Southeast Asia Resorts
Bali, Phuket, Koh Samui, the Vietnamese coast, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia and the hills of northern Thailand. The region does two things better than anywhere: the number of people looking after you, and a room that opens completely to the outside. This list is about the whole stay, from the arrival ritual to the last breakfast, at properties set in jungle, rice terrace, cliff or sand. We rank on how a resort handles the wet season, on whether the beach is swimmable or only a view, on the real transfer time from the airport (an hour on Bali's south coast can mean three), and on whether the food is worth eating for seven nights running.
- 1
A 60-room resort in the Ayung River gorge near Ubud, with 18 suites in an elliptical lotus-pond building and 42 villas on the hillside, serving contemporary Indonesian cooking above the valley.
- 2
A 60-villa hillside resort on Mae Nam Bay with an ocean-facing infinity pool, Muay Thai training ring and Asia's only rum library, offering private plunge pools and views across the Gulf.
- 3
A beachfront resort near Hoi An with 35 hectares of palm-shaded grounds, Vietnamese dining at Lá Sen, and access to three UNESCO World Heritage sites, positioned as the region's most refined beach accommodation.
- 4
A riverside resort in northern Thailand where you wake to temple bells and spend your days with elephant sanctuaries, mountain markets, and a kitchen that teaches you to cook like a Thai chef.
- 5
A clifftop resort in Krabi where limestone mountains meet the Andaman Sea, featuring private beach villas, restaurants overlooking teal water, and a service standard that anticipates before you ask.
- 6
Aman's first resort anchors its own peninsula on Phuket's quietest coast with pavilions and villas that blur the line between inside and outside, backed by a All-around Wellness Centre and restaurants cycling through Japanese, Mediterranean, and Thai cuisines.
- 7
An eco-conscious resort set among the limestone karsts of Phang Nga Bay, Thailand, with pool villas that open entirely to the water and sky, restaurants built into the jungle, and kayaking as your daily commute.
- 8
A bay-accessed villa resort south of Nha Trang, Vietnam, with rooms built onto limestone rocks and accessible only by boat, where the setting and food justify the isolation and the wet-season storms.
- 9
An Ubud resort carved into the Ayung River Gorge with a curved infinity pool mirroring rice paddies below, pavilions and villas connected by winding paths through gardens, and a cultural immersion that includes traditional ceremonies.
- 10
A recent arrival on Emerald Bay designed around pavilions and houses that step down a hillside to a beach shared with almost nobody, with dining that roots itself in the organic produce of its own farm and a daily rhythm built around water activities.
- 11
A cliffside Bali resort on the Lombok Strait with a signature three-tier cascade pool, black-sand beach access, and a mix of stilted pavilions and private-pool villas overlooking Karangasem's coastline.
- 12
A private island resort in Palawan's Cuyo Archipelago with beachfront casitas and jungle villas, where the Aman service model and bay setting outweigh the required 90-minute private flight from Manila.
- 13
A villa-only resort on Bali's southern peninsula where each residence comes with a private chef, a butler, and a personal pool, set on a private beach twenty minutes from the airport.
- 14
A jungle resort in the northernmost corner of Thailand where your morning involves observing rescued elephants, your afternoon includes a jungle trek, and your evening is spent on the Mekong River watching the light change over Laos.
- 15
A 23-room riverside resort in Laos with jungle-and-waterfall grounds, French-Lao architecture, and arranged experiences including alms ceremonies and traditional textiles, positioned as a cultural gateway resort rather than a beach property.
- 16
A northwestern Phuket resort built around nine distinct dining concepts, from Michelin-level technique to zero-waste cooking, with private-pool villas and a wellness philosophy that treats the property itself as medicine.
- 17
A cliffside Bali resort 160 meters above the Indian Ocean in Uluwatu, built to the aesthetic standards of the Italian luxury brand with named-chef restaurants and a serpent-themed pool overlooking the ocean.
- 18
A 23-tent Bill Bensley resort in Keliki village with tents as proper rooms, each with private saltwater pools and terraces overlooking the Wos River and rice fields.
- 19
A peninsula resort in Krabi Marine National Park built on the principle of coexistence with the landscape, reachable by boat, with pavilions facing limestone cliffs and a dining philosophy that steps back from the foreground.
- 20
A 24-villa private island resort off northeast Koh Samui, where chef David Thompson's Long Dtai restaurant serves refined southern Thai cooking and each villa opens fully to the Gulf's horizon.