Island breaks take a luxurious turn on exotic Koh Kood, Thailand
Award-winning luxury resort Soneva Kiri sits on Thailand’s fourth largest but least populated island. Koh Kood is Thailand as it was years ago: untamed jungle, pristine beaches and fishermen going about their business.
Reaching the resort was an easy task after a short flight from Bangkok, well looked after by the airport crew team.
Koh Kood – just one hour by private plane south-east of Bangkok, only 5 minutes speed boat ride, we discovered paradise.
The resort offers an unrivalled combination of luxury, an integral environmental approach, authentic Thai experiences and mouth-watering organic food. Welcomed by Miss Friday, and our “No News, No Shoes, just 2 of us holiday” began. Is this place for real? We are told to remove our shoes and feel the nature around.
We arrived in Koh Kood looking forward to our romantic escape in what was by all signs simply paradise. It felt a million miles from the real world. The sense of tranquillity, seclusion and harmony with nature is second to none. Far away from the beaten track and well-trodden tourist attractions this is Thailand as it used to be thirty or even fifty years ago, genteel and untainted.
Remote yet accessible in the Gulf of Siam, surrounded by lush, vibrant tropical vegetation and white beaches, fringed with palm trees, the resort has been tastefully and cleverly designed to complement the landscape and blends seamlessly into the outstanding natural beauty.
Thai style. 24 resort Villas and 11 private residences located either on the idyllic beach or sunny slopes in the rainforest, all have stunning infinity pools, impossibly chic furnishings, personal electric buggies and impeccable service courtesy of Ms. Friday, the resort’s private butlers.
It doesn’t get better than the Beach Front Pool Villa Suite, 403 sqm in total, 268 sqm living space with 135 sqm half moon infinity private pool with direct beach access, a dream spot set on soft, white sand. Such a chic and luxury hard to believe romantic nest for our escape!A villa with great day light set up with our favorite pillows, lavender fragrance, and lemongrass amenities.
We discovered amazing tropical grounds and our villa exotic surroundings.
Barefoot Intelligent Luxury at its best!
Mr.& Ms. Friday is one of the main characters of Daniel Defoe’s 1719 novel Robinson Crusoe. Robinson Crusoe names the man, with whom he cannot at first communicate, Friday because they first meet on that day. The character is the source of the expression “Man Friday”, used to describe a male personal assistant , especially one who is particularly competent or loyal.
Open air bathroom for his & her, indoor and outdoor raining showers, relaxing daybed with proximity to nature.
Coffee machine in our villa
Our villa offered a complete privacy, every possible five-star comfortable luxury settings and was certainly our best ever pick for a private romantic escape among the most spacious in all South East Asia. The villa had a large wrap-around pool and generous grounds for reading, relaxing, sunbathing or simply gazing out to sea. We also had a private spa area.
Sink into one of the shaded cushioned day beds and sun loungers scattered around the private freeform swimming pool and beachside gardens. Bathe and shower by starlight in the outdoor bathroom – a jungle hideaway of elephant ear palms and other lush green drapings. Then slip between the organic cotton sheets on the pillow-topped king-sized bed in the sea-facing luxury master bedroom and float way into a blissful night’s sleep.
After being amazed by the luxury settings of our villa, we went on a small tour to explore the island and soon realized Koh Kood offers at the same time untamed jungle, pristine beaches and slow life.
Soneva Kiri is an eco-friendly resort for a memorable luxury and holistic stay. SLOW (Sustainable-Local-Organic-Wellness Learning-Inspiring-Fun-Experiences) doesn’t just refer to the wonderful pace of life at Soneva resorts; it stands for Sustainable, Local, Organic and Wellness. Slow is about a cleaner, healthier way of living which is good for us and the environment.
For dinner, we had numerous options suggested by Ms Friday either a private Thai dinner in the privacy of our villa, an Asian night sumptuous buffet dinner at the Beach or a dinner on the wooden deck of The dining room, close to the wine room. We choose to go at The View. Great settings with an open air show kitchen, under the attentive care of the executive Chef and great staff. Restaurant offers great options which reflect the tradition of slow cooked-food and organic ingredients grown or caught locally.
Movie under the stars
After a romantic dinner, we headed to the open air Cinema Paradisio to watch a classic movie, with comfortable pillows and a fully stocked bar with as always staff to fulfill all your every needs. A romantic night with only the moon and stars above for company.
With a “Resort time” (ahead of the actual time in Thailand), we quickly re-set our watches. Our days started early to enjoy the sunrise from our glass fronted bedroom with spectacular views on the ocean…breathtaking experience before leaving the villa for a healthy breakfast at the main restaurant.
Homemade breakfast items, everything here was a delight in itself and we decided for our time there to try our all healthy suggestions from the team. From fruity vitamin cocktails, Soneva extra virgin olive oils, salt menus, the variety & abundance of dishes served at the restaurant was huge. 15 varieties of fresh exotic fruits, an extraordinary range of cold cuts, home-made cheeses and other deli offerings. All were so appealing and tasty !
19 varieties of home made jams
We also tried some locally grown herbs, passion fruits, it’s the best!
We joined the singing bowl class during our stay, such a great experience.
The afternoon program was even more relaxing as we decided to spend quality time at the Spa for some peaceful and relaxing moments….Amazing Spa therapists and facilities. Personalized health check before the treatments, choice of so many oils or fragrances, friendly and professional therapists.
A True jungle spa, so relaxing: Six Senses Spa expert therapists perform a wide range of wellness, holistic and rejuvenating treatments. A timeless experience !
Even cooler is the Ice Cream Parlour with over sixty different flavours, while the Chocolate Room offers every chocolatey treat imaginable from brownies to bon-bons and, for sophisticated chocoholics, irresistible slivers of chocolate from 95% cocoa slabs.
A trip to Soneva Kiri would not be complete without a Tree Top experience which we were delighted to fit in our 3 days program.
We opted for an afternoon tea…comfortably seated in a bamboo pod above the jungle, view was just amazing and the skyhigh dining experience is a not to be missed “to do” there. Hoisted 28 feet off the ground, your meal is brought to you by a flying waiter via zipline…
Ms Friday and the rest of the team have taken such a great care of us, using our names all the time. Always helpful and always discrete, not being in the way or making you feel uncomfortable with their servitude.
Highlights here include the open-air Cinema Paradiso, a home-made chocolate and ice cream parlour, a high-tech Observatory, a giant moulded bamboo playground for children shaped like a manta ray, and the spectacular Treetop Dining Pod.
Soneva Kiri has a sister resort Soneva Fushi (1995), in the Maldives and forms part of the Soneva Group. The Group is steadfast in leading the hospitality industry in environmentally responsible tourism.
Soneva Kiri is committed to its SLOW LIFE philosophy:Sustainable-Local-Organic-Wellness Learning-Inspiring-Fun-Experiences.
