Family Villas in Phuket with Children

The pool is the first question

A typical private pool in Phuket has the same depth across the whole basin, starting from around one and a half metres. That suits adults. For a child it means there is nowhere to stand on the bottom.

What to look for

Look for a step or a shallow ledge at one end. It is almost invisible in photos, so ask about it directly. Then look at the tiles around the pool: after rain they can be slippery, and that is where most small falls happen.

Fences around private pools are rare on the island. If you are travelling with a toddler, raise it with the owner: sometimes a temporary fence or a safety net can be put up for the length of your stay.

Send us the ages of your children with your dates and area on Telegram. We will only offer houses where we know the pool depth, the number of steps and what is within a short drive, and we will tell you what each one lacks.

Worth knowingA pool in your own garden is not a hotel pool with a lifeguard and opening hours. The water is there around the clock, which is both the best thing about a villa and its main risk with small children.

Stairs, levels and slopes

Villas with a view nearly always stand on a hillside. Between the parking space and the door there are steps, and inside the house there are several levels. With a pushchair that is a daily workout, and with a toddler it means constant watching.

Do not ask whether a house is child-friendly. Ask in numbers: how many steps from the car to the door, how many levels inside, whether there are handrails, whether the stairs are lit in the evening.

With small children, flat areas are usually more practical: Karon, Bang Tao, Rawai and Chalong. A sea view is less likely there, but daily life is much simpler, and a morning walk to the shop does not start with a long flight of steps down to the road.

What should be within fifteen minutes

A pharmacy and a supermarket are not a luxury with children. A temperature or an empty milk carton tends to happen in the evening, without warning.

There are private clinics on the island, and it is worth knowing the distance to the nearest one in advance, not because something will happen but so you are not searching at the moment it matters.

Beaches deserve their own check. Not every beach in Phuket suits children: from May to October the west coast has strong waves and red flags, while calmer water in that season is found in Kata bay and on the east side of the island.

How many bedrooms you really need

Counting one bed per person works badly for families. Young children often do not need a room of their own, but the adults need a door they can close once the children are asleep.

A practical rule: two bedrooms for a family of four with pre-school children, three when the children are teenagers or grandparents are coming. Several families travelling as one large group is a different calculation again, where bathrooms matter more than bedrooms. The living room should be a separate room rather than a corridor, because in the evening it is the only place where adults can sit.

Then the terrace. Life in Phuket happens outside, so a covered part of the terrace with room to eat matters more than an extra bedroom: on a rainy day it saves the afternoon.

From our viewingsFamilies who come for a month or longer more often regret a house without a proper kitchen than a house without a spare bedroom. People end up cooking at home far more often than they planned.

An ordinary day in a family villa

A house is chosen from photos, but you live in it by routine, and comfort depends on whether the layout gets in the way of that routine.

Mornings start at the water: children go into the pool before anyone else, and it helps a lot when the whole pool is visible from the kitchen. Houses where the pool is hidden round the corner of the terrace force an adult to sit beside it instead of having breakfast.

In the afternoon the heat drives everyone indoors, and that is when you find out whether the house has a room besides the bedrooms. Nights come down to air conditioning and mosquito screens: a single unit in the living room for the whole house means everyone sleeps in one room, and you discover that on the first night.

Laundry is its own line in the day. With children the washing machine runs daily, and a covered place to dry clothes matters, because in the rainy months nothing dries indoors.

What villas usually do not have

Villas are rarely equipped for small children. A high chair, a cot with sides, a potty and child-sized dishes are either requested from the owner in advance or rented locally. Cots and high chairs are almost always brought if you ask early; on arrival it can take days.

Build your own first-aid kit on the island: insect repellent, high-factor sunscreen, a fever reducer in a children's form. Pharmacies are usually close, but looking for one at night with a sick child is no fun.

• Pool depth at the shallow and deep ends — and whether there is a step
• Steps from the parking space and levels inside the house
• Air conditioning in every bedroom, not only the living room
• Mosquito screens on windows and terrace doors
• A full kitchen with a stove and a normal-sized fridge
• A washing machine and a covered place to dry clothes