Inside Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui: An All-Villa Resort With Main Character Energy

Close your eyes and picture the ultimate Thai beach retreat. Can you spot the skinny palm trees around your villa’s private pool? The frangipani flower tucked behind your spa therapist’s ear? And do you see that talcum-white beach, where hammocks swing between the palms and sun-bronzed guests sip from coconuts as large as their heads? 

When it comes to turning such tropical daydreams into reality, Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui comes pretty close.

Pitched up in a former coconut grove on Koh Samui’s northwestern tip, this all-villa resort delivers big on island idyll. As soon as you pass through the wooden doors of the hilltop lobby, you’re greeted by staff with a cold jasmine-scented towel and lychee lemonade. From here, the resort unfurls into a valley cloaked in green, with the villas’ wood-shingled roofs poking out between tamarind trees and not a single other building on the turquoise horizon to spoil the view. And just wait until you see the beach.

That beach is, rightfully, the feather in the resort’s cap: a pristine swoop of blindingly white sand, pinned with skinny palms and parasol-shaded loungers. Half of it is a dedicated “quiet zone,” where you’ll find hammocks swinging over water as clear as Listerine, with cocoon-like daybeds. A 55-yard infinity pool and a string of cabanas line the beach area’s other half, and whichever daybed you sprawl out on, you’ll have an attendant doling out frozen fruit salads and coconut ice cream throughout the day.

If you’re not the type to sit still, don’t fret: The resort’s concierge team has a Rolodex filled with boat captains for island-hopping cruises around Angthong National Marine Park, or day trips to the nearby islands of Koh Phangan and Koh Tao. There’s also a top-notch turf tennis court with instructors on speed dial, or you could grab one of the complimentary kayaks and snorkel sets to explore the coral reefs that ring the island. (Try to catch one of the resort’s weekly Coral Talks to learn how Four Seasons helps to conserve them.)

Essentially, the resort strikes all the right sweet spots. It has all the perks you’d expect from a Four Seasons, but it also celebrates the country and culture (think: vibrant curries at the hilltop Koh Thai Kitchen—piquant, but not too spicy—and multilingual staff greeting you with lilting “sawatdi khas” and polite wai gestures). 

And while the resort’s jungle setting will make you feel blissfully marooned in the turquoise Gulf of Thailand, Koh Samui’s postcard sights, such as inland waterfalls and giant golden Buddhas, are just a short taxi ride away.

The Room

All villas, all fantastic. It’s no wonder the resort often feels quiet even when it’s almost fully booked, because even the entry-level villas have private pools and three different lounge nooks on wraparound terraces—though that does make it dangerously easy to ditch any sightseeing plans and order room service for every meal. 

Those terraces and pools get bigger the more you spend (there are options with an adjoining bedroom for young kids), but the interiors remain mostly the same: lots of wicker furniture, fresh orchids and polished teak, with licks of turquoise and seafoam green. Taking up almost half the villas’ generous floor plans, the terrazzo-covered bathrooms feel like mini spas, with roomy rain showers, double vanities and egg-shaped bathtubs right by the floor-to-ceiling windows so you can—quite literally—soak in the view.

Like the Thai villages outside the resort, all villas are connected by sois (Thai for “side street”) branching off the main path that snakes from the hilltop lobby to the beach. The villas on the 300 level, perched high up the hillside, have some of the best views over the bay, while the ones on the 900 level have the easiest access to the beach. If the latter is a nonnegotiable perk, opt for the ultra-private Beach Villa With Pool hidden in the jungle, where your toes hit the sand as soon as you step off your veranda.

The Private Residences, which tumble down the side of the grove, offer extra space—up to five bedrooms—and a dedicated butler for extended families and bigger crews.

The Features

The door to the Rum Vault is an actual relic from San Francisco's Alcatraz prison.

Don’t miss: A kala coconut massage at the spa, a veritable village of tree house–style treatment rooms and lemongrass-scented gardens hidden in a bamboo forest on the top of the hill. You’re in for 90 blissful minutes of being slathered in warm coconut oil and massaged with poultices from grated coconut and pandan leaf. If you feel like really getting into it, ask the staff to set up a poultice-making workshop before your treatment. Afterward, linger in the treatment suite’s balcony bathtub.

Standout features: The whimsical design details. Keep an eye out for the ceramic monkeys dangling from tree branches in the gardens, copper door handles shaped like wriggly lizards and oversize stone statues half-hidden in the jungle fringe. And look closely at the rusty steel door closing off the Rum Vault; it’s an actual relic brought over from San Francisco’s Alcatraz prison.

Can’t stop thinking about: The breakfast buffet, where there’s a build-your-own sandwich station, platter after platter of jewel-toned tropical fruits and more than half a dozen types of yogurt layered with mango compote or coconut flakes. The pastry section is almost obscenely decadent, with its pandan custard–filled croissants and doughnuts gleaming with edible pearls.

The Lowdown

As you explore the property, watch out for ceramic monkeys in the gardens and stone statues half-hidden in the jungle.

What might surprise you? Bangkok-based architect Bill Bensley, who masterminded the resort’s design along with his husband, Jirachai Rengthong, went to great lengths to build around the coconut trees that pinned the hillsides before Four Seasons took over the plot. As a result, not a single palm was felled during the construction, and you’ll now find their trunks skewering some of the villas’ balconies or stilted entryways.

The snacks you’re swiping from the breakfast buffet: Nab a few gluten-free cookies by Thai chef Tatigarn Tantachinna, flavored with macadamia butter, rice-leaf tea or chocolate chips. Handily, they’re already wrapped—perfect on-the-go snacks for when you’re out sightseeing.

The TV show that was filmed here: The resort shot to superstardom when it was announced as one of the film sets for the third season of HBO’s smash-hit series “The White Lotus.” If you want to follow in the footsteps of its cast of bratty holidaymakers, book Residence 9, where many of the scenes were filmed.

What are people drinking? Fresh coconuts during the day and, once the sun sets, a cocktail mixed from one of the local rums in the Rum Vault, home to Asia’s largest library of rums from around the globe.

The souvenir to pick up at the gift shop: The boutique adjoining the Koh Thai Kitchen offers a hodgepodge of silver jewelry, stingray-leather catchalls and Vilebrequin swimwear in eye-popping patterns. Grab a couple tiki mugs shaped like fish or coconuts, created exclusively for the resort’s CoCoRum bar.

This resort has all the perks you’d expect from a Four Seasons, but it also celebrates the culture, aesthetic and spirit of Thailand.

Fast Facts

• Number of rooms: 71
• Number of pools: 1
• Fitness center? Yes
• Spa? Yes
• Salon? Yes
• Number of bars/restaurants: 4
• 24-hour room service? Yes
• Childcare and kids club? Yes