Need to know
Rooms
121, including nine suites.
Check–Out
Noon, but flexible, subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 2pm.
More details
Rates include breakfast, which is served at the Seven Seas Restaurant or Spice and Rice Restaurant depending on where your room is located.
Also
The hotel’s many stairs and hillside setting may make it difficult for guests with reduced mobility to navigate.
At the hotel
Free WiFi throughout; gym; tennis, badminton, pickleball and basketball courts; ping-pong tables; running track along the reservoir; bikes to borrow; paddleboards, body-boards and kayaks to borrow; beach football, volleyball and pétanque courts; books and boardgames to borrow; and sports centre. In rooms: free bottled water, TV, Nespresso coffee machine, tea-making kit, slippers, bathrobes, beach bag and sandals, Bluetooth speaker, terrace fan, and I plus Q bath products.
Our favourite rooms
Be closer to the beach or have a spectacular mountain view… It's a tough call. The resort is split into two sections – the beachside and hillside estates. For absolute once-in-a-lifetime luxury the hillside ocean-view pool villas offer a private plunge infinity pool, oodles of space and unparalleled sea views. But even the entry-level rooms at Pimalai Resort & Spa are very spacious and all similarly elegant and luxuriously fitted out. Their largest villa sleeps nine people, if you’re in a big group.
Poolside
There are two infinity pools with sea views (both open 6am to 7pm). The saltwater pool is located 200 feet above sea level, near the hillside villas, with magnificent soaring views over the verdant mountain towards the sea. There’s a second pool down by the resort’s Beachside Estate. A shallow end makes it more suited to children, but parents need to be vigilant. An ample supply of loungers offers all guests spots for topping up their tan, And the Banyan Tree café serves up light meals and snacks. And, if you’d prefer a wilder swimming experience, Pimalai sits on a long stretch of shore, most of which is private and only available to guests, with the ocean safe to swim in all year round.
Spa
A greenery-filled haven, the hotel’s spa, crafted in stone, native wood, bamboo, iron and ceramics, is laid out like a small village. A herbal compress massage incorporates deep pressure techniques, while an ocean-salt body scrub or green-tea wrap will leave your skin feeling polished and petal-soft. There are three private double treatment rooms, each with a Jacuzzi, four private single treatment rooms, one outdoor spa sala and one outdoor Jacuzzi and steam room. In addition to courts for tennis and basketball or pétanque, you can complete the running track circuit by the water reservoir at the hotel’s sports centre, where free group fitness classes or charged yoga and Thai boxing (Muay Thai) will get your heart pumping (private classes are available on request).
Packing tips
Make sure you’ve packed everything you need in your beach bag before setting out to sunbathe – buggies are on hand to zip you up and down the hill, but if you forget something in your hillside villa it’s a long way back.
Also
Laundry service is available with prices starting at THB35.
Children
While the hotel has a kids’ corner, babysitting services, sports and craft activities, it’s perhaps more geared towards honeymooners than families. Parents must supervise little swimmers at all times, and extra beds are allowed in rooms.
Best for
Older children will get the most out of Pimalai.
Recommended rooms
Hillside Villas are 60 to 80 metres above sea level with a steep drop-off from the terrace and unfenced pool. Parents with children should be especially vigilant for safety. No bedrooms are interconnected.
Crèche
The unsupervised kids corner is open 10am to 5pm daily and is available to over-fours. Under-threes must be supervised by a parent or guardian.
Activities
The hotel puts on a programme of children's activities such as making beaded necklaces and art from materials found in the grounds, or pétanque, Thai boxing, soccer and kite flying which takes place on the beach. Be sure to book in advance.
Swimming pool
The beachside pool has a four- to five-metre unfenced drop off, while the hillside pool is 60 to 80 metres above sea level.
Babysitting
Babysitting is available at THB295 an hour with a minimum of two hours (book 24 hours in advance).
Sustainability efforts
Passionate about preserving the Andaman Sea’s delicate ecosystem, Pimalai Resort & Spa are involved in a range of marine conservation projects. Since 2004, they have successfully released clownfish, sea turtles, flower crabs, and hermit crabs back into the wild and are part of an initiative devoted to coral health monitoring and propagation. Signed up to the Unesco Sustainable Tourism Pledge, the hotel recycles all of its water, and its zero-food-waste policy has been in place for more than 10 years. It tracks and reports carbon emissions and they’ve made a significant reduction in single-use plastics, with a ban on plastic straws and drinks bottles. They also support the local community and businesses, inviting children from local schools to participate in beach clean-ups and provide training and employment opportunities for local Thai people.
