Coolies Club sits on Soi Romanee in Old Phuket Town, a cocktail bar and restaurant from designer Bill Bensley that opened in September 2024. Asia Bars and Restaurants covered the launch, drawn by the restored shophouse and its mining era styling.
Who would love it: drinkers who want a designed room with a strong drinks list and live performances through the week. Who would find it less their speed: anyone after a plain neighbourhood bar, because the styling and the menu both reach for theatre.
Bill Bensley, the designer behind The Slate at Nai Yang, built the interior as a nod to the tin mining history of the old quarter. The space runs on antique furnishings and deep coral, turquoise and jade tones inside a restored Sino Portuguese shophouse. The kitchen smokes many dishes over an open fire, a reference to how the early miners cooked.
The drinks list is themed around that same history, with pours named the Miner's Whisper, Mama's Twist, Spicy Maria, and the Courtesan's Kiss. Happy Hour Asia describes the bar as a creative cocktail room rather than a hotel lounge, with bar bites and larger plates alongside the drinks. Service draws steady praise in early reviews.
Order from the signature list rather than asking for a standard classic, since the named drinks are the reason the room reads the way it does. Pricing lands in the mid to upper old town range, fair for a designed venue with a full kitchen. The smoked plates pair well with the darker spirit forward pours.
The crowd mixes visitors exploring Soi Romanee with locals out for the live sets, and the energy climbs through the evening. Soi Romanee is one of the most photographed lanes in the old town, so the area draws foot traffic early and stays busy late. Reservations help on weekends.
The food runs from bar bites to larger shared plates, much of it touched by the open fire that anchors the kitchen. That smoke carries into the room and gives the place a sense of occasion beyond the drinks. Spoon and Wander flagged it as one of the old town's standout new openings after the 2024 launch.
The Bensley name carries weight in Thai hospitality, and Coolies Club reads as a passion project rather than a hotel outpost. That shows in the detail, from the custom glassware to the layered lighting that shifts as the night runs. It has quickly become a fixture on old town bar crawls since opening.
Soi Romanee is a short pedestrian lane lined with pastel shophouses, so the approach sets the tone before the first drink. The bar works as both a dinner stop and a later night spot, with the live sets pulling the energy up as the evening runs on. Arrive earlier on weekends to get a table before the lane fills.
Coolies Club suits a night out with a group, a design led date, or a first stop before the rest of Soi Romanee. For more of the area see our guide to the best cocktail bars in Phuket, the tarot themed room at The Fool, the cocktail bench at Dibuk House, and the heritage bar at Black Cat Old Town.
The room suits both a designed date and a louder group night, depending on when you arrive. Earlier evenings stay calmer, while the later sets bring the energy up across the lane. It has become one of the easier recommendations for a first night in the old town.