The Best Hotels Near Lok-Un, by the Record
-
Whitewashed walls, arched doorways, and freestanding bathtubs set the tone at this small villa resort in Khao Lak, where the design brief was clearly "do less, look good doing it." The name translates from Italian as "white wave," and the interiors make good on it: pale rattan, woven pendant lights, and a garden café built for unhurried mornings over coffee. Selected by the Michelin Guide, it sits north of the busier resort strip, and the quieter pace hits immediately.
-
The 36 villas here are slate-grey concrete cubes, which is not what most people picture when they book a beach resort in southern Thailand. The geometry has a purpose, though: the structures follow the natural slope so every beachfront villa gets an unobstructed Andaman Sea view, with plunge pools hedged in for privacy. Inside, the bed faces the glass wall. The hotel organizes excursions to the Similan Islands when staring at the water loses its appeal.
-
A full-gut renovation turned this longtime Khao Lak beachfront property into something quieter and more considered, with Thai heritage materials and open-air rooms running from garden retreats to private pool villas. The Michelin Guide has it in their Selected Hotels list. Solmare handles meals on the sand, Thai and international, while Club Stella keeps the night going with pool tables and a drinks menu for those who aren't ready to be beach-peaceful just yet.
-
Eleven different designers each took a room at this small luxury beach resort on Natai Beach, just north of Phuket, and the result is a place where no two spaces look remotely alike, from baroque boudoir to spare minimalism. Private decks, villa pools, a well-equipped gym with a Thai boxing ring, and a spa round things out. Simon Rogan's 15-seat Aulis Phuket sits on the property. It holds a Michelin Guide Key.
-
A small collection of Sea Villas and Beach Villas on Natai Beach, an hour's drive north of Phuket's crowds. Each villa runs in a pale, monochromatic palette that borrows from bleached sand and Andaman light, and comes with its own pool and a dedicated team: villa manager, personal chef, housekeepers. That chef handles daily breakfast and can be arranged for lunch and dinner, leaning toward Thai cooking and fish pulled from local boats that morning.