SAii Phi Phi Refreshes Its 12 Hillside Pool Villas
If you stayed at SAii Phi Phi Island Village a few years ago, the hillside part of the resort will look familiar from the outside and quite different inside. The resort on Koh Phi Phi has finished refreshing its 12 Hillside Pool Villas, keeping the original buildings on the slope above the Andaman Sea and redoing the interiors with southern Thai craft and more sustainable materials.
The refresh covers three villa types: the Hillside Pool Villa, the Oceanview Hillside Pool Villa and the Two-Bedroom Oceanview Hillside Pool Villa. Each keeps its own full-sized private pool.
What stayed the same
The work was done by the in-house design team of S Hotels & Resorts, the Thai group behind the SAii brand. They chose not to rebuild. The villas still sit in the rainforest on the hill, so the sea views, the privacy and the pools that returning guests book these villas for have not changed. What changed is everything inside.
Southern Thai craft in the details
Most of the new design references the sea and the local craft of southern Thailand. The minibar is built to look like the mooring buoys used around the islands, which let boats tie up without dropping anchor on the coral. Headboards are woven from krajood, a sedge grass that southern Thai weavers have worked into mats and baskets for centuries. In the bathrooms, the lights are shaped like coiled ship's rope.
Greener materials and more daylight
The private terraces are now decked with Dasso bamboo, made from Moso bamboo, which grows back quickly. The resort says it is as hard-wearing as timber decking with a smaller environmental footprint. New skylights bring daylight into the bathrooms, so you need fewer lights on during the day. The resort is certified by Green Globe, a sustainability certification for the travel industry.
What a stay includes
Every Hillside Villa stay comes with a butler. Longer stays also get free shared boat transfers to the island, though the release does not say how many nights count as a longer stay. SAii belongs to the Global Hotel Alliance, and for a limited time qualifying stays can move members of its GHA DISCOVERY loyalty programme straight up to the Titanium tier.
How to book
The release did not include room rates, so check current prices and the transfer and loyalty terms on the resort's page at saiihotels.com before booking. SAii also posts resort updates on its official Instagram.
Planning a year-end trip? SAii Phi Phi is also one of four resorts running festive stay offers in Phuket, Phi Phi and Samui. If you would rather stay closer to home, Anantara Desaru Coast has a new family package in its private pool residences.
The takeaway
This is a refresh, not a new build. The reasons to book a Hillside Pool Villa, a private pool and a view over the Andaman, are the same as before. What you get now is a cleaner, more local-feeling interior, bamboo decks and brighter bathrooms, with a butler included.
