The opposite of the Thanyapura Sports Hotel...

Although it was the start of tourist season in Thailand, most of the hotels were only half full.  Many people attributed this to the country's military coup earlier this year that may have scared away potential tourists.

Thailand is already very affordable but the lack of tourists seemed to drop prices even further, making even the most luxurious hotels feel like a great bargain.

As such, we booked our final few days at a stunning and remote boutique hotel.

The Phuket Pavilions is set up in the hills of Phuket, overlooking the sea.  We had splurged and gotten our own villa, complete with an infinity pool that looked down on the surrounding area.  Our private villa was about five times the size of our flat in London earlier this year.

Relaxing with a spa treatment

We hardly left the villa during our stay.  We are not sure whether this was caused by the very steep hill we had to climb to go to and from the dining room, gym and reception area OR the fact there was a beautiful "360" bar just steps from our villa OR because the hotel makes it so easy to remain sedentary (sending dinners and spa treatments right to your room!) but, whatever the reason, we certainly took advantage of it, opting to work and relax within our beautiful home base.

We were remarkably relaxed by the end of our short visit.  The only small anxiety or stress we felt was wondering how we would ever be able to return to "reality"!