Hotlist: these are the hotels in Thailand
Golden temples, coconut soup for breakfast, motorbikes with three families on them, and – if you do it right – the most beautiful hotels you will ever sleep in.
Bonus points, because you don't pay top dollar everywhere. In this list, we tackle the entire country (in random order): from boutique hotels in the rainforest to beach villas where you wake up with your toes in the sand.
We collected our favorite places all over Thailand: the most beautiful rooms, the best swimming pools, the most delicious breakfast buffets, and that little bit extra that makes you stay longer than planned. Thailand is always a good idea – and with this hotlist you can be sure that you will also end up on the right mattress.
What do these hotels have in common? They can all be booked on Booking.com. Enjoy lifetime discounts and travel benefits on hundreds of thousands of stays and car rentals worldwide with Booking.com's Genius loyalty program. Want to know more? Click here!
Who The Hangover Part II has seen it, will recognize it immediately: the iconic golden dome atop the State Tower. Yep, Lebua at State Tower is not only one of the nicest (and most luxurious) hotels in Thailand, it is also a film set where you can spend the night. Fortunately, without waking up with a tiger in the bathroom.
What do you wake up to? Think: a view of the Bangkok skyline that will make you speechless, an infinity bar at a dizzying height, and cocktails on a level. But also: dining in one of the two two-Michelin-star restaurants, a lovely swimming pool and a cracking breakfast. Perfect for a touch of luxury to start or end your trip, or just to say that you slept where the chaos began.
You can also just have a drink on the rooftop.
The biggest chance that your trip to Thailand will end sooner or later in Bangkok.
Or begins of course. And then you better start your trip right. Or end it. Preferably you arrive by boat on the Chao Phraya River. Upon arrival, a jazz band is playing in the background, someone calls your name before you even know where you are, and voilà—you are at the legendary Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok.
It’s the city’s oldest hotel, but still one of the best. The hotel is housed in a two-story white Victorian building that stands like a throwback among the modern skyscrapers. Inside: butlers, chandeliers and the feeling that you (briefly) belong to high society. The butler service is of course tiptop, but honestly? You’d rather stare out of the window here all day.
Street food in Bangkok is a must, but you can easily skip it here for the in-house restaurant The Normandy by Alain Roux: crystal chandeliers, velvety chairs and dishes to die for. Don't feel like going fancy? Then opt for the iconic Bamboo Bar, where they know exactly what a negroni should taste like.
Expensive? Yes. Worth it? Absolutely.
Phuket is the most popular tourist province in Thailand.
Then you can fill in how it usually goes. The more beautiful it is that The surin is situated in a serene spot, on one of Phuket's most exclusive (and quiet!) beaches. On Pansea beach no day trippers, no crowds, but: soft sand and a beautiful sea.
The nice thing about it The surin is that the beach and the architecture of the restaurant are shared with the iconic hotel amanpuri (read: Ed Tuttle), but with a warmer vibe and a friendlier price tag. Hoppa. You sleep here in one of the 109 stylish cottages, suites or pool villas with understated luxury, white linen and here and there a velvet accent in emerald, sapphire or ruby.
The resort has a network of stairs and wooden walkways that take you through bamboo, flowers and jungle. Along the way? Maybe a butterfly, a tropical bird or a sea breeze. The restaurant is perched atop a granite staircase and offers an amazing view.
The black-anthracite pile is beautiful. And because Pansea beach Only accessible through a handful of hotels, you'll have the beach practically to yourself.
Ooo we need to tell you about Phatthalung. In the south of Thailand lies the undiscovered Phatthalung, a city and a province. The capital is one of the oldest in the country and in the west of the province you can see the hills of the Nakhon Si Thammarat, while on the east side lies the beautiful Thale Noi lake, with thousands of lotus flowers. And around that lake lies Sri Pakpra Boutique Resort: a hidden gem where you can completely relax without sacrificing any comfort. Think wooden bungalows on the water, walking paths through the greenery, an infinity pool with a view over the serene Thale Luang lake and monkeys that curiously come to peek outside your room. Extra bonus points for the breakfast (excellent), the two top restaurants on the water (including the atmospheric View Yor with live music), and a hundred points for the boat trip at sunrise between the lotus flowers and fishermen on their traditional jetties. You can even spot water buffalos there, swimming!
The province of Nakhon Si Thammarat is another hidden gem, and that is why we would like to mention it. Moreover, we simply found this region incredibly beautiful. Tourism is not yet developed here, so you can still fully enjoy untouched nature. There is a large national park with beautiful waterfalls and the province also has special beaches. One of them is Khanom Bay, known for its vast white sandy beach and the characteristic rows of pine trees.
Khanom Beach Resort & Spa is located right on the bay and is the perfect place to stay in Khanom. The massaman curry we tasted here was the best in all of Thailand. Also the spa, the rooms and the pool were a real treat. Just like the beach bar by the way!
Jungle and private islands: the island of Koh Samui has just about everything.
It is bursting with special addresses and you can hop on to Koh Phangan and Koh Tao. There is a good chance that you will stick to Samui. Especially now that the island serves as a backdrop for White lotus season 3, the hotel game is in full swing.
Garrya Tongsai Bay on Koh Samui is one of those places where you just want to stick around. Nestled in a hidden bay, with who-knows-how-many hectares of tropical greenery, a private beach and villas where you only come out for a refreshing dip or a curry with a sea view. The hotel opened in 1985, when the then hotel owner Akorn Hoontrakul gazed at the bay from a boat and knew immediately: this is it. He bought the land within a week, slept on the beach for three months (yes, really) and designed his dream resort. In 1987 Tongsai Bay as the island's very first five-star resort.
The eco-friendly approach was there long before it became trendy, and the resort has naturally blended into its surroundings. You sleep in suites with bathtubs with a view or in villas with your own plunge pool and sea view.
Oh what a wonderful beach holiday Krabi. Bring it on. And then preferably to Rayavadee. Beautiful, because when Rayavadee was built more than twenty years ago, not a tree was cut down. The villas are situated between the greenery, as if they had always been there. Birds, monkeys and other wild inhabitants have simply remained. And that is exactly how you wake up wonderfully in the middle of the jungle, a stone's throw from azure blue water, and yet in a resort that was conceived decades ago with respect for nature and locals.
From replanting mangroves to repopulating marine life, the resort is deeply rooted in the local community. And if that wasn’t enough, revenue is also donated annually to local charities such as children’s funds and food projects.
In short: at Rayavadee you sleep in style, but with a clear conscience. A fairytale in the heart of Krabi Marine National Park – where luxury and love for nature go hand in hand.
Anyone planning to travel to Thailand probably has this in mind. The island of Koh Lanta in the south of Thailand is, unlike Phuket and Samui for example, still relatively undiscovered but just as, if not more, paradise. You can sleep there at Pimalai Resort & Spa: on your terrace at one of the various villas, with or without a private poodlepools, sip your Singa beer, pull a freshly caught prawn from a skewer and look out over an idyllic bay
Create a forever bucketlist thing: Kamalayan in Thailand. And then mainly because the pictures all look so delicious but also because we have heard many a journalist fall silent from the massages, coaching from former monks and also food that makes you happy. No detox hunger but nutritious and delicious. In between, exercise, swim, sweat in the steam cabin or just read a book with a view of the sea. Good for a real break. No noise, no must, just be. And you can connect with other retreat participants (eat together etc.) but you can also do your own thing.
A reset without any fuss and a week that feels like a leap forward.
Budget-proof and therefore all the more fun. You don't just get to Khao Sok, but it is worth the detour. Hidden between the jungle, rivers and limestone rocks of the oldest rainforest in Thailand lies Our Jungle Resort.
The bungalows are simple but cozy: wooden houses with thatched roofs and hammocks on the balcony. No luxury, but respect for nature: from bamboo details to sugar cane 'plastic' and our own lovingly grown vegetables.
The kitchen is a highlight in itself. In restaurant Farm comes from our own soil, the rest from farmers in the area. Think of curry with self-picked pumpkin or a salad with cucumber from the yard. Extra fun: take a cooking class on the farm, go banana harvesting with the children or go into the jungle with a guide who knows everything about plants, animals and edible flowers.
Thailand's Koh Phi Phi consists of two parts, Don and Leh – the film was set on Leh The Beach included but only on the island of Don you can book a room. A fantastic sleep, eat & chill place is the Viking Nature Resort. When you arrive on Koh Phi Phi Don you take a Longtail, a Thai boat that sails to the resort. Every evening there is an all-inclusive tasting where the freshly caught fish is put on the bbq. Bob Marley blares from the speakers all day, you get a massage on the beach and you sleep in the jungle (tip: ask for a stone house, saves animals). Viking full? Many other (less) nice bungalow resorts are located on the beach of Long Beach, next to Viking.
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