Six Senses Samui

Six Senses Samui opened in 2004 as Six Senses Hideaway Samui, and the headland at Plai Laem has kept up the hiding. From the air its 67 villas are thatched roofs among the trees, above a curve of white sand and a rim of pale boulders. They are modelled on Thai fishermen's cottages, built on two levels from reclaimed wood and then set up the hillside, further from the boats than any fisherman would have liked. What most get in return is a plunge pool and the Gulf of Thailand to themselves. In one, two thatched pavilions stand apart in the trees: the bedroom walled in glass, the pool laid out on the deck beside it, and a bath under a little roof of its own further down the slope.

Recommended for couples who want a pool and a view to themselves, and for families who can do without a kids' club. Children get origami and Muay Thai instead, which covers both kinds of child, and a games room under a high thatched roof, with a pool table and a rope net slung like a hammock over the stairs. The beach at the bottom is the resort's own, with kayaks and sailboats to take out and a speedboat for anywhere further. Fisherman's Village at Bophut is 10 to 15 minutes by car, for an evening off the headland. Dinner is the Thai menu at Dining on the Hill, an open-air pavilion on the sunset side, or Dining on the Rocks, nine terraces down to the sea, where Table 99 has a terrace of its own for a couple who find a private pool not quite private enough.