When it comes to stunning, design-led hotels in Thailand, you’re really spoiled for choice. Six Senses Yao Noi inhabits a corner of a southern Thai island untouched by mass tourism and is surrounded by the evocative towering limestone karsts of Phang Nga Bay. Add a DNA of sustainability and wellness, and this boutique rustic-chic luxe island resort embodies the essence of a ‘paradise found’.

While this stay was complimentary, all thoughts and opinions are our own.

Review of Six Senses Yao Noi

Setting the scene

Sitting mid-way between Phuket and Krabi, Yao Noi is just a 45 minutes by boat ride from Phuket. Traversing its 18 km ring road provides insights into daily life, which centres on rice paddies, rubber plantations, small farms, and fishing in Phang Nga Bay. You won’t find shopping malls or other similar modern facilities here.

Occupying a verdant hillside and adjoining beach, the resort’s reforested land is now in tune with the tropical flora of its past. Local plants and fruiting trees attract wildlife like the now-rare Oriental Pied Hornbills. Paved and walkable paths lead around the property, though chauffeured electric golf carts are available. Buildings blend seamlessly into the lush environment, perpetuating a sense of delectable privacy.

The rooms

Ocean Panorama Villa with pool at Six Senses Yao Noi
Take in the views from an Ocean Panorama Villa

All uniquely designed, 56 villas offer contemporary Thai architecture with natural all-timber and thatched roof construction. Each of the one- to four-bedroom villas has a private infinity pool. Some are nestled in the lush forest, while others enjoy stunning sunrises and expansive ocean views. Topping the resort offering are the Ocean Panorama Pool Villas with 180-degree views, Beachfront Pool Villa Suites with direct beach access and the extraordinary premium villas, The View and The Ocean Retreat.

Starting at 154 sq-m, villas include dining areas, large decks, outdoor salas, and sun beds. The expansive master bedroom has a bed canopy fashioned of driftwood, while citrus-coloured sofas add contrast to the teak timber and bamboo aesthetic. A separate en-suite bathroom with indoor and outdoor showers and a sunken bath in a panoramic floor-to-ceiling windowed space invites lingering.

Our Hideaway Villa gave a sense of being cocooned in nature. My favourite part was watching the Hornbills get their fill of red berries from the surrounding tall palms while I quietly enjoyed coffee on our Villa’s pool deck.

Every villa comes with its own GEM (Guest Experience Maker, aka butler without the stuffiness), who is your contact throughout and excels in delivering outstanding intuitive service from the personalised check-in at your villa to waving goodbye at the dock as you (very) reluctantly depart.

Food & drink

In line with Six Senses’ sustainability ethos, the resort’s restaurants and bars utilise produce from the onsite organic gardens, farm, and mushroom hut. Menus also highlight dishes compatible with personalised wellness programs.

Overlooking the beach, The Living Room features comfort food throughout the day, including Thai classics, salad bowls, and deli specialities. Breakfast also happens here with an à la carte menu, a buffet of Asian breakfast dishes, cold cuts and cheeses from the deli, and just-baked breads and perfectly flaky pastries.

With its adjoining kitchen garden and surrounded by jungle, Signature Nithan is all about fine southern Thai, with à la carte or Chef’s degustation menu options. In the daytime, it also hosts cooking classes.

Six Senses Yao Noi Hilltop bar and view of ocean
Soak in the surroundings at The Hilltop Bar

The Hilltop is where you will find the resort’s infinity pool with its jaw-dropping Phang Nga Bay vista. Cooling tipples and casual dining by day, and destination dining under the stars by night.

Adjacent to The Earth Lab, The Den is about chilled tunes while sipping crafted cocktails on your suspended daybed as the sun goes down.
But best of all, the free house-made ice cream available all day from the gelateria beside The Living Room.

Spa & wellness

The Spa and Wellness Centre is nestled in a lush tropical hillside. Surrender to the healing hands of the Spa’s skilled therapists, or book in for personalised yoga or meditation sessions. Revive at the Juice bar. Learn to make your own oils and at-home treatments at Alchemy Bar, and browse in the boutique.

Sign up for a three-, five- or seven-day personalised wellness program under the guidance of the onsite Ayurvedic doctor, yoga teacher and meditation expert, Dr Aneesh. Your inner health, movement, and sleep are assessed using innovative technology and personalised treatments, activities, and nutritional advice recommended.

Sustainability story

With a full-time sustainability manager actively involved in daily operations, sustainability isn’t a marketing gimmick; it is part of their DNA. Along with the onsite organic gardens, you can collect eggs from the 5-star chicken and duck enclosures for breakfast. The lemongrass drinking straws and reusable glass water bottles are examples of a no-plastics policy.

The made-on-site still and sparkling drinking water is sourced from the 12 deep wells. Kitchen waste feeds the animals or is composted. Even glass bottles are recycled into construction material for pavements or decorative items such as flower pots. More broadly, regular social responsibility activities include supporting the local Yao Noi School, island clean water projects, local health clinics and community education.

Guests of all ages can get involved in various fun and educational activities at The Earth Lab. Or purchase one of the in-room Hornbill plush toys to support cottage industry community partnerships.

The verdict

Away from the outside world, Six Senses Yao Noi is where sustainability meets luxury. With superb facilities, highly attentive and gracious staff, bespoke experiences, pristine nature, and personalised wellness, this indulgent island retreat embodies the essence of ‘paradise found.’

Find out more about Six Senses Yao Noi

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