Spacious villas with private plunge pools, sustainable cuisine created using ingredients sourced onsite and one of the most incredible spots in the world to sip a craft cocktail. That’s what awaits guests at one luxury beach resort in Thailand.
Six Senses Yao Noi, a property set on an island in Thailand’s Phang Nga Bay with 56 spacious elevated pool villas tucked among natural vegetation, just unveiled a renovated rooftop bar area that reflects the hotel brand’s fun and quirky approach to style and design. The highest point of the resort, The Hilltop has daybeds, trampoline nets, a swinging bridge and an infinity pool. But it’s the sweeping views of the huge limestone karsts jutting out of the sea that really draw in guests.
“One of the best times to be at The Hilltop is when the sun is about to set,” says general manager Graham Grant. “The reflection of the sky in the pool is simply #OutOfTheOrdinary,” a reference to the brand’s tagline. Get there early, snag a table and order a flute of bubbly or a crafty libation like Tom Yum on a rock, the cocktail version of the popular Thai hot and sour soup while watching the sun slowly disappear.
Or for an Instagram story moment that will be the envy of all your followers, don your swimsuit, head up in the morning or early afternoon and float in that infinity pool with those rock formations dotting the horizon as your backdrop. As one does.
The Hilltop is inspired by the nest of the Oriental Pied Hornbill, a rare species of bird native to Koh Yao Noi that’s losing its nesting grounds because of deforestation; the resort helps by building nests from them from recycled wood after villa renovation. The theme comes to life in the space’s wood and woven bamboo elements, egg-shaped cushions and lamps and eggshell-textured finish on the bar, making visitors feel they are in a nest perched high on a treetop.
The menu uses local produce and ingredients from the property’s organic garden for the bar menu, which serves crudo and tapas alongside herb-based and locally-infused cocktails. "The overall experience is crafted to be chic and cool, including a ‘chill by day, elegant by night’ dining affair, alongside the warm service culture for which our hosts are so well-known,” Grant says.
After that 20-minute private speedboat ride from Phuket and personalized butler check-in to your villa, The Hilltop should be your absolute first stop.
