18 of the best family hotels in Thailand for a great break together The Times Lee Cobaj, Thailand expert 18 of the best family hotels in Thailand for a great break together Thinking about taking your brood to the Land of Smiles? The choice can be overwhelming in this naturally family-friendly country — rest easy, our expert has you covered Four Seasons Koh Samui Lee Cobaj , Thailand expert Thursday October 22 2026, 5.00am BST , The Times Listen 0:00 / · 19:32 min Share Share this article Email Twitter Facebook Link Save M emorable moments with the family come easy in Thailand — searching for pink dolphins, white-water river rafting, plunging into waterfalls, learning to snorkel. Thai culture embraces children, so there's no need to worry about anyone turning their noses up either. This extends to the hotel scene too — many welcome families, with spacious rooms (often with private pools), easy mealtimes and stimulating kids' clubs. With somewhere for every type of family — from jungle hideaways to urban resorts — we've put together our pick of the best places for a proper family holiday in Thailand. All you need to decide is where to go next. All recommendations within this article are informed by independent expert editorial opinion. This article contains affiliate links and links to our in-house travel agency, Times Holidays, all of which will earn us revenue. Editors' choice Best for wildlife Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp and Resort Best for design InterContinental Khao Yai Resort Best for teens Rosewood Phuket Best for value Avani + Khao Lak Best for young children Six Senses Koh Yao Noi Best for luxury Four Seasons Koh Samui How to book Click the “Book now” button to start organising your trip with our in-house travel agency Times Holidays or one of our affiliate partners 1. Samujana Villas, Koh Samui ￡￡￡ | SPA | POOL | Best for A-list privacy Top stories 1 Tripsnacking? Finally a travel trend I can get on board with Advice On a hillside above Cheong Mon beach in Koh Samui, this collection of 23 private villas provides the kind of privacy and good looks that would satisfy even the most diva-like A-listers. Accommodation ranges from one-bedroom split-level villas with gigantic private pools and pinch-me sea views to rambling eight-bedroom compounds with vast infinity pools, gyms, games rooms and cinemas. Everyone gets a villa manager who can arrange everything from a private chef (adept at kids' menus) or a nanny for the week to Muay Thai classes, spa treatments and boat trips. 2. Banyan Tree Krabi ￡￡￡ | SPA | POOL | Best for wellness escapes Advertisement This contemporary Thai resort — white timber pavilions, peaked roofs, artsy rattan furniture — has a sublime location on Tubkaek beach, one of the most gorgeous bows of bone-white sand in the country. There's an emphasis on wellness, with lots of tranquil tropical gardens, lagoon-shaped pools, a comprehensive fitness centre, complimentary yoga and an enormous spa with a rainforest-themed hydrotherapy suite. But there's also a kids' club with its own little waterpark and an outdoor play area with a zip line, rope bridge and dragon cave. Travel newsletter Your weekly round-up of the best travel inspiration, guides, hotel reviews and advice from our experts. Sign up with one click You've successfully signed up to the Travel newsletter Explore our newsletters An error occurred. Please use the link below. Travel newsletter Explore our newsletters 3. The Peninsula Bangkok ￡￡ | SPA | POOL | Best for an urban getaway Top stories 1 High street banks are on borrowed time Saving & Investing 2 Belgium's most stylish autumn weekend break — and it's not Bruges Belgium With its riverside setting, three tiers of palm-fringed swimming pools and spacious interconnecting rooms, the Peninsula Bangkok feels more like a tropical resort than a city hotel. Flexible check-in and check-out times mean you won't have to worry about what time your flight lands or departs and the experienced staff ensure every member of the family feels like a VIP. There's no kids' club but youngsters can join the Peninsula Academy and try their hand at Thai cookery classes, Thai art classes and Muay Thai. Parents shouldn't miss the spa. Other fun things to do include a long-tail boat tour of the nearby Thonburi canals, where you can spot monitor lizards slithering through the water and feed gigantic catfish for good luck. Best hotels in Bangkok 4. Four Seasons Koh Samui ￡￡￡ | SPA | POOL | Best for all-out luxury Advertisement Tumbling down a jungle-clad hillside in the largely undeveloped south coast of Koh Samui, this swish hotel has its very own patch of golden private beach and coral reef, as well as all the five-star facilities you might need for a luxurious family holiday — beachfront infinity pool, water sports, fabulous restaurants, knockout cocktails, a cookery school and an alluring spa. All of the villas are roomy, with outdoor space and Gulf of Thailand sea views. The outdoorsy kids' club, centred around a treehouse, is free and open from 9am until 6pm, and there's also a beach house with pool tables, air hockey and video games for teens. Read our full review of Four Seasons Koh Samui 5. Six Senses Koh Yao Noi ￡￡￡ | SPA | POOL | Best for junior eco warriors Most commented 1 Where's Marie Curie? GCSE science 'fails to credit women' Science 34 comments 2 MI5 spied on NHS founder Nye Bevan for decades History 16 comments 3 US withdraws diplomats from Saudi Arabia amid deadly Houthi attacks US news 31 comments 4 Times letters: Failure to protect the elderly in care homes Letters to the Editor 6 comments 5 On this day Universal Register 13 comments You can live out your Swiss Family Robinson fantasies at this nature-centric resort on the serene island of Koh Yao Noi, halfway between Phuket and Krabi. Aside from enjoying tuk-tuk rides, cycling, kayaking, cooking classes and outdoor movie nights, kids can sign up for a three-day Eco Warrior programme that takes them scooting all over the island collecting and planting seeds, visiting farms and taking part in beach clean-ups — leaving parents to flit between the holistic spa and half-moon infinity pool perched on the hilltop, overlooking the crooked limestone karsts of Phang Nga Bay. Read our full review of Six Senses Koh Yao Noi Advertisement 6. Kimpton Kitalay Samui ￡￡ | SPA | POOL | Best for learning to swim The calm waters of Choeng Mon beach are gentle enough for little ones who are still in armbands, and ideal for those who are old enough to learn to snorkel — look out for colourful anemonefish (aka Nemo), butterfly fish, angelfish and parrotfish. On land, there's Junio Kids' Club, a spacious indoor-outdoor place with mini-waterslides, fountains, climbing frames, see-saws and stacks of games, open from 9am until 6pm. Family rooms in the main building are big, bright and breezy. If you want to splash out, there's also a glorious two-bedroom villa with a private pool and direct access to the beach. 7. Andaz Pattaya Jomtien Beach, Na Jomtien Hyatt ￡￡ | SPA | POOL | Best for a fly-and-flop On golden sands 12 miles down the coast from the hubbub of Pattaya, the Andaz ticks all the boxes for an easy family holiday. For a start, it's a 90-minute drive from the airport in Bangkok , so you can pretty much roll off your flight and straight onto the beach. Even the entry-level rooms are big enough to comfortably take a roll-out bed, while higher categories have roof gardens, plunge pools or direct access to the lazy lagoon swimming pool, which young ones will be delighted to discover also has a water slide. The Sanuk Sanuk Kids' Club keeps them busy with treasure hunts and garland-making while parents slip off to the onsen and spa. Most beautiful places in Thailand Advertisement 8. InterContinental Khao Yai Resort, Pak Chong ￡￡ | SPA | POOL | Best for dreamers Toot toot! All aboard the magical Thailand Express that is the InterContinental Khao Yai. On the rainforested fringes of Khao Yai National Park, this 64-room resort has been stylishly designed (by the landscape architect Bill Bensley) with a 19th-century railway theme, featuring artfully aged railroad tracks, ticket booths and vintage train carriages that have been repurposed into one-of-a-kind suites. Family suites have double bunk beds and amenity kits that include a magnifying glass, binoculars and a guide to the animals found around the resort. The kids' club has a full schedule of treasure hunts, Thai dancing classes and arts and crafts — or you can hit the park in search of wild elephants, enormous hornbills, porcupines and monkeys. 9. Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp and Resort, Chiang Rai RICHARD WAITE ￡￡￡ | SPA | POOL | Best for animal lovers If there's one Thailand family holiday memory that you'll never forget, it's meeting an elephant — just be sure to do it right. Sharing 160 acres of northern Thai jungle with an ethically run elephant sanctuary, the Anantara Golden Triangle trumps the competition when it comes to up-close encounters with the world's largest land mammals. Spend mornings walking with the herd as the mist rises over the border between Thailand, Laos and Myanmar; afternoons feeding the gentle giants with bananas, watermelons and pumpkins; and the night in a family-sized jungle bubble inside the sanctuary, where you can observe a steady parade of elephants passing through the night. Best family adventure holidays Advertisement 10. The Slate, Phuket Expedia ￡￡ | SPA | POOL | Best for affordable style Designed by Bensley with a fantasy-industrial theme that echoes the tin-mining heritage of Phuket , this beach resort is far more stylish than your average family-friendly hotel. Modern rooms, suites and villas — 185 in total — are situated amid colourful gardens, eight restaurants, a spa, a kids' club and three turquoise swimming pools (one for families, one for quiet time and one with a swim-up bar). Alternatively, there's Nai Yang beach, which goes on for miles. Take a 20-minute walk north and you can stand at the end of Phuket airport's runway watching the planes come in to land (don't worry, the engine noise doesn't carry as far as the resort). Best hotels in Phuket 11. Our Jungle House, Koh Sok National Park ￡ | Best for going wild A three-hour drive north of Phuket is Khao Sok National Park, one of the world's oldest rainforests, home to massive mountains, titanic lakes and trees as tall as skyscrapers. The best way to experience it all is by spending a few nights at Our Jungle House, which organises a plethora of activities, from elephant sanctuary visits and birdwatching to whitewater rafting and Bear Grylls-style survival skills camps. The rooms, which range from little wooden cottages to two-storey family treehouses, are back-to-basics but great fun. 12. Avani + Khao Lak Sven Ellsworth ￡ | SPA | POOL | Best for active families About an hour's drive north of Phuket airport, the Avani+ Khao Lak has a plum location on Bangsak beach, which is lapped by the bath-warm Andaman Sea and stretches north and south as far as the eye can see. The airy two-bedroom family villas with their private swimming pools, mini-kitchens and washing machines are the ones to bag. From the bountiful breakfast spread to the pool snacks and beach barbecues, the food is consistently excellent. Facilities include two swimming pools, water sports, a Muay Thai ring, a kids' club, a playground, a surf-skate park and an outdoor climbing wall. Best places to visit in Thailand 13. Rosewood Phuket ￡￡￡ | SPA | POOL | Best for a multi-generational break This upmarket escape in the south of Phuket has all of the generational bases covered. Babies and tots up to three years old are christened Rose Buds and are provided with baby-proofed rooms, fenced-off private pools, monitors, healthy home-made foods and organic skincare products. Children aged four to nine can join the fantastic Explorers Club, learning about sustainability in entertaining ways, such as turning beach plastics into art, making wind chimes out of bamboo and clothes from recycled materials. Teens can try mocktail making and DJ workshops. For the older generations, there's the beach, swimming pool, brilliant food and a top-notch spa. Which is the best island in Thailand? 14. JW Marriott Phuket Marriott ￡￡ | SPA | POOL | Best for non-stop fun Whatever your age, you'll be constantly entertained at this sprawling, family-friendly resort on the golden sands of Mai Khao beach in the north of Phuket. Aside from attending a rambunctious kids' club, children can also sign up for more comprehensive camps of one to five days, leaving guardians with more time to enjoy morning aqua yoga in the adult swimming pool (one of three), hot sand poultice massages at the spa and evening entertainment that might include live music in the Sala Sawasdee Lobby Bar or fire dances on the beach. There's also an outpost of the Mai Khao Marine Turtle Foundation on site where you can visit sick, injured and nesting rescue turtles. 15. Hyatt Regency Koh Samui Hyatt ￡ | SPA | POOL | Best for travelling with teens On Chaweng beach, this sunny resort has been unashamedly designed for the Instagram/TikTok generation, with eight spots marked around the hotel for selfie-taking — think beach-framing pavilions, tiers of squiggly infinity pools and neon-lit waterfalls that will keep your teens busy for days. Elsewhere, there's a splash park with a water slide and Camp Hyatt, where younger children can finger-paint, rope-swing and climb aboard a kid-sized aircraft. There are family suites and connecting rooms, but — for the ultimate online cred — book the presidential suite, with its rainbow-striped infinity pool. More great hotels in Thailand 16. Lisu Lodge, Chiang Mai ￡ | Best for country pursuits Surrounded by rice fields, palm-shaded rivers and tea plantations in the Mae Taeng countryside, an hour's drive from the centre of Chiang Mai, this community-led lodge is named after the neighbouring hill tribe. Twenty rooms are spread over four stilted hill-tribe houses with rattan walls, bamboo sofas and platform beds; rates include a fascinating guided tour of an animist village where tribespeople wear elaborately embroidered outfits, use poison arrows for hunting and hang beehives in the doorways to ward off evil spirits. Additional activities include cycling, whitewater rafting and ox-cart rides. 17. Anantara Siam, Bangkok ￡￡ | SPA | POOL | Best for downtown digs You couldn't be any closer to downtown-Bangkok shopping and dining action than at this sprawling resort in the heart of the city. Within a few minutes' walk you have Erawan Shrine (depicting the three-headed elephant god Airavata), as well as Lumphini Park (where you can rent pedalos and spot monitor lizards) and some of the city's biggest malls: CentralWorld, Siam Paragon, MBK and Platinum. Back at base, there are spacious rooms, plenty of restaurants, a huge outdoor swimming pool and a kids' club. 18. Aava Resort and Spa, Khanom ￡ | SPA | POOL | Best for proper R&R Despite a stellar location on the southeast coast of mainland Thailand, a short ferry ride from Koh Samui, Khanom has remained relatively untouched by tourism. Its long white beaches, gentle blue-green waters, hidden waterfalls and gorgeous wildlife (including a small population of candyfloss-pink Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins) make it ideal for a quieter nature-based getaway. Finnish-owned and Scandi-style, Aava Resort and Spa taps into a laid-back vibe with 28 airy rooms and villas, an on-trend restaurant featuring lots of local ingredients and a small spa. The hotel also has a free kids' club and complimentary babysitting. Best things to do in Thailand We regularly reassess and refresh this list, adding the latest advice and inspiration Do you have a favourite hotel for the family in Thailand? Please share in the comments below Travel Destinations Asia Thailand Bangkok Family hotels Thailand hotels Thailand Share Share this article Email Twitter Facebook Link Save