Kamalaya Koh Samui
Hillside wellness sanctuary on the south coast of Koh Samui, centred on a monks' meditation cave, with 19 programmes.
- Neighbourhood
- Laem Set, south coast of Koh Samui
- Opened
- November 2005
Why we recommend it
Kamalaya is the retreat to choose when what needs attention is not only physical. From the start it gave weight to emotional balance as well as to diet and exercise, and private sessions with its mentors are a distinctive part of a stay. Its approach offers guests freedom to move at their own pace, in a less rigid manner than some other retreats.
The setting does much of the work: a hillside of forest, a bay below and a cave at the centre that is still open to guests. Our guide to Thailand's three great wellness retreats compares it with Chiva-Som and RAKxa, and Kamalaya at twenty tells its history.
Rooms & Suites
The 76 rooms, suites and villas are spread down the hillside and fitted to the terrain, some resting directly on the granite boulders, others looking into the forest canopy or out over the Gulf of Thailand. The simplest category is the Hillside Room, offered with garden or sea views, with the Rocktop Room above it. Suites come with garden or sea views, and the Garden Pool Suite and Penthouse Pool Suite add a private pool.
The villas run from garden and sea-view versions to the Plunge Pool Villa and, at the foot of the slope, the Beachfront Villa and Beachfront Pool Villa, whose balconies overlook the retreat’s own stretch of sand. The gradient is part of the stay: moving between room, treatment and restaurant means steps and slopes.
Dining
Food at Kamalaya is treated as part of the programme rather than a separate indulgence. Amrita, whose name is Sanskrit for divine nectar, is the informal restaurant, set among lotus ponds beside the beachfront swimming pool. The Alchemy Tea Lounge is a quieter room for herbal infusions, teas, smoothies and elixirs between treatments.
Design
The retreat is planned around its site rather than imposed on it. Buildings are threaded between granite boulders and mature trees on a steep slope, so that most rooms face either jungle or sea, and the villas at the top sit on the rock itself. At the centre is Arjan Cave, the monks’ meditation cavern from which the retreat takes its bearings. The story of how the place was conceived is told in Kamalaya at Twenty, our account of how a Samui hillside shaped wellness travel.
Wellness & Spa
The Wellness Sanctuary offers more than a hundred therapies and treatments, among them shirodhara, the Ayurvedic treatment in which warm medicated oil is poured steadily over the forehead. Optional daily classes include yoga, Pilates, Qi Gong, Tai Chi, meditation and core fitness, held in part in an open yoga pavilion. The Leela Steam Cavern is a steam room built into the rock, and there is a swimming pool on the beachfront.
Two newer facilities extend the retreat into clinical territory. The Longevity House provides intravenous therapy, ozone therapy and hyperbaric oxygen therapy, and the Cognitive House concentrates on memory, focus and mental performance. Programmes run from three to 21 nights. For how Kamalaya compares with its peers, see our guide to wellness in Bangkok and Thailand, covering RAKxa, Chiva-Som, Kamalaya and Thai massage; the nearest equivalents are Chiva-Som, the long-established health resort in Hua Hin, and RAKxa Integrative Wellness in Bangkok.
Location
Kamalaya is at Laem Set, in the Na-Muang area on the south coast of Koh Samui, on a steep, forested hillside above its own beach. This is the quiet side of the island, away from the resort strips of the east coast. Samui has its own airport, and the retreat is reached from there by road.
- Address
- 102/9 Moo 3, Laem Set Road, Na-Muang, Koh Samui, Surat Thani 84140, Thailand
- Website
- Official website
