Awa Koh Chang

This is the kind of place you book when you want the island without the effort. Three restaurants, an outdoor pool, a pool bar and a spa on the property mean you can go days without making a decision harder than which lounger. That suits some people perfectly and bores others rigid, so be honest with yourself about which one you are before you book a week here.

Koh Chang itself is worth getting out for. It's one of Thailand's largest islands, up in Trat province near the Cambodian border, and the interior is jungle, waterfalls and steep roads rather than the flat resort sprawl you get further south. My advice is to treat the resort as a base and give at least a couple of days to the rest of the island.