Kerem Luxury Beachfront Villas

Style

Modern(ist) love

Setting

Glancing over the Gulf

If Modernist architecture is engaged in dialogue with its surroundings, then Kerem Luxury Beachfront Villas is a conversation you want to get in on. Four spectacularly appointed hideaways are tucked into a tropical hillside gazing over the Gulf of Thailand, with greenery-buffered terraces and roofs and direct access to a private beach. Alongside adoring nature, a cosseting environment has been fostered for guests; you’ll have your own infinity pool and bend-over-backwards experience manager; a well-stocked wine fridge and sleek Italian furnishings. These uniquely chic havens are destined to be a talking point.

Facilities

Rooms

Four lavishly outfitted villas set on a tropical hillside, each named after a type of wine-giving grape (Solaris and Syrah, Muscat and Gamay).

Checkout

11am, but flexible, subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 2pm. Guests must be at least 25 to check-in.

More Details

Rates are room-only, but you can buy Asian- or Western-style breakfast with tea and coffee, daily fresh fruit plate for an extra charge; return airport transfers, parking and personal concierge service are included in the rate..

Also

Kerem Luxury Beachfront Villas is not suited to guests with mobility issues.

Fitness Center

Free Internet Access

Laundry

Pool

Room Service

At the Hotel

Private beach, gym, sea kayaks and paddleboards to borrow, concierge, charged laundry service, free WiFi. In rooms: private pool and furnished deck with barbecue, full kitchen (fridge stocked with wine, hob, oven, grill, microwave, dishwasher, Nespresso coffee maker, kettle and teas, crockery, cookware and cutlery), a personal ‘experience manager’, daily housekeeping and a turndown service, TV with Netflix, Playstation, portable sound-system (on request), Pañpuri bath products. The Beachfront Villas have a cinema room too.

Our Favourite Rooms

Famed modernist architect Gary Fell (who designed Smith stablemate and near-neighbour Samujana) and the eye-for-detail hotel owners have presented you with a difficult choice, because we’re drawn to each of these luxurious hideaways. ‘Kerem’ means ‘vineyard’, and so the villas have been laid out like terraced vines tucked into a stepped hillside, hugged by greenery and culminating in a dramatic rock-and-sand private beach. Whole window walls and infinity-pool decks give the 180-degree Gulf views due reverence (with a glimpse of the Big Buddha too), and within, rough-stone and concrete walls match high-gloss spaces. Local artworks, textiles and earthenware make these feel like homes and give them roots; while slick Italian Meridiani furnishings, bedrooms that feel like suites, direct beach access, wine fridges and enormous ensuite bathrooms lay the luxe on thick. Picking a favourite is near impossible, but the two Terrace Villas on the upper level have a slightly more impressive panorama of the skyline, while the Beachfront Villas have a cinema lounge, larger terraces and salas for watching rose-tinted sunsets.

Poolside

Each villa has its own private infinity pool, large enough for laps and blessed with a view.

Spa

Even paradise can be perked-up, with massages in the privacy of your villa (for an additional charge). And, there’s a very well-equipped gym on-site, with a power cage, free weights, pulleys, a spinning bike, treadmill and more; personal trainers can be booked and private yoga lessons arranged (there are mats to borrow).

Packing Tips

A good handle on scooter driving etiquette, spray for the mozzies, breathable clothing, activewear for adventuring and reef-safe sunscreen. Villas are well stocked with any creature comforts you’ll need and if you’ve forgotten anything your ‘experience manager’ will soon be on the case.

Also

Consult with the concierge if you need a romantic boat trip booked, motorbikes hired, breakfast customisations, spa spoiling or anything else this side of legal.

Children

Children are welcome and villas have space for families to stretch out, plus added privacy. Babysitting can be booked 24-hours ahead, nannies with a week’s notice; pools have a shallow section (plus toys and inflatables) and the beach is paddle-safe.

Gallery

Food & Drink

Top Table

Dining tables are placed for optimum view ogling, but you might prefer having your breakfast floated over to you on a tray as you dangle your feet in your private pool.

Dress Code

As you wish, but maybe put some clothes on while the chef is there.

Hotel Restaurant

There are two styles of breakfast available to buy for delivery at Kerem Luxury Beachfront Villas: western, with freshly baked bread, jams, yoghurt, seasonal fruit and hot and cold drinks; or Thai with congee or soup, fresh tropical juices, coffee and tea. Otherwise, dining is ad-libbed using your full kitchen; your ‘experience manager’ can have an ingredient haul brought over from the market on request. For a special meal (or if you simply don’t feel like lifting a finger), a chef can be dispatched to cook up a custom feast or minister to a poolside barbecue (must be booked in advance); or to teach you how to make authentic Thai fare and impart knowledge that’ll last you way beyond check-out. You’ll need to book in advance and cover the chef’s fee, transport and market-price ingredients.

Hotel Bar

Each villa has a dedicated wine fridge, but if you want your regular fridge stocked with anything in particular for an extra charge – a few singhas or the locally distilled rum which goes down smooth – talk to your ‘experience manager’.

Last Orders

Guests can set their own breakfast time on arrival – service usually runs till noon, but exceptions can be made, or staff can leave the breakfast in your fridge for you to enjoy at leisure.

Room Service

Staff will happily call in takeaway for you and bring it to your door. Delivery services usually stop around midnight.

Planes

Koh Samui Airport is just a 20-minute drive from the villas. The typical traveller route to the island is via Bangkok or Phuket, but there are direct connections from Krabi and Chiang Mai, Hong Kong and Singapore. Return transfers to and fro are included in all rates. If a regular plane seems too pedestrian, the hotel can advise on seaplane hire.

Automobiles

Compared to Thailand’s cities, driving around Koh Samui is a breeze; traffic moves at a relaxed pace and you can explore the whole island in an hour with a set of wheels. Hotels tend to be placed away from the action amid the most spectacular vistas, so if you want to join in the party scene (with a designated driver, obvs) you’ll be thankful for a car, scooter or motorbike. Each villa has a private parking space; but included return transfers from/to the airpot may negate the need for a set of wheels.

Worth Getting Out of Bed For

Kerem Luxury Beachfront Villas’ setting is resplendent in its greenery, and at the foot of the palm-swathed hillside is a spit of golden sand – the hotel’s private beach, with salas for guests to get cosy in – and ancient rock formations giving way to the blue of the Thai Gulf. With leafy buffers and largely private villas all around, the chic Plai Laem neighbourhood is peaceful and picturesque with panoramic views over teeny isle Koh Som and out to Koh Phang Nga. But you’ve got your pick of sunbathing spots and always pleasantly warm waters protected by coral thickets, with Thongson and Cheong Mon close by. While it’s secluded and sedate enough for honeymooners, (gentle sunrise yoga sessions, cooking lessons and massages will divert you while onsite), this is no snooze – to the west you can visit the famous Big Buddha, gilded and serene at the top of a ceremonious staircase, and Wat Plai Laem with its 18-armed bodhisattva and spectacular storytelling murals. Bangrak Market has stalls of plenty and colourful bowls of piled-high delicacies. And, the Fisherman’s Village, laid out around Bo Phut Beach, is the island’s neon-flecked nerve centre for nightlife, shopping, massages and cute boho cafes. It’s here that you’ll find floaty dresses and Unicorn rubber-rings, bars with swing seats, and beach parties with revellers sprawled on bean bags; and it’s famous for its sense-stirring night market. To the east of the hotel there’s noted beauty Chaweng Beach, another aspect of the Gulf from Lad Koh Viewpoint, and the Grandmother and Grandfather Rocks, popular due to their uncanny resemblance of male and female genitalia – take your cheeky selfie and stop for ice-cream topped with caramelised pineapple. Head inland to do a mini tour of the island’s enchanting waterfalls (Na Mueang, Tan Rua, Khun Si), some of which you can bathe by; explore the folkloric statues of Namtok Tar Nim and its Magic Garden; and pay your respects to the mummified monk at Wat Khunaram. Take a wild day trip to Angthong National Marine Park for sightings of dusky leaf monkeys, long-tailed macaques, leopard cats, wild boar and otters, alongside flocks of exotic birds and rainbow shoals of fish. It’s a popular diving spot, and the dazzling archipelago was the setting for some scenes of The Beach. If you’d rather sample the marine life, hire a traditional junk boat and go fishing with a local – the hotel’s chef can help you cook up your catch on your return. There are few wrong times to visit the island, but November is when you might spy migrating whale sharks, and you’ll see the sky and water lit aflame as flowery offerings are floated out and paper lanterns are borne aloft during the Loi Krathong Festival.

Earn or Redeem Points with World of Hyatt

This Mr & Mrs Smith hotel participates in the World of Hyatt loyalty program. As a member, you can earn and redeem points and enjoy exclusive benefits for qualifying nights. .