Love Blooms: This Koh Samui resort plants a flowering tree for each couple married on its grounds

Most Thai resorts offer services targeted at couples hoping to make a memorable mark on their holidays: beachside proposal dinners, weddings of all sizes and styles, honeymoons filled with champagne and rose petals, and anniversary dinners with romance and candlelight.

Some resorts try to offer those extra little touches that set them apart from the rest.

At Centara Villas Samui, for instance, we noticed little wooden signs poking out of the resort’s lush landscape with dates and couples names on them. Some of them looked brand new, while others looked like they’d weathered more than a few monsoons. When Coconuts asked General Manager Karin Jongman about the plaques, she explained that the resort plants a frangipani tree for couples that get married on the property.

And indeed, as we looked closer, each sign was at the foot of one of the pretty, fragrant blooming trees. The older signs were placed near the base of the larger trees, while the newest one, planted just a few weeks earlier for newlyweds Karina and Scott, sat beside a sapling just barely bigger than the sign itself.

Jongman said that the resort has been offering the service for over a decade and that the trees are scattered around the property. Couples that have been married at the resort often vow to come back and visit their tree every few years, and apparently, many have.

Since the resort recently had a refresh, with all the villas on the large property painted white, it has a modern colonial feeling that looks especially well suited for white weddings. 

Even if you aren’t getting married, the villas are still pretty sweet. They’ve got 102 Southern Thai-style villas, and 25 have their own 15-meter plunge pools while several others have outdoor jacuzzis.

Simple rooms start at THB2,700 (US$83) per night and allow guests use of three main pools and the private beach, while pool villas are 60 square meters and start at THB4,250 a night with a complimentary evening cocktail hour where you can hang out with your fellow guests.

FIND IT:

Centara Villas Samui
111 Moo 2
Natien Beach, Koh Samui
Rooms from THB2,700 (US$83)