OK. We have been to Bangkok, and absolutely fell in love with it. Now, we are gettng married next May, and just decided that we should return to Thailand for our honeymoon. Since it is our honeymoon, we really want to splurge. We will probably spend a few days in Bangkok at the beginning and end, and I really don't need much help with that part.

What I need to know is, if we want to lay on the beach and be completely pampered and have an unbelievably luxurious private hotel room/private villa, where should we stay? Phuket, Koh Samui, other? Which resort? We don't care too much about nightlife, and we would like to avoid the crowds. We just want peace and pampering for a week.

The next step would be some type of jungle adventure. My husband has always wanted to go on an elephant trek, so I would figure northern Thailand would be the way to go. So, again where should we go/stay that will be a wonderful experience, but also pretty upper-scale?

I have done a ton of reading on this board, but nothing quite discusses what I am looking for, especially in terms of focusing specifically on ultimate luxury, when cost is not that important.

thanks!

For absolute luxury:
Phuket - Amanpuri
Chiang Mai (not a beach though...) - Four Seasons/ Mandarin Oriental
Krabi - Rayavadee
Koh Samui - ?? Probably Sala Samui but it's not comparable to the FS/MO and Aman!

For May beacwise Samui would be much drier than Phuket, Koh Samui has lots of top range resorts, Napasai, Sala Samui, the Sila Evason, there are also private villas available and beach house if you want to have your own place, they can go up to $1,000 a night! Remember though you won't get the pampering at a private villa as you would at a luxury resort ! But quite a few reasonable in the $200-500 region, for Phuket the Amanpuri, Trisara or Maiton Island resort plus lots of other choices. If you wanted the Krabi area the Nakamanda resort or the Layana would probably suit.

www.phuket-luxury-hotels.com and click on Koh Samui, they have private luxury villas and beach houses plus the luxury spa resorts and other resorts.

If you want drop dead luxury combined with an elephant trek, Four Seasons is building a tented camp right on the banks of the Mekong River, just upstream from Anantara, in N Thailand. These will be luxury tents along the lines of some of the famous ones in Africa, with airconditioning, huge bathtubs, minibars and the full FS range of services. There will only be 15 tents and the camp will have its own elephants and mahouts. I believe they will also offer soft adventure tours into Myanmar and Laos, since it's right at the Golden Triangle.

It's due to open around the end of this year, so keep an eye on the FS website for when you can book.

If you want a more Boutique style place on Samui take a look at the Pavillion Boutique Resort at Lamai Beach, rates go from about USD 140-550

http://www.r24.org/beachsiam.com/sam...lion/pictures/

Wow, thanks for the tips. JamesA, your suggestions were incredible. I spent all weekend planning, and here is what I came up with:

8 days at Sala Samui
6-7 days at Four Seasons Chiang Mai
3-4 days in Bangkok

Of course, I am going to keep my eyes open for the tented camp Lindsey described. That sounds absolutely magnificent.

I have specific questions about Sala Samui and Four Seasons, so if anyone has stayed at either, I would appreciate the imput.

Sala - I read somewhere on this board that most rooms do not have an ocean view. Does anyone know which ones do? Right now, we are thinking about either a delux suite or a delux duplex suite.

Four Seasons - the descriptions of the rooms say they are in two-story groups of four. Does this mean that there is a room on the bottom and another above it? If so, are the bottom rooms the Garden Rooms and the top rooms the Mountain View/Rice Paddy View rooms? How do I guarantee that I am on the top story?

If you can't tell, view is very important to us. I really want an ocean view at the beach resort and a good view at Four Seasons.

Thanks!

I would communicate directly with the hotels about this...I'm sure they will be happy to describe the different rooms and views to you. Be specific about what you want and expect and ask for their best room for your needs.