Moo 5

You'll undoubtedly leave Koh Samui with a craving for the food. Thailand's spicy, savory, umami, and sweet dishes are satisfying, addictive, and incomparable to anything else. Which is why taking a cooking class while you're on the island should be a mandate. There are many to choose from, but the Four Seasons’ class is one of our favorites for its patient culinary team. One of the hotel's incredibly skilled chefs takes you through two dishes on the menu, starting with a tutorial on each one's history and ingredients before showing how it's prepared, step by step. You'll learn to make specialties like steamed sea bass with spicy lime sauce and grilled prawns with tamarind, which will impress back home.

Consider this when booking your room here: Do you want a five-second walk to the beach or an endless view of absurdly blue water? Six Senses hugs an oceanside rain-forest-covered hill, which means each of its sixty-six private villas offers a slightly different perspective, some shadier, some right on the sand. But you can't go wrong with any of them—or anything at this resort, for that matter. You'll spend your mornings here having coffee and fresh jackfruit on your private patio before heading to the beach for yoga. Afterward you may walk along the bamboo jungle path to the spa, where you'll spend two hours getting massaged with hot stones. What's next could be anything...Muay Thai...an afternoon nap. Soon enough, you'll be hungry for dinner at Dining on the Rocks, the restaurant on the top of the hill that overlooks what appears to be the entire world (and serves the freshest, crunchiest, spiciest organic papaya salad on the island).

All the morning (or afternoon) coffee you want is here—foamy lattes, creamy cappuccinos, and strong cold brew over ice, along with an incredible view of the Gulf of Thailand. It's a tiny but mighty little café with a strong following (you'll find a mix of locals and tourists in the morning) and a few cozy seats in the back perfect for people-watching, reading a book, or looking out over the ocean.

Sala is a departure from the traditional thatched bamboo villas of Samui. The look here is streamlined: all white and mahogany wood décor with minimal accessories. It still has everything we love for an indulgent stay, including bathtubs that could pass for small swimming pools. The pristine spa offers traditional Thai, Swedish, and a Chinese-Ayurvedic-Thai combination massage on its menu. Ask your clinician to have your treatment outside, where the ocean sounds will put you in a blissful state between sleep and consciousness.

Maybe it's the emerald jungle cliff on which it sits. Maybe it's the oceanside villas with private infinity pools. Or maybe it's that you can walk out of your room and take in what looks like the entire Gulf of Thailand. Whatever it is, this is one of those rare hotels that make you forget there is an outside world. Adding to that feeling, each villa has a private butler on hand for whatever you need. And what you need might be the fresh grilled island fish, spicy chicken satay, and a creamy mango smoothie. And while you’re at it, maybe an appointment at the spa? Get the lava shell massage. A skilled clinician will get your comfortable on a warmed bed in an oceanside veranda. She'll rub away any tension, stress, knots—you name it—with a heated lava shell filled with algae and seaweed gel. It's odd; it's therapeutic; it will leave you feeling like butter.