Travel Agency
To the best of my knowledge, there is only one travel agent in Hong Kong which provides full package (air ticket + accommodation) for the Racha Yai Island. There are two local agencies for the Resort reservation. So you shouldn't bother with shopping around and getting a good bargain (please leave me a message for details). In low seasons, the package (4D3N) per person is less than HKD 4000 (for the basic "Deluxe Villa" which I am going to discuss later). The package cost may be up by around 30% during high seasons.

Hong Kong, Phuket, Chalong & Racha
There are direct flights to Phuket. But don't expect that it's as frequent as that to Bangkok. Hence, we took some time to plan our itinerary. After getting off at Phuket International Airport, we went to Chalong Bay in the south of Phuket Island where we took the speed boat to Racha. We might enjoy a more comfortable and elegant way to Chalong Bay as the Resort provided Mercedes Benz (E-class) limo service from the airport to the pier. This would have cost us some 1600 bahts. Alternatively, we opted to the limo service desks inside the airport. We just picked one of them and it cost us around 550 bahts only. And there wasn't much compromise to comfort.

At Chalong, the Racha got a reception office where the staff helped us checking-in. We were offered some complimentary cocktails, self-help fruit & sandwiches platters and cold towels with refreshing scents after the limo ride. At the same time, we were asked to choose the preferred scent of shampoo and shower gel, which includes lavender, lemon grass and jasmine.

There were two freights between Chalong Bay and Racha per day. It takes around 35 minutes from Chalong to Racha by speed boat when the sea is calm. As a warm reminder, the speed-boat ride is rather bumpy even though the sea does not look rough at all. But it shouldn't be a real matter at all. As soon as the speed boat was approaching Racha, we could see that the water was very clear and turquoise.

But this was just the beginning of the interesting bit. The speed boat was anchored in the shallow water region of the Ter Bay, which was an overall sandy beach with rubbles at both ends. We landed on, instead of concrete pier, a long pier made of plastic floating cells. We had to make some effort in finding our own centres of gravity while walking on these floating cells.

Accommodation
The villa did not disappoint us. It was just as beautiful as on its website. We were led to villa 322 where we were going to stay at. When the door was opened, the scent of aroma oil, with some soft jazz music, diffused throughout the air. No. 322 was a deluxe villa (the basic standards). It was beside the Garden Pool, one of the two pools in the Resort. It was slightly at grade and thus maintained a suitable privacy without compromising the garden view. The architect gave plenty of space for flowers and scrubs (as well as little animals). When we looked into the shrubs, we could find lizards and tree frogs seeking shades under large leaves. But ladies needed not be deterred by these lovely little animals. They were harmless and quite shy. I tried to take a few good shots at them but in vain. The most common bird on the Island looks like magpie but with a few colorful feathers. They are less shy and eager for feeding by the tourists. For the prevention of avian flu, don't feed them. The environment was so peaceful that we literally woke up every morning by chirping birds and warm sunlight (when sun-shade was not applied).

The highlights of the deluxe villa standards include a king-sized bed, a bath tub, a normal shower and an outdoor rain-shower. There's a big window in front of the toilet. We were able to enjoy the beautiful scenery of coconut palms under the clear blue sky while we were answering our natural calls. On top of these basic standards in Deluxe villas, there are Superior Deluxe (i.e. Deluxe villa having sea view), different types of suites and the one and only one Lighthouse villa.

Room service was subtle without any sign of intrusion into our privacy. Every night, they left a good night note with an orchid. They also left gentle reminders to update us the special events. There's a special but interesting way of leaving "do not disturb" message. Just leave a tree frog doll in the "Do Not Disturb" box beside the villa number sign outside the villa.

Facilities
Swimming was definitely the major activities in our trip. The relaxation never comes close to bathing in the swimming pool during the sunset when the sun rays are much gentler. There are two swimming pools in the Resort. Garden Pool is one of those that I mentioned before. Its charm comes from the surrounding palms and various shrubs. There's one infinity pool situated on the first floor of the main building and is facing the Batok Bay. As its name suggests, it looks like merging with the skyline of Andaman Sea. It's never been a problem of getting free deck chairs during the low seasons. I suspect it won't be the case during high seasons. Other standard sports facilities like tennis, basketball, volleyball, mountain bikes are available. But I believe that everyone would prefer spending time in water sports.

If you are a very busy man, the Resort also maintains a certain level of access to internet. It's amazed to note that, despite the limited number of computers provided (only 2), these are all the new MacBook model.