The Costs to Vacation Like a ‘White Lotus’ Guest at the Real-Life Resort in Thailand

Now on it’s third season, it’s pretty clear that The White Lotus is one of the most popular shows currently on TV. The season three premier had 2.4 million viewers, which is an increase of more than 50 percent over the season two premier. The show has been covered ad nauseam in the media, touching on everything from the hotel backdrop to the fashion choices made by some of the show’s more over-the-top characters.

And over-the-top they are. To date, all three seasons of the show have explored themes of privilege, wealth, social inequality, and cultural clashes through the lens of guests and staff at a chain of fictional luxury resorts known as “The White Lotus.” Each season is set at a different high-end hotel, intentionally chosen for its appearance as an exclusive destination available only to the small segment of the population who can afford it. Perhaps not surprisingly, all three seasons have been shot at high-end Four Seasons resorts. Season one was shot at the Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea in Hawaiʻi, while season two was at the Four Seasons San Domenico Palace in Taormina, Italy.

Photo: Four Seasons Press Room

Season three is set at the Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui, a luxurious beach resort built into a tropical hillside overlooking the Gulf of Thailand. It has villas with private infinity pools, as well as a robust menu of Western- and Eastern-inspired spa and wellness treatments. And the show’s characters seem to take advantage of all the resort offers — but not one person asks about the cost of a single activity. But we did.

Here’s what it would cost to vacation like a White Lotus guest, based on the actual cost of the activities the characters are shown doing at the Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui.

Photo: Warner Brothers Discover/HBO Press Room/Fabio Lovino

It’s a little difficult to tell what room each party is staying in at the The White Lotus, especially since scenes were probably shot across a variety of spaces that may not represent actual available rooms. But here’s roughly what travelers should ballpark, based on the Four Seasons Koh Samui booking website.

• Belinda Lindsey, the spa manager from “The White Lotus” season one in Hawaiʻi, travelers to Koh Samui by herself. She mentions in episode one that her room has two beds, and based on the views in the scene, she’s likely staying in a “Serenity Pool Villa.” Including fees, it starts at $1,303 per night in October (the island’s slow season).
• Jaclyn, Laurie, and Kate are three friends traveling together who appear to be sharing a three-bedroom residence. Those lodgings start at $5,726 per night if you take advantage of early booking discounts, or $7,157 per night, if the ladies booked a last-minute trip.
• The Ratliff family may also be staying in a three-bedroom villa. But if they had opted for a little more space with a four-bedroom residence, they’d pay $7,666 per night in October, or $9,584 per night without an early-booking discount.

Actress Sarah Catherine Hook in a yoga class at the fictional “White Lotus Thailand.” Photo: Warner Brothers Discover/HBO Press Room/Fabio Lovino

Each character on the show, at least up through the episodes that have been released, seems to be taking advantage of additional services each day of their vacation. While a few of the treatments mentioned in the show were likely created for plot reasons, many of the treatments are quite real, and available on property at the Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui. Here’s the cost of what characters would be shelling out for the various high-end treatments, based on the resort’s current spa menus.

• Chelsea is a 20-something woman traveling with Rick, her much older boyfriend. On her first day, she opts for a body scrub with waxing. While the resort doesn’t have prices listed for waxing, the most basic body scrub at the Four Season Koh Samui starts at $214 for 90 minutes.
• Rick, Chelsea’s boyfriend, begrudgingly does a stress management session with a meditation expert. The resort has no treatment called “stress management,” in real life, but it does offer “directed breath work release therapy,” to “learn to release anything that you are willing to let go of, be it everyday stress, anxiety, childhood traumas or other painful memories that have been stored in the body,” which seems very similar to what Rick does. That service is $273 per person for 90 minutes.
• In episode three, Laurie books an energy heeling session. Those are available with one of the resort’s “resident healers” for $178 per person for a 60-minute session.
• Most of the Ratliff family books at least one service per day. Oldest son Saxon books a sports massage (called a “deep therapeutic” in real life), priced at $175 per person for an hour. Daughter Piper does at least one guided yoga class, available in the resort’s yoga pavilion. It’s unclear if the resort offers any type of complimentary classes, but it lists guided morning and afternoon yoga at a rate of $119 per person (plus a 17 percent tax).
• Jaclyn, Laurie, and Kate seem to be doing a private yoga class, which is a little more reasonably priced. A class for a group of up to six people is a flat rate of $208, plus tax.
• Victoria Ratliff’s spa treatment isn’t specified by name, but based on her comments about trying to relax, she likely got a “Relaxing” massage, starting at $175 for an hour-long session.

Actor Nicholas Duvernay dining at the fictional White Lotus, filmed at the Four Season Koh Samui. Photo: Warner Brothers Discover/HBO Press Room/Fabio Lovino

During the first three episodes, characters are shown drinking and dining throughout the day. While most drinks and dishes aren’t mentioned by name, here are the ballpark sizes of the bills they’re racking up during their luxury vacations.

• One drink mentioned specifically is a martini, which Chelsea orders in episode one. Gins range from $9 to $22, and with about two shots of gin in each drink, it could cost her up to $44 per dirty martini.
• The characters are shown eating breakfast in the main dining area each morning. The breakfast buffet at the Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui starts at just over $50 per person, per day.
• Saxon Ratliff inquires about how to order a drink at the resort pool. The least-expensive drink he could order off the pool bar menu would cost 580 baht, or about $17 per drink. (Unless he ordered a mocktail for $11, though that would seem out of character for him).
• Victoria Ratliff orders in-room dining one afternoon. Since the room comes with a private butler, it’s unclear if there’s an extra fee for delivery to the rooms.
• While no wines are mentioned by name during the dinner scenes, the least expensive bottles of red or white are Thai wines from the Hua Hin Hills, priced at $50 each. If the characters splurged, they may be paying up to $172 for the priciest bottles.
• Dinner at the resort’s priciest restaurant (Pla Pla) can run up to $222 per entree, for an Australian black angus tomahawk steak.

Though prices at the Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui may seem steep, it’s not the most expensive White Lotus hotel to date. That honor belongs to season two’s San Domenico Palace, where basic rooms start closer to $1,500 per night, including taxes and fees. Rooms at the Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea are the most affordable, with off-season rates starting around $970 per night, including taxes and fees.