TV & Movies
How The White Lotus Season 3 Created “The Ultimate Hotel”
The resort doesn’t exist, but you can visit its pieces.
Take a beat before booking your trip to Thailand. If your goal is to stay at the real White Lotus Resort from Season 3, it exists only in the world of the hit HBO series. To create “the ultimate hotel,” as producer David Bernad recently described it to The New York Post, the team filmed at multiple different properties.
The Real White Lotus Hotel(s)
Like its previous chapters, The White Lotus Season 3 follows guests and staff at a high-end resort in a stunning locale. This time, the setting is Koh Samui, a lush Thai island featuring breathtaking beaches, serene spiritual sites, and bustling nightlife. Many of the scenes were filmed at the Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui, including guest rooms and villas, the breakfast and lunch restaurants, the pool, beach, paths, common areas, water hammocks, gym, boxing ring, and spirit house.
Unlike the Four Seasons resorts in Maui and Sicily that featured in Seasons 1 and 2, respectively, Bernad said the Koh Samui property’s reception area wasn’t “good for filming,” despite its beauty. Additional filming locations were in order, and they found one in Anantara Bophut Koh Samui. The five-star resort was used for scenes in the lobby, security station, hotel driveway, employee parking lot, and jewelry store.
Meanwhile, Anantara Mai Khao Phuket was used for the wellness sanctuary/spa, plus Belinda’s (Natasha Rothwell) room, and the Singing Bird Lounge in Anantara Lawana Koh Samui Resort became the bar. Rosewood Phuket’s Ta Khai restaurant was used as the dinner restaurant. Still other scenes were filmed in Acts Studio in Bangkok, where interiors were built.
Bernad likened the location scouting process to “speed dating,” telling The Post, “You kind of know it when you feel it.”
Other White Lotus Filming Locations
The season showcases numerous other wanderlust-inspiring sites and attractions in Thailand as its latest mystery unfolds. These include locations in Koh Samui, Phuket, Koh Phagnan, and Bangkok. Among them are the cultural center Dusit Dhewa (the show’s Buddhist Monastery Garden), Mu Ko Ang Thong National Marine Park, the Puket Yacht Haven Marina, and beaches such as Haad Rin and Choeng Mon.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand previously celebrated the country’s important role in The White Lotus Season 3 and looked forward to welcoming more visitors. TAT Governor Thapanee Kiatphaibool called it an honor for Thailand to be featured.
“The kingdom’s exotic natural beauty, rich historical sites and diverse landscapes are the perfect settings to share our fascinating culture, fantastic cuisine, top-notch wellness and luxury offerings, and most importantly our people and Thai hospitality,” she said in a statement. “Thailand has long been considered one of the world’s favourited [sic] filming locations.”
