Chiva-Som Completes a Five-Year Renovation in Hua Hin
Thailand's pioneering health resort finished an 800 million baht, four-phase renovation in November 2019, renewing its rooms, spa and medical wellness facilities.
Chiva-Som, the health resort on the beach at Hua Hin that did more than any other to establish Thailand as a destination for wellness, completed a five-year renovation in November 2019. The work was carried out in four phases, during annual closures, at a cost of 800 million baht, about US$24 million, and touched almost every part of the property.
The resort was founded in 1995 by Boonchu Rojanastien, a former deputy prime minister of Thailand, on the site of his family’s seaside home, about three hours’ drive south of Bangkok. Its idea was new for Asia at the time: a small resort where every guest arrives with a health goal, is seen by an adviser on arrival and follows a programme of treatments, exercise and food designed around it. The name means haven of life. It has remained in the family, and many of its staff have been there for decades.
The renovation renewed the rooms and the Thai-style pavilions set in the gardens, with interiors in teak, bamboo and Thai silk and a lighter palette than before. The wellness facilities were rebuilt: 1,720 square metres of spa and more than 2,700 square metres of health and wellness space, including physiotherapy rooms, a hydrotherapy suite, a flotation chamber, the bathing pavilion with its pool and steam rooms, and the Niranlada medi-spa. Taste of Siam, the restaurant on the beach, was also redone.
Krip Rojanastien, the founder’s son and the company’s chairman and chief executive, described the project as a major commitment made at the right time, to put the hardware in place for a new era of wellness. The programmes had already broadened well beyond the detox and weight-loss retreats of the early years, to cover fitness, physiotherapy, stress, sleep and ageing.
The renovation was completed as the family prepared its first resort abroad, Zulal Wellness Resort in Qatar. In Thailand, newer rivals have appeared, among them RAKxa in Bangkok, opened a year later, but Chiva-Som remains the reference against which they are measured. OKYTO’s guide to serious wellness in Asia explains how to choose between them.