrooms and two bathrooms are most often suitable — because of the children’s sleep and the morning queue for the shower.
Write to us how many of you there are and how old the children are — we will suggest an option and check availability for your dates.