Kalya Residence

A wooden gate under a little shingled roof opens onto Kalya Residence, and the first thing you notice is the sound of water: a stream runs behind the villa beneath a high wall of natural stone, crossed by a small bridge. Kalya is one of five private residences on Panacea Retreat, a hillside estate above Bophut on Koh Samui’s north coast, and at four bedrooms it is one of the more intimate homes on the hill, made for a family or a small group of friends who want the bay views without the scale of a mansion.

A pair of playful bronze animal sculptures sits on a plinth in the twenty-metre infinity pool, which is ringed by red-cushioned loungers, round wicker cocoon daybeds and white umbrellas. On one side a covered sala houses a dining table and a swim-up bar with sunken stools; on the other, the master suite opens straight onto the pool terrace. Up a flight of steps, the living pavilion stretches almost the full width of the plot beneath a soaring wood-lined ceiling, its glass-fronted balcony looking over the garden to the sea, with Sonos speakers indoors and out.

Mornings can be as lazy as you like: breakfast is included, and the kitchen is set up for a floating breakfast served in the pool. The master suite has a dressing area and a terrazzo bathtub beside a window that frames the ocean, while the three other king rooms line a covered walkway at garden level, a few steps from the lawn and the water. Bophut Beach and Fisherman’s Village are about three kilometres below.