This happened last Chinese New Year. We had originally planned to go to Saipan, but Ctrip's Saipan itinerary for the holiday was never available. We had to hastily change our plans just before the New Year, finally managing to book Phuket, but the prices were already quite high. First, the flights were terrible. Not only were they all red-eye flights, but the return flight was delayed by 6 hours. The conditions at Phuket Airport were appalling, and the kids were exhausted. Then there was the airport transfer. Ctrip had a dispatcher at the airport who arranged for a private car to take us to the hotel after arranging a group of about 100 people. However, the driver wasn't familiar with the local routes at all. The hotel before us seemed to be in a remote area, and the driver drove around for almost an hour and a half before finally dropping us off. This meant we didn't check into our hotel until 6 am and had to go straight to breakfast. It was exhausting.
However, thankfully, both hotels we stayed at were comfortable and luxurious, and the tropical sunshine lifted our spirits, making the whole vacation quite enjoyable.