I am writing this from one of the Sheraton Grande Laguna Golf Villas. We checked in just about 13 hours ago.

We are extremely pleased with the golf villa. Having a private pool is very cool. There are two floorplans -- Baan Anchana and Baan Bangtao. Take a look at their website for more information on the golf villas and residences: http://www.sheraton.phuket.com/golf-...residences.htm. The general floorplan for the golf villas are at http://www.sheraton.phuket.com/plan-gvilla.htm.

Our villa has a king bed in the master bedroom. One bedroom has two twin beds, and the other has a queen bed. Downstairs, there is bedroom/study with a double-size sofa bed.

We walked down the street by other golf villas, and it appears that not all are owned by the Sheraton. Some appear to be private homes. One had a "For Rent" sign up in the front. The villa at the end of the street has flags indicating that it is the model home, so it appears that there are some are still available for sale.

We dropped off our luggage early in the day and went into town to do some shopping. When we returned, we were taken to the villa by the chief concierge, and all check-in tasks were done in the villa. Our luggage had already been delivered to the villa. The chief concierge has been very attentive to us and has really provided a very nice personal touch to the service here.

The villa is not on the grounds of the hotel, although it is located within the Laguna resort. It is not within convenient walking distance, but mountain bikes and helmets are provided with the villa. The Laguna resort also has convenient free shuttle service.

Other than dinner on the beach, we haven't ventured out around the resort to know if it is in a good location. However, there appears to be more to do and see at this resort compared to the Marriott. The Marriott itself is an excellent property and the service is wonderful, but there is nothing in the immediate area outside of the property. For more information on the Laguna resort, see http://www.lagunaphuket.com/.

The best deal that I could find for the golf villa is $369/night, and includes breakfast for up to 6 people and cocktails and hors d'oeuvres from 5:30 - 6:30 PM. The rate should be available on SPG.com under the "Great Deal" rate plan. The rack rate for the golf villa is something like $955/night, so this rate plan is better than using an SPG50 certificate.

We just finished 7 nights at the Marriott Phuket Beach Club, which we also enjoyed very much. The grounds and facilities are shared with the JW Marriott Hotel. Each Beach Club unit has two bedrooms, with a king bed in the master bedroom, and two doubles in the other bedroom. The beds at the Marriott are nicer than the beds at the Sheraton's golf villas. The golf villas do not have the Sheraton Sweet Sleeper beds. Each Marriott unit has a washer and dryer, which is very convenient. The service at the Marriott was great. I think that you can get a rate of $169/night for the Marriott Beach Club.