Zazen Boutique Resort Spa

Rooms

The 26 bungalow rooms feel like a traditional Thai home housed within adobe walls reminiscent of Mexico. All are similar in size and layout, but prices vary to match location. Wide glass doors open into an airy space with parquet floors, a raised bed platform and silk blinds over the windows. Each comes equipped with a flat-screen TV, iPod docking station, A/C and powerful fans, DVD player and WiFi, as well as a whole host of less technological but useful touches: gorgeous silk dressing gowns and slippers, kettle, socket adaptors, mozzie repellent, plenty of complimentary bottled water. Towels are fashioned into elephant shapes, beds strewn with orchid petals every night.

The décor is modern meets traditional, with hand-carved wood or leather furniture and decorative Asian art, including an antique Thai puppet and a funky driftwood sculpture in our room. Photographs of Thailand dot the walls and cushions are scattered on the lounge floor and sofa for cosy relaxation, Moroccan style.

Bathrooms are open air, with pebbled floors, plants, large mirrors and a rainfall shower. The walls are high so there’s no fear factor, but if we're being picky, the shower pressure and temperature did fluctuate, and the toiletries were not the most lavish.

We'd opt for a Garden Villa: they're tucked away at the back of the plot (so furthest from the beach) but look out onto leafy gardens, with a secluded sitout at the front - great for al fresco room-service lunches or shady reading. Their split-level interior is larger, with 2 single daybeds perfect for 1-2 kids. The Garden Deluxe and Beachfront Deluxe Bungalows are closely grouped together near the front of the resort, so you're nearer to the beach but also to each other; they're also smaller inside. We didn't feel the hefty premium of the Beachfront Deluxe was warranted by its position, especially since the beach can get crowded.

Features include:

• Air conditioning
• Minibar/fridge
• WiFi

Eating

The food at Zazen Restaurant is superb and the restaurant deserves its great reputation on Koh Samui. Set a few paces from the water, with open sides and great sea views, it offers a choice of upscale Thai food and gourmet French-influenced cuisine - both as good as each other. Our gaeng phed ped yang (red curry with roasted duck and coconut) and the beef massaman were both superb: rich, flavoursome and not too spicy for western palates. Fishy options include tiger prawns in tamarind sauce and stir-fried scallops with green asparagus; or you can go international with beef tenderloin, tuna steak a la plancha or (dare we say it) a phenomenally good burger.

If you really want to push the boat out, a discreet "Chef's Table" upstairs in the Le Salon De Ti offers degustation menus (5-7 courses) to a maximum of 12 guests. Head chef Cyrille Keyser - French but fast becoming local (his wife is Thai) - creates truly innovative dishes and presents them with flair. One menu is tea-themed, another offers snowfish in white wine and vanilla sauce, and all are paired with tipples from Samui's huge wine cellar.

Breakfast (included and served in Zazen Restaurant) is a delightful buffet, with exotic fruits (think pomelo, dragonfruit and rambutan), fresh juices, cereals, homemade pastries, fluffy banana pancakes, excellent eggs Benedict and just-brewed coffee.

Throughout the day staff can bring you tapas and cocktails as you lie by the pool - such as chicken and coriander corn fritters, sesame and soy beef skewers and king crab cakes with dill tzatsiki. Alternatively the restaurant serves lunch or you can have meals delivered to your private terrace. There's also afternoon tea at Le Salon De Ti with a huge range of varietals, plus cakes and fruit. In the evenings the emphasis is high on romance, with 100 candles lighting the restaurant, jazz on the stereo and the sound of waves in the background. Enjoy a pre- or post-dinner drink at beach-front Le Rouge Lounge; they have a huge range of wines and cocktails to try out.

If you want to eat out one night, you can wander along the beach to Bo Phut Fishermen's Village (15-20 minutes) which teems with eateries of all flags, from traditional Thai to pizzerias and teppinyaki. Don't expect great quality though; our dinner at Starfish - recommended by hotel staff - was distinctly average and (like most in the village) overpriced, and after that we happily stuck to Zazen.

Features include:

• Minibar/fridge
• Restaurant
• Restaurants nearby

Activities

• Work your way through the menu at Le Spa Zen. We enjoyed a blissful aromatherapy massage for 2 in a curtained, over-water sala from therapists who really know their meridians (though their English is only skin deep); and the 90-minute Thai massage was the best we had in a month travelling through Thailand. Other exotic treatments include the 'Sunset Kiss Ritual Massage' (to repair the damaging effects of sun and sea through drainage and hydration massage), a 'Jet Lag and Revitalising Body Wrap', or the 'Elixir Body Glow' (which protects the skin against free radicals to help you live longer!)
  
• Wander along the narrow sandy beach, passing massage shacks and barefoot bars, to the "original fishermen's village" of Bo Phut, which still has its pier and street stalls (now selling disappointingly touristy tat)
  
• The hotel has a relationship with a local dive school which has a high speed boat and max group size of 10; the legendary Sail Rock, Koh Tao and Ang Thong are all feasible as day trips; non-divers are welcome to come along for fabulous snorkelling
  
• Go deep-sea fishing for barracuda, white snapper and shark or spend the afternoon windsurfing from the beach
  
• Learn to cook Thai food - English-speaking staff will help you create 3 delicious meals and teach you to cut fruit and veg the traditional way. Conjure your carrots into lotus flowers, then eat the lunch you’ve just made
  
• Head to the Samui rainforest and fly across the canopy at tree-top level, on cables. It’s a fab way to get a bird’s eye view of the jungle and see monkeys up close (plus you can let out a few Tarzan yells just for the heck of it)
  
• Take a sailing trip to Ang Thong archipelago, a natural park of small islands, clear lagoons and exotic rock formations, which was the inspiration for Alex Garland's The Beach
  
• Have a restorative yoga lesson. You can either join a class, have a one-to-one with a teacher or book in for a course and learn how to down-dog with the best of them
  
• Take an organised tour of the island and see waterfalls, the erotic rock formations of Hin Ta and Hin Yai and the famous Big Buddha statue. You’ll also visit a coconut plantation to watch monkeys shimmy up the trees to pick you a nut, and go shopping in Nathon (knock-off Gucci, anyone?)
  
• Go quadbiking, rent a motorbike to explore, have a game of golf or take a speedboat around the island - the hotel can arrange a whole host of other activities

Activities on site or nearby include:

• Cooking classes
• Fishing
• Golf
• Hiking
• Nightlife
• Sailing
• Scuba diving
• Shopping / markets
• Snorkelling
• Wildlife
• Windsurfing
• Yoga

Kids

Children are welcome but the setting is quite romantic and attracts couples in search of R&R, so you might feel self-conscious if you have hyper kids!

Best for:

Teens (over 12)

Family friendly accommodation:

We'd recommend staying in a Garden Villa, which can accommodate 2 children comfortably on its sofabed, as well as fitting a cot. Otherwise the Beachfront and Tropical Suites each have a single sofa bed and room for a baby cot. Cots can be provided on request and are free of charge. The cost for extra beds varies depending on the age of the children.

Cots Available, Extra Beds Available

For more family-friendly places, see our Kids Collection

Location

Zazen Boutique Resort & Spa is situated at one end of Bo Phut beach, on the north of Koh Samui. It's 15km by sea from Koh Phangan and about 110km by sea from Surat Thani Province.

By Air:
Koh Samui (6km away) is the nearest airport. The quickest way to get here is to fly to Bangkok then get a connecting flight.

By Boat:
It's also possible to take a boat from Don Sak or Surat Thani on the mainland (1-2 / 2-4 hours respectively); and from the neighbouring islands of Koh Phangan or Koh Tao (1-2 / 2-4 hours respectively).

From the Airport or Port
The hotel offers a transfer service - see Rates - or you can jump in a taxi at Koh Samui airport.

Detailed directions will be sent to you when you book through i-escape.com.

More on getting to Thailand (international flights) and getting around