After a busy few days in Hong Kong we were ready for some sun and relaxation! The short 3 and a half hour flight with Dragonair to Phuket was comfortable and the window seat allowed fabulous views of the twisting coastline with glorious sandy beaches, the thick mangroves and the limestone islands guarding hidden lagoons.

We had chosen to stay at the Sheraton Grande Laguna, Phuket, in one of the 2 bedroom villas and this was perfect for our family - a chance for your own bit of privacy but also in a hotel so you could be with people when you wanted to be and make use of the wonderful facilities. The hotel was a luxury tropical retreat set on freshwater lagoons and a fabulous sandy beach. The extensive grounds housed a spa, award winning restaurants and even 2 resident elephants who frolicked in the sea daily and met holiday makers at breakfast time! The Villas were in a private garden with their own pool and had the added benefit of a daily delivery of croissants which kept Jake (my 9 year old!) happy until we were ready for a late breakfast in the a la carte restaurant 'Puccini'. The best part was the daily pre-dinner cocktails and hors d'oeuvres - many a happy hour was spent there!!!

The hotel was part of Laguna Phuket and other hotels set on these freshwater lagoons included the Banyan Tree, the Dusit Thani Laguna and the Laguna Beach - boats ran between all of these hotels so it was very easy to travel to Laguna Beach to buy balls and water guns for the children, to Dusit Thani for the fabulous Thai restaurant and the motorised watersports..etc etc. There was also a Canal Village with various shops, restaurants and activities so plenty going on if you needed it.

We were happy to rest and enjoy the sun and the longest pool in Asia - the weather was fabulous for August but we could not go into the sea as it was so rough. It was great for the Quiksilver Surfing Championship which was going on further down the coast but not for the fainthearted!

Food played a big part of the holiday and we found the most amazing restaurants and service - the people are so friendly and welcoming particularly to children. Some of the local restaurants such as "Tatonka" and "Tawai" sent a free car for us and it was easy to come home using the free local shuttle buses - food was amazing and fantastic value. A walk along the beach offered "Babylon Beach Club" run by an Italian who had worked at Harrods in one of the restaurants for years - delicious food there!

A fabulous day out was the trip to Phang Nga Bay and James Bond Island - we travelled on a very new speedboat to explore the famous rock where "The Man with the Golden Gun" was filmed and took many spectacular pictures. We bought trinkets on the beach and then sea kayaked through caves, mangroves and lagoons - well we sat whilst we were chauffeured by our own kayak guide! There were just 2 per kayak and we had to almost lay flat when entering some of the caves - that was fun and a great way to cool off. We took the speedboat past the Sea Gypsy Village - built entirely on stilts above the water and offering beautiful Thai and seafood dishes. Phang Nga bay has 300 small mostly uninhabited islands and it was amazing to see these jutting majestically out of the emerald green waters.

Another new experience for us was the elephant ride - we learnt about the elephants, rode for about half an hour and then fed them a large basket of fruit and banana leaves. It was a bumpy ride but great fun and we have some amazing pictures. During this safari adventure we saw rainforest and typical rural life, observed trained monkeys collecting coconuts, saw Thai cooking demonstrations and watched latex being collected from rubber trees - it was a fun and educational afternoon.

We also ventured down to Phuket Town and enjoyed a fabulous dinner at "Natural restaurant" and a ride in a local Tuk Tuk! The night market was fun and a chance to buy a few fake t-shirts and other bargains!

This was a perfect holiday for us - sun and relaxation, great food, luxurious hotel, fantastic hospitality and lots going on for the children!