The Best Boutique Hotels to Book on Koh Samui, Thailand

With white palettes offset by warm, wooden floors and shutters – as well as dashes of regal purple from Thai silk scatter cushions – rooms at this cosy retreat feel modish and sumptuous. The best have sea views – over the turquoise waves and the full sweep of the long white-sand Chaweng Beach (backed with plenty of bars and restaurants). The very plushest rooms come with their own private infinity pools – watch golden sunsets melt into them.

This is the kind of boutique hotel the Vampire Lestat would choose for his beach holiday: there’s a blood-red infinity pool, bedrooms have lacquer-box-glossy crimson floors offset by striking baroque still lives, and there are OTT blood-red lace screens, softly illuminated with crimson lamps. If you don’t fancy too much red with your bed, pick one of the minimalist white villas. The location is to-die-for – right on the top beach on the island, Chaweng, surrounded by bars, where the undead can be sure of a strong bloody mary.

Bang Por Beach may be a good 10-minute walk away, but the sea views at Code are swoon-worthy. Rooms are all-white – from walls to soft sofas and high-thread-count linens. Best of all are the pool and terrace suites, where minimalist interiors offset the turquoises and lush greens of the sea and palm trees you can glimpse outside: gaze through wall-high glass, over an infinity pool and the ocean, to the distant mountains on Koh Pha Ngan.

While families are welcome, Zazen is really all about couples-y intimacy. Expect beachfront cabins with sunrise-over-the-ocean views as well as candle-lit dinners for two in private pavilions on the beach. Discreetly secluded behind lush vegetation are low-lit garden villas with lounge decks (furnished with comfortable sofas), and beds large enough to get lost in. You can even get married at the resort – pick an Eastern ceremony to get sprinkled with water by a Buddhist monk to the sound of a drum orchestra.

Narrow and shallow, Laem Yai may not be the finest beach on Koh Samui, but it does have the best sunset views. Mai Samui is poised to catch them and has three gorgeous pools, winding around the villas. These bask in shady tropical gardens. Interiors eschew Samui’s standard palm-thatch feel; instead, you can expect a more urban feel, courtesy of dark-wood furnishings, heavy-draped windows with ocean views, and deluxe rooms opening right onto the pool, with private swim-off sundecks.

This is a plum spot, right on the sand at the quieter northern end of long Chaweng Beach. Every villa has a private plunge pool, all varying in size. Rooms are made to linger in, luxuriously decked out in heavy woods, with dining tables indoors, sun loungers on private balconies, and intimate light from ceiling-hung rattan lamps. Bathrooms are resplendent with huge mirrors and soak-in recliner tubs. Chaweng village, home to the best restaurants and bars on Koh Samui, is right on the doorstep.

A hotel on a private island? That’s Cape Fahn – occupying an entire islet in Koh Samui’s far north. Villas with glass walls and sundecks are open to nature, and all have either full or partial sea views. Best of all are the Horizon Pools – these are positioned higher than the others, with big plunge pools and magical sunset or sunrise views you can enjoy while in bed. The beach here is a slip of a thing, but Choengmon Bay, across the water on the Koh Samui mainland, is so close you can almost jump across.

With so many hotels squeezed in behind the white sand, Choengmoen Beach can feel crowded. But staying at Sala is serene: duplex villas lurk behind high walls in a garden dotted with lily ponds. With separate bedrooms and lounge areas (bathed in light from wall-high windows) as well as big plunge pools and sundecks, these are rooms you won’t ever want to leave. But there’s a huge choice of restaurants and bars nearby if you fancy shaking a leg, too.