Baan Kilee

Baan Kilee’s twenty-two-metre infinity pool seems to pour straight into the sea, with the limestone silhouettes of the Ang Thong islands lined up on the horizon. Set on its own landscaped estate of coconut palms and wide lawns, with around thirty metres of private beach frontage on Samui’s quiet west coast, this is a villa built for big families and groups who want room to spread out without ever losing sight of the water.

Eight bedrooms are spread across separate pavilions in the gardens, from a master suite with a lounge and an adjoining children’s room to a beachside suite, a garden suite and a lily-pond suite, several with outdoor rain showers. Daily life revolves around the pool: a children’s pool and a shallow wading pool for little ones, a swim-up pool bar in the poolside sala, and an open show kitchen beside it. The long dining room seats up to twenty-four, hung with a pair of swing beds, and a dark, air-conditioned cinema room with a projector takes over on rainy afternoons and movie nights.

Active guests will find a serious fitness set-up here, with a large indoor and outdoor gym, a yoga lawn by the beach, kayaks, paddle boards, table tennis, croquet and lawn bowls. Lipa Noi is the sunset side of the island, so evenings belong to the beach loungers and the hammock under the palms. The fishing port of Nathon is a short drive north, while the airport sits around thirty kilometres away across the island.