Traveler editors pick their favorite places to stay in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket, and more by Chris Schalkx and Lee Cobaj
Home to some of the best hotels in Asia, Thailand punches well above its weight when it comes to places to stay. In Bangkok, glossy city hotels rival those found in New York and London, but the country’s landmark addresses are saved for the beaches and island—Chiva Som is regularly voted as the best destination spa in the world, while Aman, Banyan Tree, and Six Senses are dotted throughout the best islands in Thailand. There are plenty of boutique and under-the-radar boltholes to be found too, where friendly service and traditional cooking leave you feeling like you’ve gained a glimpse of life as a local. For a shortlist of our favorites, here we round up the best hotels in Thailand.
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Six Senses, Yao Noi, Phang Nga
Six Senses Yao Noi, Phang Nga
Featured on our 2022 Gold List of the best new hotels in the world
Six Senses have perfected the castaway experience on the hilly little island of Yao Noi, poised in Phang Nga Bay halfway between Phuket and Krabi. Shoes are shed on the speedboat ride to the resort, driftwood signs point to the white sand beach, the hilltop half-moon infinity pool and a collection of stilted thatched-roof villas. Everything feels like an adventure—searching for the spa hidden inside traditional long-houses in the jungle, traversing the multi-level bamboo and clapboard restaurants for dinner, and watching movies on the beach under the stars. Look out for the pairs of sooty black hornbills and borrow one of the hotel’s bicycles to loop the island weaving through the fishing village and rubber plantations. — Lee Cobaj
InterContinental Khao Yai hotel, Khao Yai
InterContinental Khao Yai hotel, Khao Yai
I find it hard to believe that this whimsical resort, three hours north of our home in Bangkok and on the cusp of the eponymous national park, wasn’t conceived solely with kids in mind. Spun from the eccentric brain of designer Bill Bensley, the hotel unfurls like a lake-dotted, railroad-themed playground, where every building, from the gingerbread-trimmed main wing to the lakeside restaurants, draws inspiration from the nearby King Rama V–era Pak Chong railway station. Bensley blurs fact and fiction with an inspired tale about an imaginary train conductor, Somsak, whose locomotive-style sleeping quarters double as the hotel lobby. There are faux ticket booths, and moss-covered tracks crisscross the grounds, but it’s the rooms that my son still gushes about: each one is designed like a train carriage, with narrow clerestoried ceilings, sliding cabin doors, and overhead luggage racks. Even more fun are the villas at the jungled back of the lot, built from upcycled rail wagons salvaged from junkyards and kitted out with canvas-shaded patios and private plunge pools. But for all its whimsy, the vibe is still more Orient Express than Disneyland, so while my son joined treasure hunts and Thai dancing classes in the railway cart turned kids’ club, I could sip Negronis in the French–tinged Papillon bar. For youngsters or inner children, this one’s a hoot. —Chris Schalkx
For the complete list, please read the full article here on Condé Nast
