Indigo Pearl located in Nai Yang Phuket (Now The Slate Hotel)
** The Indigo Pearl has now changed it’s name to “The Slate”**
We arrived at the Indigo Pearl, sadly our room was not yet ready but we were told that we were upgraded! What a plus! We were given some information about the hotel and given a small map of it!! (so far this has been the biggest resort we have ever stayed in!!). We took this opportunity to wander around the resort.
The tin mine theme is everywhere, its nice to see a resort that actually has the theme through out instead of little patches here and there.
On our first stroll around the resort we found 2 out of the 3 pools. We found the entrance to the beach where we decided to stop and have a yummy smoothie. The staff also brought around small ice blocks to offer each person, I thought this was a really lovely touch as it was so hot!!
We headed back to reception at 2:30pm, our room was ready so they had a butler meet us at reception and take us to the room (I thought that maybe the porters were busy or that they have a butler to show all rooms).
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Room (Pool villa) –
We arrived outside these double steel doors and the butler got out a little remote control and opened the doors into what we figured was the fenced off area where the private pool villas are…. We walked in and saw 2 buildings, wondering which one was our room…. The butler said “okay let me show you around the villa”.
He turned right and headed to the first building. In this building, It had a very large lounge room and dining area and small bathroom, he led us to a small room on the side (which I thought would be our bedroom) but it was actually an in room spa!! Including 2 massage beds a steam room and a sauna. He then led us out to the pool area and we came to the realisation that these 2 buildings and pool was ours!
The pool was pretty big (10m) with 2 seating areas built into the pool with water jets and a deck with 2 sun lounges to relax on. We walked back towards the first building past 3 large sun lounges (in case the ones by the pool didn’t satisfy!). We walked into the other building, this held our bedroom and bathroom and a very large round bath! Outside was an outdoor shower! There is an indoor shower and 2 toilets (we joked they were a “His and Hers”).
As I mentioned before, the tin mine theme is throughout Indigo Pearl and the room, right down to the toilet roll, made in the shape of a giant bolt! The art work in the room and by the pool was made out of nuts and bolts and was amazing.
As we were there celebrating a special occasion, the hotel left us a bottle of champagne and 2 chocolate heart cakes (yum!!). Which was enjoyed while sitting in the pool. “Living the life!!”
Service –
The service at Indigo Pearl was impeccable no matter where we went!
Little things like Ice cream on the beach really adds to the whole experience.
We noticed that room service is delivered by bike(no surprise seeing as the resort is so huge)! Those poor staff members, having to balance the tray on one hand while steering the bike with the other, and they still have such grace! Well done!
Pool –
Indigo Pearl has a family pool, a pool for over 14s and a pool for over 16s with a bar you can swim up to. We didn’t really go and hang out at these pools as we had our own amazing pool area.
Food –
Black Ginger –
We had dinner at Black Ginger, which I had booked a few months in advance as it looked amazing and books up pretty quickly. To get to the restaurant, you need to get on a small “person powered” raft, which is pulled across a small lake to the restaurant. Crazy little things like this make it something different and special, something that you will not forget.
The menus are very cool, a Thai style honeycomb pattern. The food was Thai (of course..). You could choose from a set menu or al a carte. While the set menu sounded yummy, I didn’t have a huge appetite. We made our order and took in the atmosphere, there was an incredible chandelier hanging from the roof. The section we were in only had about 10 tables, we thought that was pretty small. When I went to the bathroom (which is incredible! The most beautiful blue (and shiny) tiles everywhere!) I saw a very large room, similar to ours. I’m glad we got the smaller room it was much more romantic and intimate.
The food was delicious and the service was fantastic.
Tin Mine –
Breakfast time at Indigo Pearl was at Tin Mine restaurant. Another experience for us! Being such a huge resort the breakfast was also huge! There is anything and everything you can think of to have for breakfast. The ‘tin mine” theme is obviously carried out through the restaurant, cool old looking tables, industrial looking seats and the knives, forks and spoons are finished in the shape of a wrench.
Other outlets –
We decided to try out the “Tin Syndicate”. They mainly had Italian food, pizza, pasta, bruchetta etc, it was very yummy! The tin syndicate is once again decorated in the tin mining theme. You really have to go there to understand what I mean. We went for a wander after dinner and have another drink at Rebar (bar). The architecture and décor of this hotel is amazing!
Spa –
We didn’t experience Coqoon, very much wanted to try the “Nest”.. maybe next time!
We had a Thai massage in our in room spa! Before the massage we were given a drink while we filled out the typical paperwork, asking questions such as if we had any sore or painful areas etc. The massage was amazing, we felt light as a feather and very relaxed after that! Once the massage was one we were given a ginger and honey tea and some fruit to have while we relaxed. The therapists were both very professional and friendly and I cannot recommend the Thai massage enough.
Location –
Indigo Pearl is located very close to Nai Yang beach. Not that we wanted to leave the hotel because is so much to do there!
There are small markets and shops along the road (next to the beach) there are also many restaurants and massage places. It’s a lovely location, very quiet compared to Patong, I don’t think that’s a bad thing!
Otherwise you can relax at the beach bar and watch planes coming in for landing or a gorgeous sunset!
We went for a walk up the abandoned hotel at the other end of the beach, we went around the corner and got to experience a really lovely sunset. Its such a lovely area. (please note.. if you do go for a walk around the corner from the abandoned hotel to watch the sunset, the tidy does come in a bit and the small rivers you walk through on your way there become fairly large with a pulling type current)
Staff worth special mention –
The lovely staff at the front desk who checked us in. The people who decided to give us the upgrade, thank you so much! We were so blessed to be treated with such kindness!
Mo & Pon butlers, we only met Mo once but Pon was always there to help us, he assisted us with making a last minute booking for an in room massage. He assisted us with other little things here and there. Thank you so much!
Ging & Mon – the massage therapists – THANK YOU!! Such amazing massages!
General Summary –
We had an amazing time at the hotel. They gave us a 2pm check out so that we could make the most of our amazing villa!
We only had one issue – The hotel offered a free “try to dive” at the diving centre. We tried calling but couldn’t get anyone so we decided to walk down and see if we could book in. As my husband is already a certified diver, I wanted to give it a shot. The person manning the desk didn’t speak very good English, but after a difficult conversation I was able to be booked in for 2:30. We arrived at the dive centre at 2:30 where there was a European guy manning the desk. He was so rude and said they were over booked! All he said was “well we already have 5 people booked in so…” we explained to him that I was booked in but he really didn’t say anything and offered no other alternative. It was very disappointing and absolutely appalling customer service. Once we got back to our room I called and spoke to Julian the duty manager. She was so sorry about the experience and was shocked by the service. She explained that the dive centre wasn’t anything at all to do with the hotel, they simply rented the space from the hotel. She said that they had received many complaints about the dive shop and that their contract was coming to an end with no chance of renewal. She was fantastic and handled the situation really well.
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