Editor’s note: The hotel provided the writer with a two-night stay so that we could get a comprehensive look at the hotel and its amenities. The opinions expressed are the writer’s own and have not been subject to external review.
The highly popular TV series “The White Lotus” may have revived actress Jennifer Coolidge’s career, but it has also been an enormous boost to the pop culture profile of Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts — not that the Four Seasons necessarily needed a boost to its profile in the eyes of global travel snobs.
This upcoming third season of “The White Lotus” moves the fictional brand to Thailand, where reports say hosting duties will still be in the grip of Four Seasons at the Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui.
But there’s a new guest star brand this season, per those same reports: luxury Thai chain Anantara Hotels, Resorts & Spas. Anantara Mai Khao Phuket Villas is said to be featured in the series along with a yet-to-be-named hotel in Bangkok.
While Anantara spokespeople declined to comment on any upcoming time on HBO, I headed to Thailand to check out this resort and its worthiness as a luxury resort backdrop for high-brow melodrama and, as previously reported, the third season’s plan to explore themes of Eastern religion, spirituality … and death.
I can’t say I spent much time contemplating religion, spirituality or the macabre during my stay. Instead, I found the themes Anantara Mai Khao Phuket Villas focuses on to be tasteful accommodations, delectable dining and attentive service.
Here’s what it’s like to stay at the property.
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Related: The 14 best hotels in Phuket, Thailand
What is Anantara Mai Khao Phuket Villas?
Anantara Hotels, Resorts & Spas is the flagship luxury brand for Thai conglomerate Minor Hotels. While it might not be the main hotel star like the Four Seasons in Koh Samui, it’s easy to see why Anantara Mai Khao Phuket Villas is expected to still get some screen time on “The White Lotus.”
The resort is composed entirely of private pool villas (pavilion room options you might see on the Anantara website are actually at a neighboring resort) built to resemble traditional wooden Thai houses with steep gabled roofs. The dark teak wood finishes of the villas pop against the lush greenscape of the entire Anantara property, which encompasses many tree-lined pathways, lily pad-filled lagoons and a picturesque stretch of Andaman Sea shoreline.
When you’re not enjoying the privacy of your own pool villa, you can take part in amenities like the Anantara Spa, the Thai and Indian La Sala restaurant, omakase restaurant Tree House set in, well, the trees and the main pool deck and beach.
CAMERON SPERANCE/THE POINTS GUYHow to book a stay at Anantara Mai Khao Phuket Villas
My two-night stay was complimentary, but you can book directly through the Anantara website for stays starting at around $400 per night in the offseason. Rates rise to around $700 per night in the peak winter travel season.
While the Anantara resort is not on premium credit card booking platforms like American Express Fine Hotels + Resorts, you can book through TPG partner Skylark to enjoy elitelike benefits and on-property credits.
CAMERON SPERANCE/THE POINTS GUYThe location
Anantara Mai Khao Phuket Villas is only a 20-minute drive from Phuket International Airport (HKT). While I might have enticed you with descriptions of greenery, sandy beaches and nature, I’ll admit it doesn’t feel that way on the drive from the airport.
A stay at the Anantara might feel like a walk through the jungle, but the resort counts a JW Marriott resort and vacation club resorts from both Marriott and Anantara as immediate neighbors. You’ll also see several shopping centers with souvenir shops, a 7-Eleven and a soon-to-open Starbucks on the drive in.
Once inside the Anantara’s arched entranceway, you’ll feel like you’ve entered Thai paradise. You’re likelier to wake up to the dulcet sounds of cawing birds in the trees rather than pulsating club music by the swimming pool. Plus, the resort’s backyard is the Andaman Sea — offering a daily opportunity to catch the best view in town for the sunset so you can post about it on Instagram to make a friend or five jealous back home.
Not that I did that or anything.
CAMERON SPERANCE/THE POINTS GUYAuthentic Thai vibes and hospitality
Stepping into Anantara Mai Khao Phuket Villas felt like a switch flipped to turn off a lot of the commercial activity, traffic and noise felt upon arrival at Phuket’s airport. I only thought about that soon-to-open Starbucks once during my entire stay — anywhere else, and it would have been multiple times a morning.
The resort is composed of various traditional Thai house-inspired buildings spread across a lagoon. Meandering bike paths and torch-lined wooden bridges connect it all together amid the forested property.
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While there are buggies to get guests to and from points on the resort grounds, I highly recommend borrowing a bike to get around the property. Yes, you’re among several other resorts, but it felt like being in the remote jungle each morning with birds serenading from above while pedaling out to the beach for sunset yoga or breakfast at La Sala.
A sunset torch-lighting ceremony on the wooden bridges welcomed the evening amid the watchful gaze of a nearby shrine to the Hindu god Brahma (appearing to get more use during my stay as a photo-op and for ornamental accompaniment to the adjoining Anantara Spa than for religious rites).
The resort is also surrounded by Sirinat National Park, which explains why the beach area is so undisturbed by noisy mainstays like Jet Skis you might find in other resort destinations. Come here for solitude in the sun and a picture-perfect stretch of shoreline (especially at sunrise before everyone else wakes up).
Check-in
Upon arriving at the resort, a staff member greeted me at the car and walked me to a small outdoor check-in area overlooking the lagoon. Another Anantara employee lightly tapped a gong to signal the arrival. It was a fun bit of pomp and circumstance along with some practicality: Refreshing chilled tea and cold towels helped treat some of the perspiration fueled by that day’s Thai heat.
After handling all the logistics of passports and villa confirmation, an attendant brought me to my private pool villa. During check-in, you’ll want to note to the Anantara team that you’d like to borrow a bike for your stay so they can have one delivered. A separate staff member took the luggage and delivered it to my villa shortly after I arrived.
CAMERON SPERANCE/THE POINTS GUYExtremely spacious villas
At just over 2,000 square feet, the pool villa might be insulted by the notion that it’s referred to as an “entry-level” lodging at Anantara Mai Khao Phuket Villas. You walk up a short set of stairs onto a private deck with a green mosaic pool, two lounge chairs and a covered cabana area with a daybed.
While there are windows looking out on the bike path, you can shut these for privacy — I don’t care how much I liked the look of my bathing suit: Nobody needed to see my pale, fresh-from-Boston winter skin for the first few hours of my stay.
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The villa itself entailed a main guest room area with arched, basketweave ceilings and ample space to stretch out in the king-size bed and beyond. Along with a welcome display of fresh fruit, the Anantara team had also scattered purple orchids across the bed. There was a daybed with a side table, plus a chair and a table for hanging out in the guest room.
A workstation on the other side of the room could, theoretically, be where one does a little work in paradise while enjoying the bowl of purple orchids on an adjoining table. For me, it was the perfect spot to house an ice bucket for Champagne during my two-night getaway.
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A silk-and-wood-paneled headboard was the focal point behind the cozy bed, flanked by two nightstands with universal electrical sockets. There were also bedside switches to control lights and window shades — handy for keeping the sun out in the morning from the glass sliding doors across from the bed that opened onto the pool.
A wooden, teal-painted cabinet to the right of these doors housed the minibar, Nespresso machine and kettle for tea, as well as complimentary water.
A walk-in closet and dressing area were just off the bedroom and connected to the bathroom.
This dressing area was incredibly spacious. While I didn’t do much work at the workstation in the bedroom, I did shut the closet door and tune in for a hotel earnings call taking place back in the U.S. at midnight in Phuket. The ample room to spread out a laptop and notebook meant I didn’t exactly feel like Harry Potter living under the cramped stairwell at the Dursleys on Privet Drive.
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The closet featured two built-in shelving areas to hang clothes and a safe, robes, flip-flops, sun hats and a tote bag to carry supplies to the beach or pool. There were granite-topped stands for luggage on either side of a mirror and a dressing table that doubled as my desk so as to not disturb my sleeping husband. I won’t name names, but there are some historic hotels in Boston that, unfortunately, have guest rooms smaller than the dressing room of an Anantara pool villa. Yikes.
The villa’s bathroom was similarly roomy, with a double vanity, a walk-in rain shower and doors that opened to an outdoor shower on one side and a jetted, glass-paneled tub you stepped down into.
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The Anantara features a house blend of jasmine-scented soap, shampoo and conditioner in the shower, but what was the real standout was the soap menu you could call in for other options like patchouli, ginger flower, citrusy vetiver and cedar wood.
Twice-daily housekeeping is the norm, and evening turndown service included thoughtful touches like leaving a tray out with mosquito repellant and lavender-scented pillow spray.
If it’s too early for pillow spray and shut-eye, the cabana outside overlooking the pool was a great spot to kick back with a book and a glass of wine while basking in the sounds of nighttime taking over … and wondering which cast member of the next season of “The White Lotus” might spend time filming here and if they’d like the turtle fountain by the pool as much as I did.
Picture-perfect dining
Dining at Anantara ranges from La Sala, the hotel’s main restaurant that overlooks the lagoon, to Sea Fire Salt, a Mediterranean-influenced restaurant closer to the beach. Tree House, the resort’s omakase restaurant, is located just behind La Sala in a perch in the trees (though I did not have an opportunity to check this out during my stay).
La Sala is the all-day dining option, beginning with a scrumptious breakfast buffet. Options here ranged from fresh fruit, salad and French pastries to eggs cooked to order, dumplings, curries and rice dishes. The standout my last morning was the guay tiew kua gai — a rice noodle and chicken soup — loaded with herbs and spices that fueled me up almost as much as the four espressos that morning (jet lag may have begun to set in).
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Breakfast is typically included in nightly rates at the resort.
La Sala is far from a one-trick pony, though. The restaurant is known for its Thai cuisine but also serves Indian fare from a Tiffin by La Sala menu, and it was very difficult to narrow my choices down to just a few dishes at dinner.
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Seeing that this was a resort in Phuket and the assignment was to brush up on the Thai “White Lotus” vibes at Anantara, I merely stuck a toe in the Tiffin by Sala pool. Vegetable samosas filled with mashed potatoes, peas, ginger and garlic and served with mint chutney (350 Thai baht, or $9.50) were a treat to kick off the meal.
I may not win points for being adventurous here when it comes to the Thai side of the menu, but the gaeng phed ped yang (690 Thai baht, or $19), a Thai red curry with roasted duck, and the pad thai goong sod (570 Thai baht, or $15.50), the famous rice noodle dish with prawns and dried shrimp, were deliciously spiced and might have ruined takeout Thai for me back home.
Closer to the pool and beach is Sea Fire Salt, which has Mediterranean vibes and is a stellar spot for sunset dinners. A margarita (350 baht, or $9.50) wasn’t out of place here, and dishes generally felt lighter than what was served at La Sala. A grilled cauliflower steak with fried kale and chili with chimichurri vinaigrette (420 baht, or $11) packed a powerful flavor profile, while a spicy chicken thigh (590 baht, or $16) was juicy with a crispy skin thanks to being served over a searing stone platter at the table.