Mom Tri's Boathouse

Gaining and Maintaining a Fine Reputation

We all know that a good meal should be complemented by a good wine (or wines), and this is something for which The Boathouse has become world renowned. Over the years, successive F & B managers have created an awesome cellar of around 460 labels which have won the Wine Spectator's Award of Excellence for no less than the last eight successive years.

Who could have told, 15 or so years ago, that a small restaurant on the southern end of Kata Beach would soon become something of an icon in the hotel industry of Phuket? Well, one man, perhaps, although his modesty is not likely to have had him thinking in such grandiose terms. Mom Tri Devakul, then artist, sculptor and architect of three Phuket hotels, fell in love with what was then simply The Boathouse Restaurant on Kata Beach in the south-west of Phuket. He bought the property and converted it into what he called, "a restaurant with rooms around". The fact that is was situated next to one of Phuket island's finest and whitest beaches may have been a factor in Mom Tri's purchase.

The Boathouse (as it was then called) was opened with great fanfare in early 1989. It opened with 36 rooms and, of course, its restaurant, and remains largely as it was then, apart from some upgrading here and there. Although occupying a relatively small land area, Mom Tri's Boathouse has all the facilities of much larger hotels. Unseen to the casual observer, it has a pool and Jacuzzi, fitness and massage centre and all the services of a 5-star hotel. It is, perhaps, its compactness, coupled with the dedication of its staff, that helps create such a welcoming and friendly atmosphere. Indeed, the place has developed a following among discerning travellers from around the world who prefer its discreet sophistication to the many larger hotels on the island. The Boathouse has played host to the rich and famous from many countries.

From the very outset, the focus has always been on fine dining, and The Boathouse Wine and Grill has notched up some high scores on the gastronomic side. Executive Chef Tamanoon Punchun has created a superb menu of what he calls his "Eurasian" food combinations. He's not afraid to experiment to keep producing new dishes and regularly takes his expertise to Europe where he conducts cooking workshops at various restaurants and hotels, in addition to the regular cooking classes he runs at The Boathouse.

We all know that a good meal should be complemented by a good wine (or wines), and this is something for which The Boathouse has become world renowned. Over the years, successive F & B managers have created an awesome cellar of around 460 labels, each of which has been carefully selected. Testament to this is that they have won the Wine Spectator's Award of Excellence for no less than the last eight successive years. The current F & B Manager, Rodolphe Gay, is a most enthusiastic wine expert and has the distinction of having been butler to the former French Prime Minister Edouard Balladur.

Keeping the whole ship firmly afloat is General Manager Louis Bronner, a native of Paris who arrived in Phuket in 1986 after a long career in the travel industry and a spell running hotels in Egypt in the early eighties. Mr Bronner was recruited to manage the Phuket Yacht Club at nearby Nai Harn Beach, and found himself managing both the Yacht Club and The Boathouse for a while in 1990 before taking over as full-time GM in 1996. Doubtless it is his elegant French style combined with the affable Thai attitudes of his staff that help create the friendliness for which Mom Tri's Boathouse has become so well known. Yet it is more than that. It is somewhat indefinable, but may have something to do with the decor. With an abundance of dark colours, from the terracotta floor tiles, to the massive wooden bar and ruddy wood panelling, all set off by elegant wicker and wooden furniture, the setting is reminiscent of the 1950s; elegant and sophisticated.

Mom Tri's Boathouse has become a hub for art and culture lovers in Phuket. Mom Tri himself formed the Chao Phraya River Club in order to focus attention on the state of the River of Kings in Bangkok, and to help clean it up. Under the auspices of this club, he has held many art exhibitions for local, national and international artists at The Boathouse, in addition to shows of Thai handicrafts and the formation of a Literary Society. For the last nine years he has also hosted the Baan Kata Arts Fest, a two-day festival of art and music, in his own splendid house - Mom Tri's Villa Royale, just a few hundred meters away from the Boathouse. (The 9th Baan Kata Arts Fest will take place on the 1st of March.) These latter activities have been something of a cultural oasis for many of the island's resident expats, not to mention the many wine tastings and vintners' dinners that have been held there.

There is no doubt that this splendid little hotel has made its mark on Phuket, and that it will continue to do so for a long time. Perhaps Mark Ottaway, correspondent for The Sunday Times of London, summed it up succinctly when he wrote: "Small but ample, simple but stylish, The Boathouse is one of the few hotels in which I could linger indefinitely."