Find our Inspection team's official review of Trisara, here. Below, one writer shares her personal experience exploring the classic elegance and luxury that make this one of the most unique hotels in the world.
I dread the winding roads of Phuket. Every time I consider making the journey from Bangkok, it’s not the ample queues at the airport or the crush of tourists that make me hesitate. It’s the bumpy, sharp-turned roads on the hilly island that sometimes take almost an hour to endure. And it happens countless times for a motion-sensitive person such as myself. But the road to Trisara hotel, to my very pleasant surprise, is a quick 20 minutes and mercifully straight. By the time we pass through the gates and enter the lush green paradise, with tall trees casting shadows across the paths, I’m already predisposed to like this place.
The escape from the tourist crush isn’t bad, either. Trisara makes its home on the serene Naithon Beach, about an hour north of the popular Patong area. For me, it’s a blissful haven from the gloomy rain clouds, endless neon signs, and constant gridlock of Bangkok. But it’s a haven too from the typical mass tourism of Phuket. In a place that adds trendy new hotels every day, and where influencers all too frequently make headlines for bad behaviour, Trisara is a fresh breath of classic elegance. There’s no gimmick here. Just sea views, elegant spaces, and a commitment to sustainability that seems to rub off admirably on its guests.
Beyond just a room
I’d see all of that in my short visit to Trisara -- and we’ll get to that soon. But first, you have to see the room. Of course, a break from mass tourism is a privilege, and you get what you pay for at Trisara. I’ve splurged on this visit, and I step through the charming wooden gate to a villa whose simple entryway is its own mini adventure, requiring a descent on small steps into a lush tropical paradise where the vast blue ocean unfolds before your eyes.Each of the 39 villas here comes with their own pool. Mine stretches along a spacious deck, adorned with two sunbeds, and seemingly merges with the endless sky and ocean beyond. The villa for two could easily fit a small family, but it’s meant for romance, with a grand, opulent bathtub, outdoor rain shower, and his and her amenities provided along with flippers, sandals, and beach bags.
Like I said, it’s as glamorous as any resort I’ve visited in Thailand, but it’s not just the setting that makes the luxury. The resort sprawls over 17 acres, so I take a golf car from my villa (past the outdoor spa, coconut trees, and more and more views of the great Andaman Sea) and present myself at PRU, one of two MICHELIN Green Star restaurants at Trisara and the only MICHELIN Star restaurant in Thailand outside of Bangkok.
A bite of sustainability
PRU, helmed by 34-year-old Dutch chef Jimmy Ophorst, stands for "Plant, Raise, Understand." Solar-panelled and seaside, the restaurant’s commitment to serving seasonal and local foods is not just unique in Phuket. As a curious Thai diner, even I’m surprised by Ophorst’s use of uncommon Thai ingredients — like durian — alongside unusual tropical fruits, seafood, and homemade preserves. The restaurant sources 100% from Thailand, in part from their own farm, in part from line-caught seafood and free-range animals. The day after, I sacrifice more time at the beach to take a 20-minute ride in the resort’s SUV to Jampa, a MICHELIN-listed and also a Green Star restaurant at a neighbouring property, with its own commitment to local sourcing and zero waste, where Chef Rick Dingen enhances each ingredient’s natural flavours simply, celebrating the produce in its purest form with a kiss of fire.
It’s an inspiring dedication to the environment and culture that you’ll see throughout Trisara, and one that seems to rub off on its guests. Relaxing on the pristine sands one afternoon, my eye keeps returning to the giant hermit crabs and their unusual shells. A friendly staffer reveals the mystery of the scene while handing me a Gin Rickey.
Return visitors, he explains, bring healthy shells from street stalls when they come back to Trisara, ensuring the cheeky hermits always have new homes to explore. It’s a connection with nature that’s probably less significant than the work Chef Ophorst does at PRU or Chef Rick Dingen at Jampa, but it’s the kind of healthy interaction with the environment that makes me smile, nonetheless. In this calm little paradise amidst the jungle, I can’t help but think that the rest of Phuket needs a little more of what they’ve managed to capture here. Tranquillity and mindfulness. Two ingredients that add up to one of Phuket’s most special places.
Book Trisara with the MICHELIN Guide →
Hero image: Trisara — Phuket, Thailand
