From safari-style tents to private island villas and life-altering wellness retreats to splash parks and ball pits, the small Andaman island of Koh Samui in Thailand has it all when it comes to hotels. The island’s first five-star hotel opened here back in the mid-1980s, followed by a slow trickle of new openings to what exists today: Thailand’s most luxurious island, but also somewhere with hotels for virtually every type of traveler. And where there’s a beach, there’s now a palace to sleep—and drink and eat—right next to it.
Many of Samui’s most luxe places sit in the northeast corner, some with their own bays—some even on their own islands. And although it’s one of Thailand’s livelier destinations—with its bars, markets, massage parlors, and impressive restaurant scene, you will still find serene stays. It’s also the starting point for hops over to the islands of Koh Phangan and Koh Tao—but with Koh Samui hotels this good, you may not see the need to leave.
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