The latest in a string of upscale resorts opening on Koh Samui, the Banyan Tree Samui (66-77/915-333; banyantree.com; doubles from US$563) will begin welcoming guests at the end of July, some 16 years after the debut of Banyan Tree’s first resort on Phuket. Tiered down a hillside overlooking Lamai Beach and the Gulf of Thailand, the property’s 78 villas are impeccably designed, but where they really make their mark is in size: the smallest one-bedroom units weigh in at 190 square meters, with plunge pools—some stilted over the jungle—adding another 35 square meters. The indulgences continue in the spa, where a long list of wellness treatments complement the island’s first hydrotherapy center, offering thermal cabins, ice fountains, and a vitality pool dotted along a rain forest trail.—Sari Wijaya