Stay: Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui
While tracing the thin roads that lead up the mountains of Koh Samui, stress starts to unravel. The Four Seasons Koh Samui essentially occupies its own peninsula of the island. For myself and my dear friend Samantha (with whom I spent a the month’s travelling Thailand), our visit came a day or two after experience the Full Moon party on the neighbouring island of Koh Phangam. Koh Samui is a fabulous island in the Gulf of Thailand and it is famously easily accessible with it’s own airport. When you first roll up to Four Seasons Koh Samui, you are dropped off to check in at a lookout point with breathtaking view overlooking the resort and waters. A cold tea drink appears in hand and then you are chauffeured down to your quarters. For those first steps, the world melts away and the feelings of "very soon, all of this will be yours"are at an all-time, Lion King-level high.
Tap on the below photos to click through a carousel of photos that show off the resort’s beautiful details (and do the same for the food photos, coming up in a few paragraphs)…
After meeting our guide, Golf, we descended down to the resort's hill to begin a tour of the property. It wouldn’t be fair to call this a hotel. Four Seasons Koh Samui is almost an island unto itself with 42 acres to call their own. Think of the rooms not as rooms, but as cabins and homes on their own. All were extremely well-appointed with private outdoor areas and you would be delighted to take in a Muay Thai fighting class amongst the trees or pump out some iron at the luxury gym nearby. The main pool is an infinity down by the beach, but by the bar area lies cocoon-like cabanas designed for centuries-long naps. Here, you can hydrate while soaking up the sun, and dine on family-friendly bites or Thai favourites. It quickly dawns on you why visitors feel no need to leave the resort's grounds while they are visiting.
To kick off the culinary, we ventured to the Rum Vault for a tasting. See above for a short clip that will show both what we drank and how cute and cozy this space is. What an experience. We tried a Plantation 20th Anniversary Edition, Plantation Original Dark, Diplomatico Exclusive Reserva, and 21-year old rum from Appleton Estate. Quite the sippers for before a meal! We were allowed to walk over a couple of our rum goblets to our dinner table where absolute perfection ensued at CocoRum (tap below to see)…
In all honesty, this “pan-Latin” tasting menu was one of the best meals of my life. At CocoRum, different nights of the week have different themes. Lucky us, we were there for a Peruvian-inpired menu. It was extremely interesting to experience dishes with local Thai ingredients that fit the “Noche Latina” vibe. The first dish, a white snapper ceviche with grilled corn and lime, was so fresh and lively that it woke up your entire mouth and body. Onward ho, it was a steady stream of hits paired with tropical cocktails in custom glassware. By the time we got to the rice pudding for dessert, I was almost certain that I could not have another bite but I was wrong. It was the perfect light and refreshing finisher and again, I appreciated the inclusion of local Thai ingredients like coconut, sesame-crusted macadamia nuts and preserved mango. I love being reminded of my surroundings while dining and no matter the theme, this menu and outdoor scenery still took the cake. A must-mention is that a band serenaded us as we sat together at a sweetheart table, during prime sunset hours. If Sam proposed to me then and there, I probably would have said yes.
And as dessert winded down, with a tip of our hats to the band and Four Seasons staff graciously calling us a cab, we floated away on a cloud of happiness with full stomachs. Thank you Fours Seasons for the tremendous hospitality. The hours felt like days, and the experience will not be forgotten.
