You know the footage. The couple in linen, hand in hand, walking through a frame of palm fronds towards an infinity pool that catches the late sun. Fingers laced, a glance exchanged, a slow-motion dive. A barefoot sprint along the sand, giggling like schoolchildren who’ve broken out of assembly. The mood-music edits that every luxury hotel now commissions have flattened into a single visual language, and the gap between what they promise and what the holiday delivers is, by now, a running joke among anyone who’s watched enough of them.
Sinae, a 64-villa retreat on a Koh Sirey hilltop off Phuket’s east coast, has the reels. It also, more unusually, has the goods. The ocean panorama in the videos is the one you actually see from the bed. The private pool in the reels is the one in your own villa, since almost every room here has one. The seclusion is real enough that, over three nights, we crossed paths with perhaps four other guests. None of this should be surprising at the price point, and yet it routinely is, which says less about Sinae than about the industry it sits within. The marketing department, for once, hasn’t had to overpromise. The cascading hillside has done the work for them.
The Location
There’s nothing much within walking distance of the hotel itself. A handful of seafood shacks sit along the coast. Nearby, the TikTok famous PTT petrol station on Koh Sirey has become an unlikely tourist landmark for its panoramic sea views (people do photograph petrol stations now, apparently). But Sinae isn’t positioned for walkable convenience. It’s positioned for the view, the privacy and the feeling that you’ve left the rest of the island behind.
Koh Sirey is one of Phuket’s closest-kept cards. A small island just east of Phuket Old Town, connected to the mainland by a bridge so short you’d miss it if you blinked (or, indeed, nodded off for a moment in your Grab), it occupies a curious position: technically separate, practically attached, and atmospherically distinct from the beaches that define most visitors’ experience of the island. The landscape that greets you is all green hills, mangrove forest and thick tropical canopy, and the humidity drops a notch as soon as you’re under it.
You cross the bridge, past the spot where monkeys congregate in the evenings, and climb through a landscape of rubber plantations, modest local homes and the odd stray dog with zero agenda. Down near the water sits Koh Sirey’s Urak Lawoi community, one of Phuket’s oldest sea gypsy settlements, whose ancestors were among the first inhabitants of the Andaman coast. Twice a year, during the Loy Rua festival, they launch elaborately decorated boats out to sea carrying offerings. It’s a reminder that this part of Phuket has a story considerably older than the one told by those damn reels from a few paragraphs previous.
Sinae sits at the top of the island’s hill, and the views from up here are something else, easily one of Phuket’s most magnificent ocean panoramas. On a clear day, you can see across Sirey Bay to the limestone karsts of Phang Nga, with Koh Yao Yai and even the distant outline of Koh Phi Phi on the horizon. Mountains behind, sea ahead, that rare feeling of being surrounded by both. And not another hotel in the frame. Finding an uninterrupted view of sea and mountains simultaneously is becoming harder by the year. Sinae has one, and it knows it.
Phuket Old Town is around ten minutes by car, which is close enough to make an evening out feel effortless and far enough to insulate you from it. Decompress at Sinae during the day, then take a taxi into the Old Town for dinner. Royd on Dibuk Road is excellent for contemporary Southern Thai, while a few doors down, Raya does the traditional version from a century-old Sino-Portuguese mansion. For something else entirely, Marni on Montri Road turns out wood-fired Neapolitan pizza that has placed in Asia-Pacific’s top 50 four years running. On a Sunday, you can wander the Thalang Road Walking Street Market afterwards. It’s a smart arrangement: the seclusion of a hillside retreat with the dining scene of Phuket’s cultural capital a short ride away.
Back at base, and the choppy waters on this side of the island mean swimming off the coast is limited. Every cloud; those same conditions bring a welcome breeze that takes the edge off the afternoon heat. Down at the bottom of the hill, the bay has a narrow strip of sand and a few thatched-roof salas along the seawall, one with a tsunami warning sign posted to it. At low tide the water pulls way out, exposing mudflats where locals wade around collecting shellfish. It’s not a beach day destination, but it gives the location a sense of place that a manicured resort strip never could. Trade-offs go both ways.
Character & Style
Sinae’s design is a modern reading of coastal Thai vernacular, drawing on the fishing villages that have dotted Koh Sirey for generations.
The Sea Sai villas, with their curved, ribbed rooflines, look like lobster pots nestled into the hillside, a nod to the traditional Thai fish-trap designs that inspired them. Elsewhere, the Sky Pool Villas take their cues from local boathouses, their dark timber frames resembling the upturned hulls of fishing boats. Lying in bed with the sound of the wind and the sea rising up the hillside, you could almost believe you were on a vessel. A very comfortable, very stationary vessel with an excellent minibar, but still…
The material palette reinforces the sense of rootedness. Exposed terracotta brickwork, left deliberately unrendered, runs through the public spaces and entrance areas, its warm, weathered tones carrying an echo of Ayutthaya-period construction, where centuries of tropical rain have long since stripped the stucco from the old capital’s temples and forts to reveal the brick beneath. It’s a ruin-aesthetic rather than a reproduction, and it gives the place a weight and seriousness that most Phuket resorts, with their bleached timber and whitewashed concrete, simply don’t have.
Lattice screens punctuate the brickwork, filtering light in patterns that recall the ventilation grilles of Phuket Old Town’s Sino-Portuguese shophouses, and the connection feels deliberate: Sinae sits ten minutes from those same streets, and the architectural conversation between the two is one of the more thoughtful things about the property.
Outside the lobby, a fish skeleton assembled from driftwood and reclaimed timber is mounted against the brick, the bleached, salt-weathered grain suggesting old boat wood given a second life. Inside, a carved wooden shoal arcs across the reception desk, the figures mid-leap as though clearing a wave.
The latter is placed alongside Sinae’s Green Hotel certification and a small donation box, but it doesn’t feel preachy or performative. The hotel runs four beach clean-ups a month, restores mangrove forests along the coast, and grows its own herbs and vegetables on site using compost from the kitchen. There’s a twice-monthly alms-giving ceremony for monks, too. It all feeds into the broader feel of the place: a resort that takes its setting seriously, and respects its role within it.
The hotel itself is built into a steep hillside, which gives the whole place a terraced, vertical quality and your calves a personality they didn’t previously have. Buggies shuttle between levels with commendable frequency, the drivers unfailingly cheerful despite the gradient, though guests determined to get their steps in can take the stairs. A full circuit on foot is a genuine workout, but the payoff is the occasional surprise view around a corner that makes the effort worthwhile.
We were met at the base of the hill and driven up, then escorted into one of the most beautiful hotel lobbies I’ve encountered, the kind of room you briefly consider swapping careers to work from.
Staff encouraged us to download the Sinae app, which handles everything from buggy requests to room service orders and spa bookings, and it works well enough that you never feel the need for a reception desk again. Unfortunate, I suppose, as we’d like any excuse to come back to this room.
With just 64 villas, Sinae is small enough to feel personal but large enough to ensure you rarely cross paths with other guests. The atmosphere is private without being precious, which is a balancing act that’s surprisingly hard to pull off at five-star level.
Rooms
An octopus with a sunhat awaited us in the room, on top of a bed of stratospheric thread count, which was either a charming cuddly toy or a veiled warning about the tentacular grip this place has on its guests. It set the mood: it’s the kind of place you come to let your hair down and get horizontal.
Every villa at Sinae comes with a private pool and an ocean view, which eliminates the usual hotel anxiety of wondering whether you’ve been assigned the one room that faces the car park. Eight categories span the range, from entry-level Studio Pool Villas through the fish-trap-inspired Sea Sai and the Premier Pool Suite with its crescent-shaped infinity pool, up to the Sky Pool Villa and the two-storey Family Pool Villa at the top end. In every sense of the word.
We stayed in a Studio Ocean Pool Villa, and the proportions were generous. The room is dressed in teak and stone, with a backlit feature wall behind the bed that looks impressive when lit at night. Floor-to-ceiling glass slides open to the terrace, and from the bed you’re looking straight at the Andaman Sea. The private plunge pool isn’t enormous, but it’s perfectly proportioned for a morning dip and the kind of aimless afternoon lounging that constitutes the core activity here. Views from the pool are superb. We told ourselves we’d leave the villa and explore by lunchtime. We did not leave the villa by lunchtime.
It’s easy to see why honeymooners gravitate to Sinae. The combination of a private pool, an uninterrupted sea view from the bed, and no reason whatsoever to leave the room creates the kind of cocoon that couples are after. Book the Premium honeymoon package and you get a floating breakfast delivered to your villa pool, flower bed decorations, a honeymoon cake, and a romantic bath drawn as part of an enhanced spa session.
Complimentary soft drinks are stocked in the minibar, a thoughtful touch at this price point. The room is well equipped for longer stays, with a pillow menu, a decent workspace, and a smart TV. Blackout options are effective.
Do be aware that some villa categories, particularly the lower-positioned ones, can have their sea views partially interrupted by neighbouring rooftops. If an unobstructed vista matters to you, it’s worth specifying when booking. The higher-sited villas and the Sky Pool Villa category deliver the full panoramic experience.
And whatever you do, don’t leave your shoes outside your room, even for a minute. Monkeys will take them. We learnt the hard way.
Facilities & Spa
There’s enough here to feel you’re not stuck on the hillside. Paddleboards, kayaks and bicycles are on hand (free, too), and each offers a different way into the rhythms of Koh Sirey. The kayaking along Sirey Bay is best tackled early, before the heat sets in; the east-facing water is sheltered from the Andaman swell, so you can paddle in relative calm past mangrove-fringed shoreline and longtail fishing boats heading out for the morning catch, with the green outline of Koh Yao Yai visible across the strait. It’s wonderfully grounding.
On the bike, the ride takes you along winding coastal roads next to calm waters, through rubber plantations and coconut groves where the tropical canopy of the Ratsada jungle cools the air around you. You pass the Chao Ley sea gypsy village at Laem Tukkae, its harbour crowded with painted fishing boats, and climb up to Wat Koh Sirey, where a golden reclining Buddha and a replica of Myanmar’s Kyaiktiyo Pagoda sit on a hilltop with views back over Ratsada Harbour. Long-tailed macaques hang around the mangroves near the bridge, and the whole circuit is short enough (Koh Sirey covers just 20 sq km) that you can be back for a late breakfast without having broken too much of a sweat.
The Sindh Spa, named after the Sanskrit word for river, sits near the top of the hill and offers traditional Thai massage, aromatherapy, facials and couples’ treatments. Private treatment rooms look out over the sea, and the whole thing is run with an unhurried professionalism that never tips into the transactional. A welcome drink before and a tea of your choice afterwards bookend each session. We had an aromatherapy massage that was good enough to make the return journey down the hill feel like floating.
The shared swimming pool sits on a lower terrace with views out over Sirey Bay, and while it’s not enormous, the setting more than compensates. It’s a good-looking spot, with handwoven sunbeds lining the deck and a clubhouse nearby for drinks and snacks. Since almost every villa comes with its own private pool, you may not find yourself up here often, but it’s a pleasant place to settle if you want a change of scene or a larger stretch of water.
A gym with modern equipment handles the fitness brief, and a daily manager’s reception gives guests a chance to mingle should they wish, though the general atmosphere at Sinae tilts towards seclusion rather than socialising.
Then there’s the Hilltop Cafe, and getting to it is an experience in itself. The buggy climbs steeply through the treeline to the summit of Koh Sirey, the ascent having something of a roller coaster about it, before you arrive at what might be the most spectacularly positioned cafe on the island. The descent is equally heart-thumping. Our driver took the hairpin bends with the casual confidence of someone who does this forty times a day. We gripped the handrail with the casual confidence of someone who does not.
Recently refreshed, it’s far more than the Starbucks outpost the name might suggest. The full international menu, overseen by Chef Bee, does curry, pizzas and everything in between, and there are freshly baked pastries for those brunching with a view. There’s also a dedicated bar mixing cocktails and mocktails alongside the coffee. You can come for a light bite or settle in for a full meal – really, you’re here for those views first and foremost.
Non-guests can visit for a 500 baht voucher redeemable against food and drink, though hotel guests have a reserved area and complimentary buggy access. The views from up here are vast, and on a clear evening you can watch the sun set over Phang Nga Bay with a beer or a cocktail in hand. You might spot a monkey in the trees, too, which is either a bonus or an occupational hazard depending on what you’re eating.
Food & Drink
SAI Bistro & Bar is Sinae’s main restaurant, positioned at the base of the property with an open terrace overlooking the bay.
Inside, the design takes its cues from the longtail boats that have worked these waters for centuries, those narrow, painted vessels you see pulled up on every beach from Rawai to Railay. It’s a gorgeous room, with high ceilings, warm wooden finishes, and enough space between tables that the whole thing feels open and laid back, the execution restrained enough to evoke a fisherman’s village without overdoing the reference.
A word of warning: the air conditioning inside runs cold enough that you’ll want a cardigan or a light layer, particularly in the evenings. The smarter move is to sit out on the terrace, where low lighting and the sound of the sea below make for a romantic dinner, with mosquito coils doing their work beneath the tables. A resident cat, unbothered by service or sunset, holds court on one of the terrace chairs as though the table were booked in its name.
But it’s SAI’s Indian menu that deserves the loudest billing. We had a butter chicken, deliciously sweet and tangy, and generously portioned, and a dahl makhani, slow-cooked with that deep, smoky sweetness that only comes from hours of patience with black lentils and cream. We mopped away at both with warm roti, and they were great, the kind of food that had us returning to the same section of the menu the following evening without a shred of guilt. We ordered the butter chicken again on night three. The waiter didn’t even blink.
Both the Thai and Indian sides of the menu are reassuringly short, a handful of choice dishes rather than the sprawling, fifteen-page laminated affair that usually signals a kitchen trying to do too much.
The Thai side leans into the Southern Thai and Phuket Peranakan flavours that define the island’s culinary identity, rather than defaulting to the pad thai and green curry greatest hits that most hotel kitchens fall back on. The muek tom nam dum, a Phuket-style squid ink soup with shrimp paste, shallots, garlic and lemongrass, is a good example of how specific the cooking gets here, and the gaeng som is excellent too, puckering, refreshing and bracingly hot. The best approach is to order a few dishes and share, and if you’re unsure on the balance, ask your server to guide you. They know the menu well and they’ll steer you right. If you’re looking for a one-dish wonder, the pad mee Hokkien is a solid call, although for a really great version it’s worth dipping into the Old Town and having it at Mee Ton Poe.
For cocktails with a view, SAI Lounge & Wine sits alongside the main restaurant, offering drinks and snacks in a more intimate setting that looks out over the ocean. It’s a good spot for a pre-dinner drink or a late-evening glass of something without the formality of a full sit-down meal. The Hilltop Cafe is the better spot for a sundowner, though. The combination of a cold Singha over ice and that view is a formidable one.
Breakfast is served at SAI Bistro, and it’s a good spread. We had an excellent kanom jeen, the fermented rice noodles served with Southern Thai curry sauces that constitute one of the great breakfasts of this part of the world. There’s a generous buffet alongside, covering both Thai and Western ground, with eggs cooked to order and smoothies you can assemble yourself. The specials menu goes beyond the usual hotel breakfast territory, too, with migas, avocado on toast with beetroot hummus and feta, and a red velvet French toast that leans fully into brunch mode.
The breakfast buffet offers champagne, because it is a fancy, refined kind of place. Nobody questions champagne at nine in the morning if it arrives in a flute and the hotel has five stars. Crack open a lager, though, and you’d be getting concerned looks from the next table. It’s strange how we act on holiday.
Room service runs round the clock and can be ordered through the app, which is useful when the prospect of getting dressed to walk to the restaurant feels like too much commitment after a long afternoon by the pool.
Ideal For…
Couples and honeymooners, emphatically. Sinae offers three tiers of honeymoon package, each available as an add-on with a minimum three-night stay.
Big celebrations, too. The seclusion of some villas means it’s the right place to spend your birthday in your birthday suit.
Old Town foodies using the hotel as a base. Sinae’s proximity to Phuket Old Town makes it a fine perch from which to explore one of the most concentrated Michelin-listed food scenes in the country, then retreat to your hilltop pool when the heat becomes too much.
Travellers who want Phuket without the Phuket. Koh Sirey feels like a different island. If you’ve done the west coast beaches and want something more residential, more private, more removed from the strip, this delivers.
It’s less suited to those who need a beach on their doorstep, or families with young children who might find the steep terrain and grown-up atmosphere a mismatch, though Family Pool Villas do exist for those who need the space.
Why Stay?
This is a place that is worth the splurge. Sinae Phuket does something increasingly difficult on an island where development has outpaced discretion in many corners: it gives you the sea, the sky and the hills without putting another building in the frame. The private pool villas are thoughtfully designed, the setting on Koh Sirey’s hilltop is genuinely special, and the proximity to Phuket Old Town means you’re never far from the island’s best eating, even if the hotel itself feels a long way from everything.
Come for the view, stay for the seclusion, and bring someone you’re fond of. The octopus on the bed is waiting.
Rooms start from around 8,500 baht (£198) per night in low season, rising to around 24,000 baht (£560) at peak. Rates include breakfast.
Address: 888, Ratsada, Mueang Phuket District, Phuket 83000, Thailand
Website: sinaephuket.com
