Laguna Phuket is a resort estate of more than 1,000 acres in the middle of Bang Tao Bay, in Choeng Thale on Phuket's north-west coast. Six hotels with more than 1,400 rooms, private villas, condos and an 18-hole golf course stand around a chain of lagoons between the beach and the road inland. Boat Avenue and Porto de Phuket, two open-air shopping streets, sit at its gate.
The lagoons are old tin-mine pits. In 1984 the founders of what became the Banyan Tree group bought 222 hectares of abandoned, polluted mining land at Bang Tao Bay, cleaned the soil and planted more than 7,000 trees. The hotels followed, and Banyan Tree Phuket, the group's flagship, opened in 1994. The estate is still run as one destination, with its own security, roads and gardens.
Inside, life moves at a resort pace. Shuttle boats cross the lagoons and shuttle buses link the hotels for their guests, runners and cyclists use the paths, and three beach clubs, XANA, RAVA and Casuarina, face the sea and sell day passes to anyone. The rest of Choeng Thale, with its fresh market and local restaurants, is a short drive inland.