This close to Koh Samui’s bustling Chaweng Beach, the greatest service a hotel can provide is a break from the crowd. Enter the Library, a stunning modern minimalist hotel, set on an acre and a half of protected land. It’s so named not just for the hush that falls over you upon entry — though that part is nice too — but for the collection of books and videos that line the walls of the all-white reading room down by the beach.
Accommodations are spacious and bright, and look even more so, by dint of the sparse décor: platform beds, black lacquered furniture, spare modern furnishings, and plenty of soothing stark white. Ground-floor suites come with open-air living rooms and Jacuzzis, while upper-level studios make do with balconies and eye-catching square bathtubs.
In the end the Library’s calling card might be not the library itself, but the striking red-tiled swimming pool, to match the red deck umbrellas and the red upholstery in the otherwise monochrome guest rooms. Or, less literally, it might just be the air of exclusivity about the place — all the action you could want is just minutes away, but the Library affords a rare tranquility.
author watson@mouselink.net, source www.tablethotels.com