The Place Koh Tao Review: All the Details!

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In the 10 months I lived on Koh Tao and all the visits back since, I’ve had the luxury of seeing many different sides of the island: I’ve seen her in moody monsoons with flooded streets; I’ve seen her from the perch of a hostel dorm bed after a night out with new friends; on a steaming, sunshiny day after a sweaty hike to a viewpoint; and of course from behind my computer screen while completing work for clients before going for a quick snorkel with a friend.

By far my favorite Koh Tao experiences have been when I’ve gone full-on tropical island getaway: private-luxury-villa style.

This past month, Luke and I had the lushest, most blissful stay at The Place Koh Tao, a collection of nine private luxury pool villas perched up in the mountains and jungle, away from the world.

Here’s my full review of The Place Koh Tao, with everything you need to know before you decide to book your stay:

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The ultimate Koh Tao private luxury pool villa experience

The only other time I had experienced luxury accommodation on Koh Tao was when I stayed at the Tarna Align with my parents earlier this year. Both the Tarna and The Place were fantastic experiences but definitely suited for a different type of trip.

Tarna is more “resort-style” and feels closer to town. The Place is really all about having total privacy, and I think that makes it more of a romantic place to stay. So I would say Tarna was great for our family holiday – so beautiful and relaxing and everything was taken care of for us – while The Place is ideal for really “getting away from it all”.

Seclusion AND convenience

The Place offers free pier pick up and drop off but since we were already on the island we just walked over. When we first arrived, Tasia met with us at the reception and walked us to our villa to give us a tour.

The Place is tucked away in the jungle on the hillside away from everything and yet it has all you could ever need at your fingertips – either in the villa or a phone call away.

(Literally a phone call away: they provide a local cell phone with preprogrammed numbers you can use to contact people on the island. We used the phone to call in delivery for lunch and dinner because we 100% did not want to leave the villa at any point in time haha.)

They also have an extensive movie collection; free snorkel gear and bicycles if you do decide to leave the villa; and complimentary breakfast ingredients so you can whip up breakfast, undisturbed, in your fully stocked villa kitchen. Honestly, they thought of everything.

That no-tan-line life

Our first order of business was enjoying the pool…in various states of dress.

Each villa comes with its own private infinity pool with ocean views. You are really hidden away from the world so, yes, you can skinny dip to your heart’s content. No tan lines, anyone?? 😉

We spent most of our time outside by the pool, on the lounge chairs or dining at the table. The view was honestly just mesmerizing.

Private infinity pool at The Place Koh Tao — The private infinity pool with sea views 😍

The bathroom of my dreams

The bathroom on its own is something to get excited for.

It. Smelled. Delicious. I don’t know what magical air freshener situation they had going on but every time I walked in there, I was overcome by how good it smelled.

After pool time and pre-dinner, we washed off the sunscreen in our villa’s rain shower amongst plants and pebbles. If you closed your eyes it was kinda like bathing in a waterfall in the jungle? But like a very gentle and warm one 😀

The Place Koh Tao review conclusion:

We were pretty sad when it came time to check out in the morning. It was like the island knew how bummed we were to leave — we woke up to drizzle and grey skies even though the previous day had some of the best weather we had seen on Koh Tao yet!

As we left the villa and went down to reception, we found all the staff lined up with umbrellas standing next to the car that would take us back down to “reality”. It was super charming and a nice way to say goodbye.

If I had to describe The Place Koh Tao in 4 words I would say comfort, privacy, beauty, and romance. If you are looking for something luxurious but still understated and completely private, this is the spot for you on Tao. It’s really no wonder their TripAdvisor reviews are so spectacular. (They are rated #1 of all Koh Tao hotels, which is truly impressive.)

Well, that closes the chapter on our review of The Place Koh Tao. If you’re ready to book your stay on Koh Tao’s [crowd voted!] best private luxury pool villa, check The Place Koh Tao’s availability here.