Baan Hinyai

Smooth granite boulders frame the shoreline below Baan Hinyai, a five-bedroom beachfront villa just south of Lamai on Samui’s east coast. The house climbs the rocks in three timber-roofed levels, and every bedroom faces the sea, so the first thing you see each morning is the Gulf of Thailand washing between the stones.

The top level is where the days unfold. A twenty-metre infinity pool stretches along the terrace towards the horizon, with a shallow end, sunbeds and a sala for long lunches cooked by the chef. Inside, a soaring timber ceiling covers the living room’s two oversized sofas, a dining table for twelve and a sleek open kitchen, with glass walls sliding back onto the pool deck. The bedrooms are calm and bright, each with a freestanding bathtub and its own ensuite.

A small sandy cove lies just below, where kayaks and paddleboards wait for calm mornings, and there is table tennis on the estate. Breakfast is included, and a villa manager, chef and housekeepers look after the house. Lamai Beach is about two and a half kilometres up the coast, and the famous Grandfather and Grandmother Rocks are a short stroll away.