What These 3 Thai Seaside Resorts Featured in White Lotus Season 3 Are Actually Like

For everybody who watched the premiere of White Lotus final evening and is now planning a Thailand trip—albeit one with out the drama—staying on the 4 Seasons Resort Koh Samui is an apparent selection. The primary season of White Lotus filmed on the 4 Seasons Maui at Wailea in Hawaii; the second season shot at San Domenico Palace, a 4 Seasons Lodge in Sicily. The spike in tourism to each locations (and motels) even grew to become referred to as “The White Lotus impact.”

However as a faithful fan of the present and repeat customer to Thailand, I as an alternative selected to begin my White Lotus tour at Anantara BoPhut Koh Samui, as a result of it is the primary lodge I noticed within the new season’s trailer. Throughout my White Lotus-inspired journey, I stayed at three resorts the place the brand new season filmed: Anantara BoPhut Koh Samui, Anantara Lawana Koh Samui, and Anantara Mai Khao Phuket. For vacationers who need a comparable expertise, Anantara simply launched the “Lotus Awakening Escape” bundle, which incorporates stays at two of the resorts and a slate of White Lotus–impressed actions that I attempted. This is what the stays have been like, what I acknowledged from the present, and the right way to plan your personal White Lotus-inspired Thai journey.

I entered Anantara BoPhut Koh Samui by a walkway suspended over a lotus-dotted pond and immediately noticed two filming places: the spirit home (a conventional Thai shrine) and the venue the place the present constructed a safety workplace. I continued down the luxurious winding street, which hosts a chase scene, to reach at three enchanting monkey fountains, which felt very on theme, as monkeys are used symbolically all through the brand new season.

As soon as contained in the foyer, I noticed the chandelier and black image frames that can seem within the present, and the hooked up library which serves as a fictional jewellery store. On the beautiful spa, my therapy room—an ethereal double-bed suite with floor-to-ceiling home windows overlooking a sun-speckled courtyard—was just like one used within the present. The one drama right here was the theatrical cry of an Asian koel—a red-eyed black crow that seemed prefer it might be a Hollywood creation. I attempted the Lotus Indulgence therapy, which I might wish to suppose White Lotus spa supervisor Belinda Lindsey (performed by Natasha Rothwell) would have permitted of; it kicked off with a soothing lotus petal foot bathtub adopted by a 90-minute therapeutic massage with calming lotus oil after which a scorching cup of lotus petal tea.

Whereas the recurring lotus motif all through the lodge got here lengthy earlier than White Lotus, new experiences geared towards followers like me spotlight how vital the flower is to Thai folks. My Passage of the Lotus day tour (included within the “Lotus Awakening” bundle) started with a meditative lotus-folding class to be taught the numerous methods Thai folks fold the flower’s petals earlier than presenting them as an providing to Buddhist monks, which I did afterward at Wat Plai Laem temple. As I admired a fortification of pink-painted lotus petals encircling the ornate temple, I puzzled if director Mike White—who has hinted the brand new season will discover Japanese faith and spirituality—did this, too. After listening to the present’s filming was interrupted by wildlife like elephants, it felt solely becoming to finish the day at an moral elephant sanctuary. Feeding the light giants was a humbling expertise I feel the present’s extra ill-intentioned characters may gain advantage from.

That evening, I had dinner on the resort’s quiet stretch of Bophut seaside, feasting on delicacies like gai hor bai toey (pandan-wrapped fried rooster). After, I wandered to the neighboring fishermen’s village evening market and nightly hearth present at Coco Tam’s seaside bar. The mesmerizing motion of males tossing sticks of fireplace on the sand and other people pulsing to the beat in a haze of hookah smoke felt like a scene plucked straight from the present.

Whereas I am unsure the White Lotus seaside celebration was filmed on Bophut seaside, I confirmed one other night scene was filmed at close by Anantara Lawana Koh Samui, my subsequent cease on the “Lotus Awakening” retreat. After hanging the “success” gong (one thing the White Lotus characters may use), I ventured into the resort and what started as a verdant jungle opened as much as reveal an infinity pool overlooking the aquamarine sea. The hanging vista was finest skilled from Treetop Tops Signature Restaurant, the place White Lotus filmed. Constructed round a 120-year-old tree, the resort’s fine-dining restaurant affords celebrity-level exclusivity with every desk set in its personal non-public tree home. After lotus-themed cocktails and miang kham (colourful lotus leaf hand wraps) in The Singing Fowl Lounge, I tucked into an eight-course tasting menu with juicy Wagyu striploin and calamansi lotus sorbet, all set out on a stunning desk with scattered white lotuses and serviettes folded into lotus flowers. 

I didn’t suppose the Anantara filming places may get extra White Lotus till seeing Anantara Mai Khao Phuket Villas, the final cease on my cinematic journey. The arched entry pathway lined with flaming torches is used within the present. As I checked in, I admired the resort’s lotus-filled lagoon that was utilized in a spa scene and the encircling foyer, which was became a spa for the present. The resort’s actual spa, a collection of therapy rooms related by wood paths hanging over the resort’s lagoon, is featured as properly. One character even falls into the lagoon—which, throughout my go to, was fairly serene, with blooming lotus flowers on the water’s floor and innocent—however surprisingly giant—monitor lizards lurking beneath.

Whereas soaking in my villa’s out of doors infinity bathtub, related to an opulent green-tiled swimming pool, spacious sundeck, and out of doors bathe, I puzzled which of the resort’s 113 suites housed the forged once they filmed right here. I didn’t see the opposite villas—they’re all sheltered in their very own gated courtyard—however I wasn’t stunned to be taught one just like mine was Belinda’s room within the present.

After pink lotus cocktails at Bua Bar (bua means lotus in Thai), it was time for one final dinner on the resort’s quiet seven-mile stretch of Mai Khao seaside. As dusk remodeled lotus-engraved paths right into a mystical maze of dramatically lit bamboo and palm timber, I imagined the resort was the right backdrop for a suspenseful evening scene. I walked previous the pool, with floating loungers that appeared within the present, to a dreamy string gentle–adorned desk on the sand, the place I tasted each a part of the lotus—from the foundation to stem to petals.