In December 2023 we spent 10 days on a pet friendly Phuket Roadtrip and hunted out some Pet Friendly Phuket hotels. Driving down from Hua Hin, we stopped at Rayong, Khao Lak before we got into Phuket itself. In Phuket we stayed in Mai Khao, Patong, Rawai and Panwa before doing one long slog back up to Hua Hin in one day.
Whilst there are a few more pet friendly hotels popping up, it’s still quite a challenge planning a pet friendly roadtrip. You pretty much have to give up on your flexibility and revolve your trip around where you can find a pet friendly hotel. We always use hotels.com when booking hotels and use their pet friendly filter. By using hotels.com you get 1 free night for every 10 nights you book and often they are cheaper than even going direct.
Hotels.com usually also give you information if there are any pet fees payable and sometimes if there are any other restrictions. However, it’s always wise to double check directly with the hotel for any policy to avoid any surprises on arrival (we’ll explain one we came up against later).
So let’s see how it went and what we got up to.
Day 1 | Hua Hin to Ranong
Our first day our aim was to head to Ranong. Approximately halfway between Hua Hin and the gateway to Phuket. We left around 8am stopping only once en route to top up with fuel. After around 5.5 hours of driving we arrived at our first destination, Mrs Swan. Given Ranong is not known for being a great tourist area we were surprised at how nice the hotel was. Although it is quite a popular place to do a visa run, I guess most people don’t stay over. The hotel was modern and cute with a lovely view over to neighbouring Myanmar. It was super pet friendly too, allowing me to go everywhere other than in the pool (which I hate anyway). Check out my full review of the hotel here.
We only booked for 1 night but decided to extend for another night as it was a nice place to relax and unwind. On the second day we headed to the nearby hot springs. Whilst they weren’t anything compared to Japanese hot springs we are used to, it was nice to walk around them. We didn’t venture in but it was quite busy with primarily Thai families playing in the hot springs and the river. We also went to the reservoir nearby the hot springs. It was small but also very pleasant.
Day 3 | Ranong – Khao Lak
After a couple of days rest in Ranong, we hopped back in the car and headed further South to Khao Lak. It took around 3 hours driving to get there. We followed the same Route 4 as we had started on from Hua Hin. At some points it turned into a one lane road which at times was frustrating when you got stuck behind a big lorry! But we had plenty of time and just enjoyed listening to our tunes on the drive.
Before heading to the apartment we had booked we headed down to the beach to grab some lunch. There were lots of lovely beach shacks along the beach offering food and drinks all at good prices. We had a little walk along the beach afterwards and a splash in the sea before heading towards our apartment.
We had originally booked an apartment (Isara Khao Lak) for 2 nights which turned out to be a big mistake. When we turned up it wasn’t anything like the pictures, was right on the main road and had nothing nearby it. The apartment seemed like it was in an old shop complex and really wasn’t what we had in mind. However, options for pet friendly places in the area were super limited. We found Thailife Wellness & Meditation Resort which was pet friendly so we drove up there to check it out first.
It wasn’t exactly what we would usually book but we didn’t want to stay at the original option so booked in for 1 night and forfeited what we had paid for the original booking. We had a pleasant enough evening after having some dinner at the beachfront restaurant and an early night.
Day 4 | Khao Lak – Mai Khao
Before leaving Khao Lak we decided to do a bamboo raft. Sutin Bamboo rafting said it was fine for us to do with a dog. The total cost was 1,200 baht (£27.50). Price was a bit higher than we expected but not too bad. Pro tip : wear swimwear as your butt will get wet! The whole trip was about 1 hour as we cruised through the beautiful scenery. We saw 2 snakes up in the trees and lots of birds.
For some crazy reason if I am not in front I get super whingy. It happens when we are cycling. If I am on daddy’s back and mammy goes in front I go crazy and vice versa. We quickly learned this isn’t just on the bike. There was one boat in front of us for part of the ride and for the whole time it was there I cried. As soon as it turned a corner and I couldn’t see it I stopped. It drove the humans crazy.
Once we finished the boat ride we were given a fruit platter and we chilled a bit in the restaurant. It was then time to get back on the road as we headed to Mai Khao. Mai Khao is right next to Phuket airport and we checked into Coriacea Resort. We paid 3,400 baht (£78) for the room and 500 baht (£11.45) for the pet fee. I still don’t agree with pet fees and it pains me every time to pay it. You can check out my full review of the hotel on the blog section here.
On the afternoon we relaxed at the pool area of the hotel and had some lunch. We then took a walk along the beach to the airport viewing spot where we could watch the planes land and take off which was cool. We stopped on the way back at Splash park for a couple of drinks before heading back to the hotel for dinner and a nightcap before heading up to the room for peepies.
Day 5 | Mai Khao – Patong
After breakfast at the hotel we hopped back in the car and headed for Patong. However, first we had to stop at Bluetree mall as humans needed to go to immigration to extend their visa’s. Thankfully Bluetree is pet friendly and I even was allowed to go with them to immigration as it was outdoors! It was super nice. It took about 3 hours in total but we just sat around with some smoothies. Finally we got the visa extension and it was time to head to the hotel.
We stayed at Rustic & Blue Getaway in Patong. Located within walking distance to Bangla Road, after relaxing a bit at the hotel the humans went out in search of food. After dinner they took a walk down Bangla Road, had a couple of beers but were missing me too much so came back to get me.
Day 6 | Patong – Rawai
After a pretty rubbish breakfast, we headed further South again to Rawai. We chose the Selina Serenity Rawai hotel as it advertised itself as pet friendly and looked like it had a nice chilled vibe. Turns out we almost got turned away for being a big dog, not a great start! After we finally got checked in we just spent a lazy day. At the hotel restaurant we had some lunch, humans did some laps in the pool and then we had some dinner. Rather an uneventful day, but it’s nice to just relax on your trips!
Day 7 | Rawai to Panwa (Pullman Panwa)
A very short drive to our next destination, Pullman Panwa. En route we took a look at the viewpoint which was nice looking over the bay. After checking in to the hotel we had some lunch then spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing at the beach. We didn’t enjoy this hotel as it was too big, too expensive and not really pet friendly. We were glad we only had 1 night here and that we used one of our hotels.com reward nights to reduce the price down.
Day 8 – 9 | Pullman Panwa to The Mooring
Not impressed with the Pullman we moved to our final hotel of the stay, The Mooring. This was our favourite hotel of the trip which you can clearly see by the full marks given in our review. As it was the end of the trip we just wanted to relax so we spent the final 2 days lazing around the pool, walking along the beach. We obviously can’t forget eating and drinking now can we. Both the hotel and neighbouring Cove restaurant were super pet friendly so I would definitely recommend both to anyone.
Our original plan was to spend one night at The Mooring then make our way back to Hua Hin with a stop off somewhere in between. But as we loved The Mooring so much we decided to spend an extra night there. That meant we had a long 10 hour drive to do in one day as we had something to be back home for. But it was totally worth it. We had our final meal in The Cove and an early night before an early start to get home.
Day 10 | Panwa to Hua Hin
An early start for breakfast at The Cove before we started the long slog home. It took about 10 hours in total with a couple of stop offs for leg stretches, KFC (one of the few available options at Thai service stations) and wee wees. It was a pretty uneventful journey and we were happy to finally make it back.
Conclusion
We had a great roadtrip in Phuket. Whilst we didn’t do much exploring or sightseeing it was nice to spend some time relaxing on a trip for a change!
Did you enjoy my roadtrip? Whilst still not a huge amount of choice there are some good options of pet friendly Phuket hotels. You just need to hunt them out and watch out. Don’t forget to check the small print and pet policies at some of them! If you enjoyed this trip, don’t forget to check out my other Southern Thailand roadtrip.
Woof woof, Wylie 🐾
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