Christmas in Phuket, Phi Phi and Samui: 4 Resort Offers
Thinking of a beach Christmas this year? Thai hotel group S Hotels & Resorts has put festive stay offers on four of its island resorts in Phuket, Phi Phi and Koh Samui, taking 10% to 15% off accommodation and filling the weeks from Christmas to New Year with beach dinners, fireworks and activities for children.
Each resort leans towards a different kind of trip, so the useful question is less where to go than who you are going with. Here is how the four compare.
SAii Laguna Phuket: the family pick, 10% off
The festive stay offer at SAii Laguna Phuket takes 10% off rooms and is built around families. Parents get the new SunRay Social & Swim Club by the pool, while children decorate gingerbread houses, meet Santa and join arts and crafts sessions. Everyone comes back together for an outdoor film marathon on the lawn at night.
Between Christmas and New Year the resort runs beachfront gatherings, live music, beach cookouts and themed dinner nights covering Indian, Thai, Mediterranean and Italian food, with seafood caught in Phuket's waters. New Year's Eve is a gala dinner with entertainment and fireworks over the Andaman Sea. Book a signature spa treatment over the holidays and a mini facial comes with it at no extra charge.
SAii Phi Phi Island Village: for families who want to explore, 10% off
Over on Phi Phi, SAii Phi Phi Island Village pairs the same 10% room saving with Christmas feasts on the beach, Thai dance performances and fireworks to see in the new year. The draw here is what you do in the first days of January: kayaking through mangroves, island hopping across the Andaman, snorkelling, and diving lessons designed for children trying it for the first time. The spa sends guests home with keepsakes such as botanical essential oils, pillow mists and gemstone facial rollers.
SAii Koh Samui Villas: adults only, 15% off
Couples and small groups of friends are the audience for SAii Koh Samui Villas, an adults-only resort of pool villas where the festive package takes 15% off accommodation. Meals happen at the newly opened SunRay Social & Swim Club, which runs from morning into the evening with southern Thai dishes, live BBQ stations, pasta, kebabs, Samui seafood grilled over charcoal and its own cocktail list.
The spa has a year-end menu built on local coconut: a facial, a head and hair massage, and a full-body coconut oil massage. New Year's Eve is a party on the beach with Thai dance, fire dancing, live music and a saxophonist.
Santiburi Koh Samui: Thai heritage and a new speakeasy, 15% off
Also on Samui, Santiburi Koh Samui is taking 15% off festive stays. Christmas Eve is held at its Sala Thai restaurant, with Siamese cooking and traditional dance. Its Cheers for Charity programme supports the Samui Special Needs Foundation, and children from the foundation join guests for Christmas carols.
Children have doll making, bag painting and treasure hunts while parents use the coconut-based spa. New Year's Eve ends with a white-and-gold dinner of Thai and international dishes at The Beach House by the water, followed by fireworks. For a quieter drink, the resort has just opened 1933 Bar, a speakeasy with cocktails and vinyl records.
How to book
The offers are listed as Festive Moments by the Sea on each resort's own website: saiihotels.com for the three SAii properties and santiburisamui.com for Santiburi. Stay dates, minimum nights and what each package includes are set out there, so check the terms before you book. SAii also posts resort updates on its official Instagram.
Weighing other Thai beaches for the holidays? Read about the new Chatrium resort beside Rawai Pier in southern Phuket, or see what The Standard, Hua Hin has planned for its year-end.
