Inside the luxurious Thai hotels that star in the new White Lotus

On a perfect patch of calico beach, honeymooners wrap themselves together in the pearlescent-blue sea. A long-tail boat putters along the horizon, prayer ribbons fluttering in the breeze. Behind me, sun-kissed bodies are draped around an infinity pool striped by slivers of shade cast by towering palm trees.

Condensation trickles down jars of “jungle bird” cocktails delivered by waiters in palm-print shirts while electronic music plays lazily in the background. Welcome to The White Lotus Thailand – otherwise known as the Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui.

On the off chance you haven’t heard, the third season of the hit HBO Original show is due to return to our screens early next year. Following the previous two seasons, which were shot at the Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea in Hawaii and the Four Seasons San Domenico Palace on the Italian island of Sicily, the action will be taking place at one of Four Seasons’ Asian properties.

But for the first time, The White Lotus will also feature scenes shot at other luxury hotels, including the Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok, Anantara Bophut (also in Koh Samui), and the Anantara Mai Khao in Phuket.

Naturally, everyone involved has been sworn to secrecy and there’s no guessing the plotlines from the 12 seconds of micro-trailers that have so far been released – so there’s no spoilers here. But as an ex-resident of Thailand, who still has friends scattered across the country, I thought I’d be able to glean a few clues, so I slipped into my best kaftan to investigate some of the show’s new blockbuster backdrops.

I started my detective work at the winner of Telegraph Travel’s inaugural 50 greatest hotels in the world awards, the Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok, where writer-producer Mike White was spotted lolling around the orchid-filled lobby last year. Friends in the capital had reliably informed me that the hotel’s beloved Bamboo Bar had closed for a few weeks over summer – they suspected for filming, denying them heady nights drinking banana, honey and pomelo daiquiris accompanied by the best live jazz in the city.

A scene from the trailer also features a shot of the giant golden Buddha that towers above the Thonburi klongs (canals), which are within long-tail boat distance of the storied Bangkok hotel.

From the MO, I headed south to the island of Samui, in the bright blue Gulf of Thailand, to spend a couple of nights at the Anantara Bophut Resort, which had suspiciously closed over the June and July high-season months. I stayed in a cavernous teak-clad corner suite with a wraparound balcony overlooking the sea, but it is the spa that plays a starring role here.

Set behind dusky pink adobe walls, its reception appears to float in a square of lotus-flower ponds. Stepping stones lead to abundant gardens in which lavish treatment rooms featuring double-height glass walls and private gardens with sunken bathtubs are hidden behind huge carved wood doors. We know from the trailers that Natasha Rothwell will reprise her role as spa manager Belinda from season one, and we also see her standing in what looks remarkably like the Anantara Bophut’s grand entranceway.

My suspicions seemed confirmed when I reached my next stop at the Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui, where the small but truly wonderful spa is squeezed into the forested hillside, with five treatment rooms teetering on stilts at the end of raised walkways – which would be impossible for any large-scale filming.

With Four Seasons having entered into an official partnership with HBO and Max, offering pop-up “White Lotus experiences” at Four Seasons hotels around the world, resort manager Hannes Schneider was able to confirm that the spa wasn’t suitable for shooting. Hardly a concern given that the rest of the hotel, which can be found on the quiet northwest of the island, will feature so prominently.

There are cinematic scenes here from the moment you set foot inside the hilltop welcome pavilion. Views sweep across a rainforested headland that curves down to a comet of white beach fronted by a vast expanse of luminous blue water. Dotted amid the greenery are 70 peak-roofed villas and residences, all with large verandas and lengthy private swimming pools. You’d be looking at around £1,000 a night to stay currently – but almost all are booked out through to April 2025.

However, if you fancy bagging the exact villa where filming took place, and have £10,000 a night going spare, you’ll want Residence 9. The villa’s coastal panorama was captured by the film crew who posted a photograph of the opening clapperboard to HBO’s Instagram account on February 14 this year.

The opulent escape set high on the hillside is spread over two levels, with four bedrooms, two infinity pools and numerous outdoor salas that look out across the Gulf of Thailand and Koh Phangan. Elegant interiors blend Thailand with the Hamptons; think glossy teak floors, vaulted rattan ceilings, ivory-coloured walls, delicate botanic prints, brushes of celadon and coastal blues. Although set designers revamped the spaces for filming, so they won’t look quite the same on the show.

What will be instantly recognisable is the main swimming pool, which appears in the second shot of the trailer. This 50m hotel pool of dreams sits between the chic CoCoRum bar and the boulder-studded beach. There are no private beaches in Thailand but as this one can only be reached by boat it’s not far off – but it certainly isn’t large enough to recreate the Full Moon beach party we see in the “Coming to Max in 2025” teaser.

Which took me to my last stop, the Anantara Mai Khao on the northwest coast of Phuket. There’s enough sandy square-footage here to film the next Dune movie and the hotel was also unexpectedly closed for two months earlier this year.

I suspect Anantara Mai Khao’s photogenic water gardens, designed by Bill Bensley, may also feature, as well as the expansive villas, which have bathtubs set into their private pools. It was a rather odd experience to bathe in one, with just a glass panel separating my soapy water from the chlorinated pool, but it did get my mind wandering as to the kind of weird double drowning murder plots that might materialise in the new White Lotus.

We don’t yet know what might end up on the cutting room floor, but we do know that this is about to take Thailand to a whole new level of fame. Flight bookings to the country have surged by 28 percent compared to the same time last year and hotel rates are on the rise. If you’re planning a White Lotus-inspired escape, now is the time to book.

Lightfoot Travel (0203 950 5105) offers a seven-night holiday to Thailand from £4,700 pp, staying two nights at the Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok and five nights at the Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui, B&B, including return flights from the UK, internal flights and private transfers.