These hotel allowed me to travel back in time to the unspoilt Thailand of Y2K (and it was so affordable)

It’s been, gulp, nearly 23 years since I last visited Thailand as a 19-year-old gap year traveller, the very same year Leonardo Di Caprio was starring on the Big Screen as Richard, also visiting Thailand in the brilliant Y2K cult hit film, The Beach about young travellers seeking adventure in a secret paradise on the beaches of this magical country. When I was there in 2000 with my best friend, also intrepid backpackers, decked out in combat trousers, henna tattoos and bandanas with All Saints’ Pure Shores (the theme tune to The Beach) blaring out of all the bars, and Tuk Tuks transporting us everywhere, we too felt the same thrill at all that Thailand’s coast has to offer. The remote, unspoilt beaches with the occasional wooden hut, hammock and bamboo bar shack where you could sink a Chang beer at sunset and feel totally, utterly removed from the everyday madness of life back home. The beauty of tropical nature and sense of complete calm was all-encompassing. 

Since then, the pure shores we experienced have largely become built up, heaving tourist destinations, with a McDonalds or a Starbucks lining almost every street corner in popular destinations such as Koh Saumi, Ko Pan Ngan and Ko Phi Phi ( near to where The Beach was filmed.) 

So for those wanting to experience a more authentic, unspoilt Thailand holiday of 20 years ago, but also not necessarily wanting to bunk up in beach huts with travellers fresh from Full Moon parties, the Avani + hotels on the coast of the Andaman sea in Southern Thailand offer the perfect destination – and affordable luxury at the same time. 

The Avani+ lifestyle brand has a number of resorts in Thailand, but if you want to two quite different experiences – but both situated in unspoilt nature – then the recently opened Avani + Khao Lak and the more traditional style Avani+ Koh Lanta are both stunning destinations for a complete getaway from the madness of life in 2023. You might not find Leonardo DiCaprio hanging out in a beach bar, but you will definitely find yourself blown away by the tropical beauty of both destinations and achieve a sense of peace and calm, but also with an element of adventure.

KHOA LAK

Who’s Avani+ Koh Lak for?

Opened in April 2022, this large resort has 327 rooms and is a one-hour drive north of Phuket city and airport. Situated in an uncrowded and unbuilt up area on part of Khoa Lak’s 15 mile stretch of white, unspoilt sandy beach and is within reach of rainforests, limestone mountains and  three national parks. Any other hotel property on the beach stretch is hidden behind the mangroves and there are no high rise buildings and even at high season, you feel like you have the whole beach to yourself, with the odd beach bar under bamboo awnings dotted along the shore. The staff are all super friendly and the resort is eco-friendly operating it’s own water-filtering system for drinking water in reusable glass bottles to reduce single use plastic. And all vegetables and herbs used in the restaurants are grown onsite in the grounds in their farm to table scheme.

What if I have kids?

The resort is set around four swimming pools with one comprising a fun water park that the kids won’t want to leave! Indeed, this resort is perfect for families as the amenities for children are brilliant, not only the water attractions, but also a petting farm with rabbits and chickens and the AvaniKids club. However, those without kids need not be put off as the resort is expansive enough for children to have their own area and the grown up pool, closer to the beach, is a more reserved, chilled place to hang out for adults. 

What are the bedrooms like?

Very clean and extremely comfortable beds, the property has varying tiers of rooms available, leading up to the beachfront suites, each with their own mini plunge pool. The products in the bathrooms are all Malin and Goetz, which was a treat.