Villa White Stone

Rising four storeys from a lush hillside above Nathon on Koh Samui’s west coast, Villa White Stone is a 550-square-metre contemporary retreat built around one of the island’s finest natural assets — an unobstructed sunset panorama across the Gulf of Thailand to the limestone karsts of Angthong Marine Park. The all-white architecture, with soaring ceilings and full-height glass, frames that view from almost every room, while the 20-metre blue-tiled pool anchors a series of terraces stepping down the hillside through tropical gardens. Guests tend to linger poolside well past dusk, watching the sky cycle through amber and violet before settling into the alfresco bar.

Inside, crisp white surfaces meet warm timber floors, black African granite worktops and twin crystal chandeliers in the double-height living area. A glass-panelled mezzanine loft above serves as a second sitting room and workstation, with a 55-inch screen, 200-plus satellite channels and a library of over a thousand on-demand films. The four bedrooms — three king, one twin ideal for children — are each en-suite, three with deep jacuzzi tubs alongside rain showers, and every one looks out over the ocean, so even the morning routine begins with a sea view.

Outdoors is where White Stone earns its keep as a group or family base. The 100-square-metre pool is flanked by loungers and a shaded gazebo, while a separate entertainment terrace holds a pool table, table tennis, a stocked bar and a barbecue sala for evening cook-ups, and gardens dense with frangipani and palms screen the property for the feel of a private compound. A manager fluent in four languages is on call around the clock for transfers, bookings and day trips to Ang Thong or the Hin Lat waterfall nine minutes away; a resident chef cooks breakfast and lunch daily at no extra charge, dinner at food cost plus a modest fee; and daily housekeeping, twice-weekly linen, 24-hour security and fibre Wi-Fi all come included.