Holiday Inn Resort Phuket, an IHG Hotel

English is spoken by the hotel team, alongside German, Italian, Russian and Mandarin Chinese, so you can deal with the useful things without playing international charades at reception. Holiday Inn Resort Phuket is a large beachfront resort built around two different stay experiences: the Main Wing, with its family facilities, and the Busakorn Premium Wing, with pools reserved for its own guests.

This is a practical choice if you want your diving holiday to leave room for other people in your party. Children have a Kids' Club, indoor and outdoor play areas, a Splash Zone and dedicated pools, while adults have restaurants, a fitness centre, gardens and places to sit down with a drink. The resort has 398 rooms, so this is not a small hideaway where everyone knows which mask you wear. It is a properly equipped base in the middle of Patong.

You are in Patong Beach, Thailand, at 52 Thaweewong Road, with the resort directly on the beachfront. Patong Beach is right outside the property, while Kalim Beach is about 1.4 miles away. Freedom Beach and Tri Trang Beach are also within reach, at roughly 1.4 and 1 mile respectively.

The useful part of the location is how much sits within a short walk. Coco Copper Bistro and Beachbar is about 200 feet away, with several cafés and restaurants between roughly 350 and 650 feet. For a change of scenery, Khao Lampi-Hat Thai Muang National Park is about 0.8 miles away on foot, and the bus terminals are around 7 miles away. You are in the lively centre of Patong, not in a remote resort where a forgotten bottle of sunscreen becomes an expedition.

The room choice is really about how you want to use the resort. Couples can keep things simple in a Standard Room, or move up to a pool-view room with a balcony and a seating area for a little more space between returning from the sea and falling straight onto the bed. The Premium King Villa with Pool Access is aimed at adults travelling as a couple, with direct access to the villa pool area; that area is reserved for guests in the relevant villa categories.

If you want a room that changes the holiday rather than merely enlarging it, the One-Bedroom King Suite with Balcony and Sea View is the obvious candidate. Families have dedicated room and suite options, including a two-bedroom family suite, while children of any age are welcome. Cots can be requested, but extra beds are not available, so the sleeping arrangement deserves checking before you commit to a particular room.

Air conditioning matters in Phuket, especially when you return warm, salty and ready to stop negotiating with your luggage. Rooms also have free WiFi, a kettle, wardrobe space, a desk and seating areas, with balconies or outdoor furniture on selected categories. Daily housekeeping, room service, private bathrooms with showers and toiletries keep the evening routine pleasantly ordinary. That is praise, by the way.

Breakfast is a buffet, with service beginning at 6:30 am, which gives you a fighting chance of eating before a morning departure. Sea Breeze Cafe serves breakfast and works with international dishes, while Charm Thai Restaurant covers breakfast, lunch and dinner in an al fresco setting, with Thai cooking and local ingredients at the centre of the menu. Its service runs through to 11:00 pm.

Terrazzo Ristorante handles lunch and dinner with relaxed Italian comfort food, and its Terrazzo Bar gives you an obvious place to continue the evening without leaving the resort. Sam's Steaks & Grill is the dinner option for grilled food and has been part of Patong's restaurant scene since 1991. The dress code across these restaurants is casual, so you can dine without pretending that your post-dive clothes are formalwear.

There are five restaurants in total, plus the bar and an on-site coffee house. Room service is available, and breakfast can be taken in your room. For families, children's meals are available; for couples, the range is useful when one person wants Thai food and the other has decided that only pasta will do.

Six outdoor pools give you plenty of ways to spend a non-diving afternoon, from the family pool with waterspouts and slides to the children's pool and the covered pool section. Guests staying in the Busakorn Premium Wing have access to two additional pools reserved for that wing, including an exclusive pool with a swim-up bar. Main Wing guests use the Main Wing facilities, so the room category affects more than the view from the balcony.

The resort's fitness centre is there when you want to move rather than collapse, and sun loungers, umbrellas and pool towels make the easier option entirely respectable. The garden and beachfront setting give you space to sit with a book, while a cooking class and a class about local culture offer something more structured than watching the same television channel for an hour.

Families have a Kids' Club, a playground, indoor and outdoor play equipment, board games and puzzles, with babysitting also available. Golf is another option listed among the resort's activities. There is enough here for a partner or family member to build a day around while you are underwater, without requiring the whole holiday to follow the dive timetable.

Phuket International Airport is about 28 miles away. Airport transfers can be arranged through the property, and the 24-hour front desk, concierge and tour desk make late arrivals and onward plans easier to organise. Free private parking is available on site, and WiFi is free throughout the hotel.

Check-in starts at 3:00 pm and check-out is by noon. You must be at least 18 to check in, and you will need photo identification and the card used for the booking. The hotel also asks for your expected arrival time. A refundable damage deposit is taken on arrival by card, with the return subject to the property's inspection process.

Children are welcome, although the rules change with age: children aged 13 and above are treated as adults, and cots are available on request. The villa pool area and the Busakorn Premium Wing pools are restricted to the room categories concerned. Pets are not allowed. Laundry, dry cleaning, luggage storage, currency exchange, car hire and a doctor on request round out the useful, slightly unglamorous services that become valuable once your dive bag has started dictating the contents of the room.