Selina Beach Club is part of the Selina Serenity Rawai Phuket Resort, and the hotel is famous for its fur-friendly policies when it comes to allowing guests to bring their pets on holiday with them.
But we wondered if this would carry over to the beach club, and if so, would there be any additional charges for letting our dogs chill by the pool for the day? Well, yes, it does, and no, there aren’t. Pets are welcome in all the outdoor spaces at this beach club, and there’s no extra charge.
Now, after that exciting introduction to things, let’s take a look at what our review team discovered about Selina Beach Club, Phuket, on their pet-lovers day of discovery.
Introduction – Getting To Selina Beach Club, Phuket
Getting to Selina Beach Club is first a question of getting to Phuket, Thailand. The good news is that the island has an international airport and that is served by direct flights from much of Europe, Asia and even occasionally the US.
However, in the off-season, there’s no doubt that getting a direct flight isn’t always convenient. If that’s the case, you can always fly via Bangkok, and it’s less than an hour’s flight from the Thai capital.
When you arrive in Phuket, you will find that Selina Beach Club is relatively easy to get to and no more than an hour’s drive or so in a tuk-tuk or ride share, even in heavy traffic.
There is some car parking at this beach club (unlike at many other Phuket beach clubs), thanks to it being part of a resort, but you probably can’t rely on getting a space.
We’d recommend that you don’t drive, particularly if you intend to drink. Grab (the Uber-equivalent in most of Southeast Asia) is quite cost-effective.
Where Is Selina Beach Club, Phuket? 14, Rawai, Mueang Phuket District, Phuket 83130, Thailand
Online: Instagram
Opening Hours: 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily (happy hour from 3-6 p.m. and breakfast hours from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m.), but hours are subject to change on public holidays and local election days.
What’s Available At Selina Beach Club, Phuket?
Selina Beach Club in Phuket has a restaurant and bar facility, along with a large and extensive pool that forms the central feature of the beach club.
It’s very much a standard hotel beach club, and that means it’s designed for spending time with friends and family in relaxing conditions. And there are no live DJs, entertainment, etc., and it’s definitely not for the die-hard partygoer seeking thrills.
Our Detailed Review Of Selina Beach Club, Phuket
We use a uniform method to review each beach club, ensuring equitable evaluation for owners, management, and staff, and presenting reviews in a consistent structure that simplifies comparing different locations.
The evaluation procedure is structured as follows:
- A review team is selected to evaluate the venue.
- All members must visit the beach club, though they can visit individually and not necessarily on the same day.
- At the venue, each reviewer fills out a scorecard, assigning the club a score from 1 (lowest achievement) to 5 (highest achievement) across specified categories, while also documenting their impressions.
- Once all scorecards are completed, the team gathers to review their findings and agree on final category scores.
- A chosen team member then drafts the review, reflecting the group’s consensus and scores, before it is posted on our website.
Reservation and Booking Process
Unfortunately, as is typical of so many hotel beach clubs, there is no booking process for the beach club online.
You can book a room in the resort on their website, but forget reserving a daybed by the pool, that, apparently, is beyond the resources of a major hotel group. Yes, that’s us being sarcastic.
We don’t get it. There are tiny beach clubs out there owned by independents that can do a much better job of this simple task than places like this.
People want to book. It saves on wasted journeys when you arrive and find that the place is too full to get in or has no seats.
You can probably arrange something by calling the resort or emailing and going through a protracted negotiation process, but who needs that kind of hassle?
Ambience and Atmosphere
This is a hotel beach club, which means it feels like what it is, part of a 5-star resort complex where people come to have a nice time on their holidays.
The beach club itself has no real identity except for the presence of people’s pets; it’s just another part of the Serenity Rawai Phuket Resort.
That’s fine. People stay in places like this because they are nice and they are relaxing, and that’s pretty much what you can expect from Serenity Beach Club, too.
Location And Accessibility
This beach club is in Phuket, and it’s very easy to get to; there’s no need to ride an ATV down a cliff or take a boat taxi, etc.
The only real downside of this location is a very scrawny beach, and while it’s pet-friendly, it’s not very wheelchair-friendly.
Sadly, that’s just how things are in Southeast Asia. For now, at least.
Aesthetic And Design
This is a hotel beach club, and there’s always a touch of the corporate about things in the design, and that’s certainly true at Selina Beach Club.
But if you can put that to one side, you end up with a space that is attractive and will look good in your Instagram feed.
So, while it won’t win any prizes for originality, you’re not going to find yourself wishing you could poke your own eyes out here, either.
Staff Friendliness and Professionalism (Service Standard)
This is the Land of Smiles, and there’s no doubt that the Phuket hospitality scene benefits greatly from a native workforce with a very positive attitude towards life.
The staff here also benefit from a 5-star resort training team, and that means they’ve been given the skills and polish to enable them to work with complete professionalism.
You’ll find they know the menu well, can talk you through the local area and much more and they will do it respectfully, kindly and efficiently too.
Service Speed and Efficiency
While there’s no doubt that some Thai venues take that tropical laid-back vibe kind of literally when it comes to service, we didn’t think that was the case at this beach club.
In fact, we found that the staff could often anticipate when we were ready to put in an order and would arrive just before we started to work to catch their attention.
We also found that the food, drinks and even the final bill arrived promptly without us feeling like we had to wait forever for them. Overall, the staff are a real credit to their employer at Selina Beach Club.
Food Quality and Variety
The menu isn’t the biggest, but there’s more than enough to choose from for an afternoon spent by the pool here, and even if you stay into the evening, you won’t get bored.
The pricing is very reasonable, too, for a hotel beach club, and the portions are large and filling. The only critique we have is that while the food is tasty, it’s not the best we’ve ever had, either.
Overall, we doubt you’ll have any complaints about the food here.
Beverage Selection and Creativity
There are plenty of drinks to choose from, and they are well-made and strong enough. We do think they could work a little harder on the presentation, though.
They were cocktails, but there’s no “wow” factor for your Instagram shots.
Cleanliness and Hygiene
This is a 5-star resort in Thailand where hygiene is always taken seriously. Everything, including the pool, toilets and changing rooms, is very clean.
Comfort of Seating and Lounging Areas
The furniture looks pretty good, though with that corporate touch of hotel beach clubs, and it’s comfortable enough for a long session chilling by the pool.
Music and Entertainment
The thing about hotel beach clubs is that they’re really not designed for big parties, and that means they tend to neglect both music and entertainment.
While at other beach clubs in Phuket, you may get DJs and fire shows, here you get piped-in music around the venue.
And that music is fairly bland and syrupy. Its purpose is to be a backdrop to conversation and to avoid offending anyone, and it does that pretty well.
You’re not going to discover your new favourite song at Selina Beach Club, but that’s OK. Not every place needs to focus on banging tunes.
Seasonality
They say that Phuket has no real seasons because it’s in the tropics, but that’s not quite true. The reality is that there is a rainy season, and while beach club opening hours don’t change for this time of year, the opening hours for water from the sky change a lot.
In fact, it can rain for days or weeks at a time in Phuket with barely a break in the downpour. So, we don’t recommend people go to this part of Thailand at all at that time of year.
If you want some fun in Southeast Asia in the rainy season, go to Bali instead. It rarely rains more than a couple of hours a day there and rarely on consecutive days.
You will also find Bali’s beach club scene is more evolved and better value for money than Phuket’s in general.
Pricing and Value for Money
There is always a bit of a premium to pay when you visit a beach club and/or a 5-star hotel, so when you visit a beach club that’s in a hotel, generally, you expect it to be very expensive.
In the case of Selina Beach Club, it’s not. It’s just premium pricing as it would be at any other beach club in town.
Is it the best value for money ever? No, it’s not. But it’s decent value for money and we think the premium is justified by the service, the pool and the quality of the food and drinks.
Beach Access and Quality
The beach is a pretty anemic thing at Selina Beach Club. It’s a thin strip of sand. It’s not ugly or poorly kept; there’s just not very much of it.
You could probably get a short walk on it, but otherwise? There’s a reason that most people at this beach club never leave the pool area, and it’s because the beach is not a big feature of this place.
We’d also note that in keeping with the rest of Phuket, while you can, in theory, swim in the sea here, you probably shouldn’t, as the water is highly polluted and dangerous riptides are always possible.
The good news is that with a nice pool area at Selina, you really don’t need to spend any time on the beach at all.
Sustainability Practices
The beach club is involved with several sustainability initiatives led by the Selina Impact parent brand program.
They are working on reducing plastic use, waste management, they prefer to hire local, run community programs and sponsor cross-cultural exchange.
However, while these are all noble ideals. The brand doesn’t report any specific targets or progress against those targets. We think they can do better, though; compared to most other beach clubs in Phuket, they are already doing better than average.
Exclusive Perks for Guests
You get somewhere to sit and a towel for use in the pool, as well as the ability to bring your pets inside with you.
Mainly, except for the pets, this is pretty standard for beach clubs in Phuket; it’s not bad per se, it’s just not all that exciting.
We really do wish more beach clubs would consider the idea of premium entry tiers with more perks built in. Things like sunscreen dispensers and sunglasses cleaning services can add a bright edge to an already special day, and we don’t mind paying for these privileges.
Safety and Security
They have a basic bag check and car check on your way into the resort, and that’s probably enough to keep most people safe from any major threats.
There are also some discrete hotel security guards around who will probably be able to handle any immediate threats caused by drunken behaviour.
However, we can’t ignore that while a pet-friendly beach club is an overall positive thing, there is a risk that somebody’s pet won’t play nice, and all the security in the world can’t prevent a dog bite.
So, make sure to be very careful of your kids and where you walk when you’re in the outside areas at Selina Beach Club, Phuket.
Event Hosting Capabilities
You can host events at Selina Beach Club, but it’s not a huge beach club, and it’s also a pet-friendly place.
That means you will need to consider the guest list very carefully before you book this place as anyone with allergies or phobias might find this an unpleasant place to be.
We’d also note that large corporate groups are not likely to be well-served by Selina Beach Club simply because of space constraints.
Consistency of Experience
Hotel beach clubs are all about consistency of experience, and our review team, the regular customers they spoke to and the online reviews of Selina Beach Club all agree, they are super consistent.
That means you can always expect a similar experience each time that you go and that’s a good thing for those using hotel facilities because it means they don’t need to worry about what it’s going to be like when they get there.
However, it also means that the beach club doesn’t strive to evolve and improve its experience, because it has a standard to uphold. That leaves it slightly behind the very best beach clubs.
Additional Amenities and Facilities
This is your basic hotel beach club, and beyond the bar, restaurant and pool, there’s not much else going on at Selina Beach Club.
The good news is that for most people, that’s more than enough to keep them entertained for a few hours while they drink and dine in the sun and if they do need something else?
Well, you’re in Phuket, whatever you could possibly need is within a short distance, either by car or on foot.
Summary
If you like hotel beach clubs, you’ll probably quite like Selina Beach Club. You’re almost guaranteed to like it if you like the companionship of man’s best friend while you lounge around by the pool.
Overall, there’s nothing that makes this beach club stand out from a very strong pack in Phuket, but at the same time, there’s nothing that will put you off spending time here, either.
What you’re getting is decent, though not spectacular, food and drinks around a pleasant central pool area where you can relax and indugle in a little light conversation, some reading, or other chill out activities. And that’s why a lot of people go on holiday in the first place, right?
FAQs
Can You Go Swimming At Selina Beach Club, Phuket?
Yes, there’s an attractive pool area at Selina Beach Club, and guests are encouraged to use it and enjoy themselves.
This isn’t the busiest beach club in Phuket, and we felt that you’d be able to swim lengths of the pool here almost every day without an issue.
There’s only a narrow strip of beach, but that does also offer access to the ocean, but as with all beach clubs in Phuket, we don’t recommend swimming in the ocean.
The water is simply too polluted for it to be entirely safe to swim in, and there is also a risk of riptides that can drag even the most polished swimmers out into deep water.
So, stick to the pool at Selina Beach Club, you won’t be sorry that you did, it’s quite lovely.
What Is There To Do At Selina Beach Club, Phuket?
Selina Beach Club is a basic hotel beach club facility, which means you can eat, drink, relax and swim in the pool.
This is the ideal spot for a bit of conversation with friends and family and a day of relaxation; it’s very much not a party spot.
Is Selina Beach Club, Phuket, A Child-Friendly Venue?
Yes, children are welcome throughout the hotel and beach club. However, we should note that Selina Beach Club expects you to keep an eye on your own kids and to ensure their safety.
There is a lifeguard at the pool, but there is no lifeguard on the seafront, and we wouldn’t let kids play in the water anyway.
You are also expected to ensure that your kids aren’t annoying any of the other guests.
In addition to Selina Beach Club, Phuket being a family-friendly venue, it’s also a pet-friendly venue.
You can bring your pets and enjoy their company in any of the outdoor public areas of the beach club. There is no charge for this service, but as with children, you must make sure your pets are safe and that they behave properly.
Who Is The Owner Of Selina Beach Club, Phuket?
Selina Beach Club is part of the Collective Hospitality Group, which in turn is owned by The Destination Group, which is owned by Garry Murray. These are businesses with multi-national reach and that control a large number of hospitality properties.
Final Thoughts On The Review Of Selina Beach Club, Phuket
If you’re looking for a beach club to take your pets to, there’s really no better choice in Phuket than Selina Beach Club.
To be fair, though, that’s going to be a fairly small number of people, considering it’s no trivial matter importing a pet into Thailand and not something anyone is likely to do for a quick holiday.
For everyone else, Selina Beach Club is a pleasant enough hotel beach club; it doesn’t stand out particularly in a crowded beach club marketplace like Phuket, but if you’re staying in the resort, it’s definitely worth spending some time there.
