Most Beautiful Island Resort: TRISARA, PHUKET, THAILAND
Surrounded by nature at the award-winning Jara Spa
The road to paradise is indeed windy, but fringed with coconut trees and seafoam at the shores of the Andaman, you just know you’re going somewhere exquisite as the chauffeur-driven Volvo XC50 cruises up the tropical hills of northwest Phuket towards this private luxury villa resort. It’s only 15 minutes away from the new Phuket International Airport, but it feels a world away. I arrive at the welcome pavilion, perched on a level overlooking the beachfront, where on this breezy day, rows of coconut trees sway their big hellos as the waves of the Andaman Sea leap up high, in some kind of symphonic show. Trisara is my kind of paradise—aptly named in Sanskrit after “Garden in the Third Heaven”—for the next four glorious days.
Stay: Behind a wooden door, down a tree-shaded path, surrounded by verdant tropical green and birdsong, sits my Ocean View Pool Villa that opens up to unspoilt views of the Andaman Sea. Trisara comprises of 39 private villas and suites built individually on terraces, with 30 residential villas higher up on the island headland. With 240 square metres of Thai-chic luxury of bedroom, living, bathing, and terrace space, you wouldn’t need to venture out of your private confines. Make it a point to catch the sunset at the edge of your private infinity pool—there’s nothing quite as spectacular.
Eat: Begin your day with a hearty breakfast, although I did throw the diet to the wind for the scrumptious Thai omelette and coconut water over fruits-and-grains. I was on holiday! Lunch is a veritable Thai feast at Seafood at Trisara—try the “mama-style” yellow crab curry, and lobster stir-fried with fresh tumeric—which also transforms into a Sunday Jazz Brunch with the freshest catch, cooking stations, tapas, wine, and live music. For dinner, we were treated to the newly minted one-Michelin-star Pru restaurant, where chef Jimmy Ophorst served up a truly world-class farm-to-table menu. Think mangrove black crab dressed in its own reduction, “carrots cooked in the soil they came from”, aged duck cooked in an open wood fire with pickled Thai cherries, and a curious confection of organic beetroot semifreddo with a sourdough ice cream and mountain almonds. Eat for pleasure, and don’t forget to try the homemade cookies and coconut chocolates in your room.
Do: Start the morning right with a yoga session at the private sala by the sea, where the sound of ocean waves do add to the vibrational quality; or a PT session to work off those heavy dinners.
Spa: The award-winning Jara Spa is built around a centuries-old ficus tree that represents the concept of this holistic space, with its five pillars for rejuvenation, fitness, beauty, spirituality, and youth. Start your stay with the Harper’s BAZAAR Malaysia Spa Awards 2019-winning Royal Trisara 6 Hand Massage that combines three different massages, Thai herbal compresses, and aromatic oils to deeply relax and harmonise your body’s energy. Close with the Sodashi Samadara Ultimate Age-Defying Facial that engages the energy of rose quartz with the potent Samadara anti-ageing cream to infuse your skin with hydration so you leave this paradise completely beautiful, inside out.
Paradise found in the “Garden in the Third Heaven”
60/1 Moo 6, Srisoonthorn Road, Cherngtalay, Thalang, Phuket, Thailand. Tel: +66 76 310 100. www.trisara.com
