I wondered if anyone had any advice regarding Phuket hotels.

There are dozens of threads on hotel options on this forum, and on the FT boards for the various major hotel groups. However, much as the likes of the JW Marriott, le Meridien and Renaissance (and others) look appealing, I'd prefer to be (a) less isolated, with non-hotel restaurants and so on in walking distance, and (b) in a more characterful hotel that feels more genuinely Thai.

So what I'm really after is something less isolated and more 'authentic' than the various mega resorts, but available at similar cost. Do such places exist?