Luxury Hotels on Koh Tao
7 Boutique Pool Villas
and Sea-View Resorts

The top score in this article, and ranked #2 of 51 stays on Tripadvisor from 1,307 reviews — The Place is a small cluster of wooden villas on the hills above Sairee Beach, each with its own private infinity pool that runs to an edge over the sea. There are only a handful of villas, so it stays quiet and genuinely private, surrounded by green hillside. The owners run it themselves and are known for the small details — filtered water in the villas, help arranging dive trips. It's about a 15-minute drive down to Sairee and the restaurants, the trade-off for the calm up on the hill that's hard to find on this island.

Trip.com scores it 9.4 — Koh Tao Heights is a set of 120 sqm Thai-modern villas, each with a 6×3 metre infinity pool and jacuzzi, a sundeck and gazebo looking over Sairee Bay and Koh Nang Yuan. Inside it's a full villa — an air-conditioned living room, a master bedroom and a complete kitchen — built for longer stays as a couple or a small family. It sits on the north Sairee hills, about a 10-minute walk down to the beach, with the sunset over Koh Nang Yuan as the main draw.

Booking scores it 9.0 from 1,789 reviews, and it's ranked #5 of 52 stays on Tripadvisor — View Point sits on a clifftop above Chalok Baan Kao bay in the south, where the upper pool villas have a private infinity pool looking straight out to open sea. The rooms are spread through the hillside forest, cut off from the town yet still a 10-minute walk to Chalok village with its restaurants, dive shops and mini-marts. There's a range of rooms, from garden-view bungalows up to sea-view pool villas, so you can choose by budget.

Trip.com scores it 8.9, with couples rating it 9.0 — Naroua is a small set of private-pool villas on the hills above Sairee village, each with an infinity pool and a big glass-walled living room facing the sea. You can see Koh Nang Yuan and Sairee Beach from inside the villa, and the sunset is what guests mention most. It's about a 5-minute drive down to central Sairee, so it stays calm without being too remote. You can ask for an in-villa massage, a private dinner or a private dive trip.

Booking scores it 8.8 from 421 reviews — Chintakiri is a resort of 19 teak bungalows on the hill above Chalok Baan Kao, each one opening to a sea view. It sits up a drive away from the village and beach, which gives it a private feel, but it's only about a 200-metre walk down to Chalok beach. What guests like is the small infinity pool looking out over the bay, the garden and sun terrace, and the semi-open-air bath in some bungalows. It's a mid-budget boutique pick that gets you the view and the quiet without paying pool-villa rates.

Booking scores it 8.2 from 1,261 reviews — The Tarna Align is a boutique resort on a hilltop above Sairee, with bright modern rooms, a terrace looking over sea and forest, and two outdoor pools. The upper Pool Access rooms step straight down to a pool. There are two restaurants, sushi as well as Thai and Western, a spa, and a dive centre that runs training in a saltwater pool. It's about a 5-minute drive down to Sairee and the beach — a good fit if you want a hill view and full facilities without a high rate.

Trip.com scores it 7.4 from 2,454 reviews — Dusit Buncha (by Riya Group) is a resort on the north-west cliff of the island, with villas and bungalows stepping down the rock face, facing Koh Nang Yuan and the Gulf. The upper rooms are Hillside Sea View, and a few have a private pool. The seaside Sunset Restaurant is what guests point to for the sunset view, and the resort runs snorkelling trips, kayaking and boat tours around the island. It's a view-led pick at a moderate rate — but be ready for rooms that guests say vary in quality.