It seems like everyone’s trying to cash in on the beach club moniker nowadays, and while we wouldn’t normally consider Flamingo Beach Club to be a beach club, the use of the term “beach club” means it’s due for a review anyway.
Our team was fascinated by the idea of a full-time coworking space and restaurant, also incorporating beach club-like elements. They couldn’t imagine working for the day if it meant being by the sea in Phuket; in fact, we suspect they just couldn’t imagine working for a whole day anyway, which is why they became beach club reviewers as opposed to physicists.
But, they were quick to pack their notebooks and suntan lotion before we started asking too many questions about value for wages, and this is what they learned at Flamingo Beach Club, Phuket.
Introduction – Getting To Flamingo Beach Club
Phuket is not the worst destination in the world to visit, and there’s no doubt that if you’re flying at the right time of year, you can easily get a direct flight from most of Europe and from parts of the US.
However, if you’re travelling off-peak, you may find that you need to transfer flights in Bangkok. While the Bangkok airports are nobody’s favourite airports, there’s enough in them to keep you entertained for an hour or so, and the flight to Phuket is less than an hour from the Thai capital.
Once you arrive in Phuket, you will find that Flamingo Beach Club is at the Southern tip of the island, not far from Phuket town and probably no more than an hour’s drive from anywhere else in the area by tuk-tuk or rideshare, even if the traffic is pretty hectic.
We should note that in keeping with most beach clubs in Phuket, there’s no onsite parking, though there is parking nearby, which you can use for a fee.
We’d avoid driving if you can; it’s much better to rock up in a rideshare, and it’s safer too if you intend to have a few beers during the course of your time here.
Where Is Flamingo Beach Club? 98 Moo 8 Wichit Subdistrict Muang Phuket 83000, Thailand
Online: Bandara
Opening Hours: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. (happy hours from 4.30 – 6.30 p.m., takeout available until 7 p.m. and brunch from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.) daily. Note: hours are subject to change during public holidays and local elections.
What’s Available At Flamingo Beach Club?
There is a co-working facility as well as restaurant and bar facilities. You can find some comfy seating on the beach and more standard bar/restaurant seating elsewhere in the venue.
However, there is no pool (which we feel ought to be a minimum standard to use the title “beach club”), and while you can swim in the ocean at Flamingo, we wouldn’t recommend it.
The water is none too clean in Phuket, and there is a strong chance of riptides that might drag even highly experienced swimmers out to sea.
Our Detailed Review Of Flamingo Beach Club
We implement a standardised approach for assessing every beach club to promote just treatment of owners, management, and staff, and to deliver reviews in a uniform format that facilitates seamless venue comparisons.
The assessment process is detailed as follows:
- A team is tasked with reviewing the venue.
- Each member must visit the beach club, with the option to visit independently and on varying days.
- During their visit, every reviewer completes a scorecard, scoring the club from 1 (least distinguished) to 5 (most distinguished) in predefined categories, while also recording their experiences.
- After all team members have submitted their scorecards, they meet to discuss their observations and settle on final scores for each category.
- A selected team member then composes the review, incorporating the team’s discussions and final scores, before it is shared on our website.
Reservation and Booking Process
There’s something almost funny about a place that sets out to attract digital nomads and then promptly opts for an entirely analog booking system.
So, if you visit the Bandara website and click the booking link, you get sent to LinkTree, if you click “Book Now”, you will be rewarded with a phone number and an address.
Yes, the reservation system at Flamingo Beach Club, Phuket, is directly off the ark, and while it’s almost funny, it’s not really.
In 2025, for a co-working space beach club not to have an online booking system is pitiful in the extreme. There’s no excuse for this at all.
Ambience and Atmosphere
People come to Flamingo Beach Club to work as much as they do to play around and chill in the sun, and as you might expect, that has a certain dampening effect on the vibe.
There’s no prohibition against having fun and making noise here, but you can sense that it won’t be welcomed by your fellow beach clubbers, because their heads are down over their laptops.
We love watching digital nomads pretending to have something productive to do, when we all know that they’re really just browsing Facebook and emailing mum and dad for some more cash.
However, there’s also no doubt that as the day progresses, the work side of things starts to fade away and things get more convivial and social.
Location And Accessibility
The southern edge of Phuket is probably not where you want to be if you’re trying to get off the island after your day has finished.
Other than that, there’s nothing wrong with this location; it’s a bit of a shame that it’s not the best spot for a sunset view, and it could use some car parking, but overall, it’s decent enough and not that hard to get to.
Absolutely none of this location is really wheelchair friendly, though, so if you have mobility issues, we’d advise picking another beach club in Phuket.
Aesthetic And Design
It feels a bit like a beach club designed on a pound store budget, but somehow, for the most part, it works, and though nothing here feels particularly chic or well-made, it looks good.
You’re going to get some nice shots for your Instagram feed, which is probably the main reason for 90% of visits to any of the world’s beach clubs.
However, without a pool, there’s really no central feature to this place, and it’s easy to feel a bit disconnected from the other people around you.
That’s a bit of a shame, as we feel that the best part of the beach club scene is the social side of things.
Staff Friendliness and Professionalism (Service Standard)
Most of our team had good experiences with the staff at Flamingo Beach Club, and we felt that they were good representatives of the Land of Smiles.
However, one of our team members felt that the staff were surly towards them and they failed to explain the costs of the day properly before the bill arrived.
We think transparency in pricing is at the core of professionalism in beach clubs, and while we don’t think this was a fatal flaw of Flamingo Beach Club, it’s an exception to the service that’s worth noting.
Service Speed and Efficiency
It’s not the biggest beach club that we’ve ever been in, and there are more than enough staff on duty to serve everyone with reasonable promptness for most of the day.
However, there were a few times when our team felt that they were waiting for substantial periods for even simple drink orders.
It never dragged on so long that they needed to call for the manager, but it felt out of place. We feel that if there’s one category every beach club can excel in, it’s service, and Flamingo Beach Club fell slightly short of the high mark that we set on this standard.
Nonetheless, it was never bad enough to make us wish we’d gone elsewhere.
Food Quality and Variety
There’s a lot of variety on the menu at this beach club, but we found that they often couldn’t translate that variety into reality.
“Tom yum?” “Sorry, we’re out.” “Grilled shrimp?” “Sorry, we’re out of that too…” and so on. This is a frustration that we expect to encounter in some of the more “developing nation” destinations that we visit to review beach clubs in but not in Thailand.
The prices are also quite high for what’s on offer, though what’s available is certainly tasty and fresh enough, and once you add on the tax and service charge, it’s not the best value for money in the area.
Beverage Selection and Creativity
The beverage selection was OK, not the biggest or best we’ve seen, but certainly enough that a day or two spent at this location will be no hardship.
The cocktails are presented reasonably well, though you won’t be diving for your camera to fill up your Instagram feed.
However, there was a big letdown, and that was the draft beer, which was flatter than a pancake on Shrove Tuesday after being run over by a tank.
We love draft beer, but it’s no use to us if there’s no bubbles in the lager.
Cleanliness and Hygiene
We felt that the standards of cleanliness and hygiene were fine throughout the venue. Of course, without a pool and changing rooms to maintain, this is easier than it is in some beach clubs.
Nonetheless, the public areas, including toilets, were squeaky clean, and we’d be happy to revisit this beach club and try anything again based on this.
It’s also somewhere we’d feel comfortable bringing our children, who are extremely prone to upset stomachs when the hygiene standards aren’t great.
Comfort of Seating and Lounging Areas
The furniture at this beach club is nothing special. It does the job of preventing you from having to sit in the sand, and it’s not uncomfortable.
It looks OK in Instagram snaps with a judicious use of the filters, but overall, it’s simply OK. It feels that they got good value for money for what are quite clearly budget-constrained choices compared to other beach clubs, mind you.
Music and Entertainment
The piped music is a little muted for most of the day, mainly because people come here to work, and there’s nothing worse than trying to get your job done while listening to somebody else’s idea of good music.
So, we get it, but it’s not ideal when you’ve come to spend the day chilling rather than working.
Also, they do have a fire show like every other beach club in Phuket, but only twice a week rather than every night.
If you don’t see it, don’t worry about it; it’s not the best example of its kind on the island.
Seasonality
Phuket is theoretically free of seasonality thanks to its tropical nature. In principle, it’s warm all year round.
However, while the beach club’s operating hours won’t change at any time, the rainy season here is a mess, and it can rain for days or weeks nonstop.
If you must visit Southeast Asia in the rainy season, go to Bali instead. It only rains for a couple of hours a day at most there.
Pricing and Value for Money
We do expect beach clubs to be more expensive than the local restaurants, etc., but we also expect co-working to be fairly cheap.
That’s because digital nomads tend to live on tight budgets, and that means they want value for money.
Overall, we think they set the prices here too high, and it’s not the best value for money. It’s not a rip-off by any means, but it’s not going to attract back too many regular nomad visitors.
Beach Access and Quality
This beach club is directly on the beach, and the daybeds are, in fact, on the sand. It’s an attractive strip of soft yellow sand, and the staff seem to keep it clean enough.
It’s not facing towards the sunset, which is why we’ve deducted a point.
And while some water sports enthusiasts do get in the water here, we wouldn’t. Phuket has serious pollution issues and potential riptides to boot.
Sustainability Practices
When the website address barely has any relationship to the name of the beach club, you know you’re in for a lack of information regarding sustainability.
That doesn’t mean that they don’t do anything, but if they do, Flamingo Beach Club is being pretty secretive about it.
So, we can’t award them any points in this category.
Exclusive Perks for Guests
When you don’t have a pool, you don’t need to issue towels, and while seating in here is free for the main part, the daybeds attract a minimum spend.
And in exchange for that? You get to sit down. We don’t feel that that’s much of a perk, and thus, there are no points in this category either.
Safety and Security
There is no bag search and no car search at this club. We also didn’t see much in the way of a security presence in general.
We don’t think that there’s any likelihood of real trouble at Flamingo Beach Club, but if there was, we’re not sure they’re cut out to deal with it.
Event Hosting Capabilities
They can host smaller events, including wedding parties, at Flamingo Beach Club. We’ve been told they do a very good job of these events, too.
However, if you want to organise something at a much larger scale? Then, this isn’t the right beach club for you.
Consistency of Experience
We thought the experience at this beach club, overall, was decent, but there were some inconsistencies, and we felt that talking to other customers and reading customer reviews online, too, that other people would agree with this assessment.
Additional Amenities and Facilities
The basic coworking and dining facilities here are what most people come for and if you need anything else, it won’t be too far away in Phuket Town, which is a short drive from this beach club.
Summary
As co-working spaces with restaurant facilities on the beach go, this isn’t bad at all, and if we are ever passing through Phuket and need to do some urgent typing and don’t fancy doing it in our room, we’d be happy to go to Flamingo Beach Club.
However, this place is somewhat weak on facilities for a beach club, and it really needs a pool at a minimum to put it in the same league as the best beach clubs in Phuket.
We’d also like to see some focus on staff training, inventory management, so that dishes aren’t out of stock and that the beer stays fizzy throughout the day.
FAQs
Can You Go Swimming At Flamingo Beach Club?
There is no swimming pool at Flamingo Beach Club, Phuket. That means that the venue has no safe facilities for swimming.
They also do not provide towels, and if you do intend to swim in the ocean (the club provides direct beach access from your seating,) then you will need to bring your own towel.
We’d also note that while they do offer some basic water sports gear that you can borrow, the water in Phuket is not clean, and we wouldn’t swim in the ocean here.
There is also a substantiated risk of riptides, which are strong currents that can pull even the best swimmers out to sea.
What Is There To Do At Flamingo Beach Club?
You can eat, drink and work at Flamingo Beach Club, Phuket. Its key facility is a co-working space where you can enjoy Wi-Fi and a power outlet for your laptop so that you can work on your digital nomad blog about the hardships of working on the beach.
There is also a bi-weekly fire show, which is something you can find every night of the week at most of the other beach clubs in town, rather than just twice.
If you’ve not seen one of these shows, this one is decent enough, but there are definitely better shows in town. If you have seen one of these shows before, you’ve already seen everything that the show at Flamingo Beach Club has to offer.
Is Flamingo Beach Club A Child-Friendly Venue?
Children are allowed into Flamingo Beach Club, Phuket. However, it’s important to note that there are no special facilities for children here, and they will need to use their imaginations to create their own entertainment.
As with all beach clubs in Southeast Asia, parents are meant to keep an eye on their children for their safety (note: there are no lifeguards on duty on this stretch of beach) and to ensure that your kids don’t annoy anyone else.
Given that this is a coworking space, first and foremost, you may find that people’s threshold for “annoyance” is much lower than at beach clubs elsewhere on the island. We wouldn’t opt to take our children to this beach club unless we had no other choice.
Who Is The Owner Of Flamingo Beach Club?
Flamingo Beach Club in Phuket appears to be owned by an operating company called “Soho Hospitality”, but there is no detail of the ownership structure beyond this.
Final Thoughts On The Review Of Flamingo Beach Club
We had a decent time at Flamingo Beach Club. No, it’s not our favourite beach club in Phuket but for what it is, a coworking space with a restaurant, daybeds and a seaview? It’s pretty good all the same.
If you’re a digital nomad seeking that mandatory shot of you working on your laptop on the sand in Thailand? Then, Flamingo Beach Club is probably for you.
One thing we would note though, is that it’s pretty expensive for a nomad destination, and that the food and drinks aren’t amazing value for money, either.
However, overall, we’d be happy to recommend this beach club to a specific kind of tourist, even though there are better beach clubs in town.
