The exciting country where it’s easy to mix affordability and the exotic

I have been back to Melbourne since lockdown to see my family, but the cousins hadn’t seen each other, apart from patchy Zoom chats, since 2017. They missed each other terribly. The question was, where should we reunite? As our parents had died a few years ago, the reunion didn’t have to involve the ankle-swelling hell of a 22-hour economy-class flight to Australia. We could now meet anywhere.

Thailand seemed like a no-brainer. It is vaguely equidistant, with glorious weather and beaches, and some of the best cuisine in the world.

Fiona in Koh Samui

Importantly, with such a mixed-age group, it isn’t short of activities, with key pursuits such as Muay Thai boxing classes, paddleboarding and mooching around temples providing enough diversion to keep each generation happily engaged and off each other’s backs.

So we scouted for an island that was more fun than flashy, then looked for a buzzy, affordable beach hotel with our own bungalows for essential time-out space. After a lot of research, we chose the island of Koh Lanta, a short speedboat ride away from Phuket, to spend ten days swimming, snorkelling, bouncing down unmade roads in the back of a converted truck (or “troop carrier” as my brother called it), eating noodles at street-food stalls and downing bowls of red duck curry at fairylit beach bars at night.

We went kayaking, visited temples and markets in the island’s old town and walked with rescue elephants in an ethical sanctuary called Following Giants ― my ecologist daughter did her research and this was the most ethical one, where you observe rather than touch them (followinggiants.net). We all had a brilliant time, and what made it all the more enjoyable was that this chaotic, multigenerational fun-fest didn’t require a second mortgage to fund it. The bill at the Lanta Miami Resort for a family-sized bungalow sleeping three for ten nights (breakfast included) came to £1,100 ― and that was peak-season pricing.

Fiona spent the first half of her holiday with her extended family

Job done. Now for the next chapter. Once my 21 and 23-year-old daughters were (grudgingly) dispatched back to London, my partner flew out for an entirely different kind of holiday ― the “high” part of my high-low trip.

“Affordable luxury” has become a new buzz phrase in travel, gaining more popularity over the past year, according to a recent report from the World Travel Market. We don’t want to forgo exotic travel, but we are more careful about how we manage our tightened budgets. For many of us, this means planning hybrid holidays ― a week or so of affordability with a gloriously self-indulgent splurge at the end.

The upside is that, after filling your boots with culture and real-world fun for ten days, you will enjoy the downy pillows and infinity pool of your five-star stay even more. And few destinations do high-low better than Thailand. It might still be the go-to destination for gap-year students, but it also has the best constellation of five-star resort hotels in southeast Asia. It’s why much of the third series of the hit TV show The White Lotus is being filmed in the dizzying jungle glamour of the Four Seasons Hotel on Koh Samui and at the Anantara Mai Khao Phuket Villas.

• My stay at the next White Lotus hotel — on a beautiful Thai island

For our few days of blow-out luxury, we chose to stay at Samujana on Koh Samui, a collection of private, modern beach houses on a hill above the Gulf of Thailand.

Samujana on Koh Samui

Our slick, minimalist white beach house, with a breezy open kitchen and sitting area overlooking the sea, couldn’t have been further from the wooden bungalows and foam mattresses of our first stay. Away went the flip-flops and baggy shorts and out came the Celine sunglasses, white linen and hair straighteners. The switch in mood was instantaneous.

The villa, which is one of a collection of 26 hidden among the flowering frangipani and palm trees of the Samujana Estate, is what one per cent tastes like. The villas come with private pools and terraces, marshmallowy beds, cinema rooms, gyms, open-air kitchens and mesmerisingly cinematic views of the ocean.

We sank back into the outdoor sofas, closed our eyes and drank in the kind of hush only money can buy. After 12 days spent looking after the troops, the ultimate luxury of all was to be looked after by somebody else ― and that person was our private villa manager, Na. Greeting us at the door with a welcome drink and a big smile, Na fed and watered us, ordered us taxis, booked us massages, cleaned and ironed our clothes and mothered us to the point of tearful gratitude.

Outdoor sofas at Samujana

“What time shall chef prepare your banquet tonight?” she asked, as we picked at the slivers of mango, papaya, dragon fruit and pineapple she had prepared for breakfast on our first morning.

The estate has nothing as common as a restaurant buffet. Instead, a private chef will prepare you anything from a Thai banquet to a wagyu burger on your terrace, with the breeze lifting gently off the sea and the twinkle of fishing boats on the horizon.

There is a small, rocky beach at the foot of the estate, which is, disappointingly, too dangerous for sea swimming (a buggy will take you down the hill to it) so, like every other cosseted Samujana guest, we gave the nearby public beach Choeng Mon a miss and stuck to our private pool. Which I guess is the whole point ― privacy, silence and discretion are what you pay for.

Choeng Mon beach

ALAMY

You could quite easily spend an entire week here and never leave the villa, which is tempting but would be a real shame when Koh Samui has so much to offer. Take the furious buzz of the Fisherman’s Village Market on Bophut Beach to the scene-y jungle spas and bars, and the exceptional restaurants. Try the treetop haven of the Koh Thai Kitchen at the Four Seasons Hotel, for raw tuna with herbs or wagyu beef cardamom curry (mains from £13), or the simple seafood served at Baan Suan Lung Khai on a coconut plantation in the owner’s house (five-course set menu £11), both of which helped to get Koh Samui into the Michelin guide for the first time last year.

We did manage to get our act together and head out to Bophut Beach one night to drink cocktails on the sand and watch fire shows at Coco Tam’s beach bar, and to trawl the market stalls for jewellery and unconvincing designer knock-offs, before eating seafood pulled that day from the bay. But the real joy was returning to our private lair for a midnight swim.

Our blast of insane luxury at the end of our good-value trip ― let’s call it the “luxet holiday”, half luxury, half budget ― meant our few extra days of indulgence tasted even sweeter.

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Fiona McIntosh was a guest of Samujana, which has B&B doubles from £600 per night, including dedicated villa manager, airport transfers and beach shuttles (samujana.com). She paid for her flights and Lanta Miami Resort, which has seven nights’ B&B for three from £1,000 (booking.com). Fly to Bangkok, Phuket or Koh Samui

Three more high-low holiday options

By Hannah Summers

Malaysia

Pangkor Laut Resort

ALAMY

If you’re apprehensive about backpacking Malaysia is a great country in which to try it out. You can swerve the hostels and find simple yet clean and comfortable accommodation in all the main destinations. Start with street food in the capital, Kuala Lumpur, then head for the markets in Malacca and the rolling green tea fields of the Cameron Highlands. Save your cash on modest stays before wrapping things up with a stint at Pangkor Laut Resort, a private island with dense jungle and beaches where Pavarotti used to holiday.
Details B&B doubles from £175 (pangkorlautresort.com). Fly to Kuala Lumpur

Bhutan

Taktsang monastery

ALAMY

You’ll need to do two acclimatisation hikes in Bhutan ― one to the Taktsang monastery, another to Kila Gompa nunnery ― before setting off on the more challenging six-day Yaksa trek. You’ll be walking up to 12 miles a day towards the base camp at Mount Jomolhari, a climb of more than 4,000m that takes in river valleys, pine and rhododendron forests, snow-capped peaks and traditional Bhutanese yaks and yak herders. You’ll be camping as you go (porters will help to carry your kit), but the end stay is something else: two nights in Como Uma Paru, one of the kingdom’s only boutique hotels, perched on a forest-draped Himalayan mountainside. Relax, there’s a spa doing a posh version of the traditional Bhutanese hot-stone bath ― historically villagers have created a pool by a river with rocks, then heated a stone in a fire to drop in and warm the water; here you get the luxury version.
Details 11 nights’ B&B from £3,715pp, including guided hikes and camping equipment, entrance fees, hotels and domestic flights (bluepoppybhutan.com). Fly to Kathmandu or Delhi

Vietnam and Cambodia

Banteay Chhmar in Cambodia

ALAMY

Experience a serene and simple life during a Vietnamese homestay in the small hamlet on the banks of the Ham Luong River in the Mekong Delta, followed by a second rural homestay at Banteay Chhmar in neighbouring Cambodia. Visitors’ rooms are dotted among the traditional Khmer houses in the village ― it’s basic (with shared bathrooms, mosquito nets being the only luxury), but you’re there for the warm hospitality and the opportunity for hosts to provide additional income for their families. From there you’ll be journeying on to other parts of Cambodia, including the ultra-luxe private island of Song Saa in the Koh Rong archipelago.
Details 13 nights’ B&B from £4,395pp, including transfers and activities (InsideAsiaTours.com). Fly to Ho Chi Minh City

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