I stumbled upon a picture perfect pool


“Infinity Pool” at Six Senses, Koh Samui, Thailand

Some of you may have seen the above photo I posted on Instagram yesterday, of a resort pool that overlooks the ocean and reflects the sky – what is similar to the famous one on top of Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, except in a much more breathtaking landscape. Some people asked whether I stayed there or got to swim in it.

No, that’s silly – well, partially. As a long-term backpacker who penny-pinches every meal, purchase, or scopes out the best dorm room deals, a resort of this calibre is pretty much out of the question. I’ll get to how much it costs later (because really, I didn’t know until I looked it up online, haha).

So the story goes that I was in search of the best beach, and best view on the island of Samui. I had rented a scooter for the day, and was pretty much free to roam about wherever (restricted the amount of gas I have, of course). If you looked at a map of the island, you’ll see that it’s the north-most point on Koh Samui. And it overlooks Koh Phangan – double win. Surely there’s a nice beach there!

Nope.

That was what I got told by the gate security when I arrived.

Me: Can I go see the beach?
Security: No no, there’s no beach there.
Me: Well… can I still take a look? *motions to go ahead*
Security: *reluctant* Ok… park on the left up there.

Ok, first stage passed!


Once I got in, there was a path to the reception, and a stairway to downstairs labeled “Six Senses Spa.” I walk on down and there’s no one at the reception of the spa – perfect. I quickly took a couple of photos of the beautiful view before someone appeared and greeted me as I was looking at their “spa menu.” $100 for a regular massage – that’s as much as I would pay for one back home! (the going street price here is around $10) This is definitely not a regular resort, I thought to myself.

Oh, what’s this? A path labeled “Pool.” Let’s check that out! When I got there, there was only one hotel guest sitting on a poolside chair. I looked out and saw one of the most amazing pools I’ve seen. The surface of the pool was calm like a mirror and had a perfect reflection of the ocean, sky, and clouds. This, I thought, was the perfect vacation getaway.


I decided to sit down at one of the other chairs as well since no one was around. The pool looked incredibly enticing at this point. It was as if it was beckoning me to swim in it. After 5 minutes of contemplation, I was about to take off my shirt and head in with my swimming trunks when a hotel staff came by with a towel in his hands. Oh shoot, stay calm and act normal.

Staff: Hi sir, would you like a towel?
Me: *caught offguard* Umm… yes please! (at this point I was thinking, this is incredible)
Staff: *about to hand over the towel* What’s your room number, sir?
Me: Umm… I’m staying here tonight. (Lame, I know. Lesson learned: next time scope out a room number and their pattern ahead of time, haha)
Staff: *senses something’s off and takes the towel back* Oh.. you can sit at the restaurant, sir…

I did proceed to sit there for the next half hour and enjoy the view without any protest and took some photos.

So there you have it, even though it wasn’t a HUGE win with an AWESOME ending, I still got what I wanted. Remember this saying when you’re travelling, it’s better to beg for forgiveness rather than ask for permission – no one knows who you are anyways. Good luck with entering the resort if I had told the security I wanted to go to the pool.

Now if I had only jumped in the pool a minute sooner…

P.S. The cheapest villa is $325/night and $600/night for the poolside villa. And the group owns a handful of vacation/resorts all around the world.

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