Koh Lipe Luxury Hotel: Idyllic Concept Review (Luxury Resort on Sunrise Beach)

Once you go to Koh Lipe, you’ll know why I am obssesed with this gorgeous island. Add in staying at a luxury Koh Lipe resort and your holiday just got even better!

I have stayed in lots of different Koh Lipe hotels, from hostels to fancy resorts and this is my favourite luxury hotel in Koh Lipe. I stayed here in August with my sister and her boyfriend. We booked two rooms and were lucky enough to get upgraded to a Grand Deluxe Pool View room. They even threw in free kayaks! (All of this I paid fully for – this is not a sponsored post to be clear.)

Idyllic Concept is superior because of its design, room size, bathrooms, choice of two swimming pools and its location on sunrise beach, which is one of the top beaches in Koh Lipe for swimming, snorkelling, sunbathing and kayaking (and one of the top in Thailand quite frankly!).

You’re here to decide if Idyllic Concept is worth booking. So I’ll share what I loved, what I’d change, who it’s suitable for, and the few small downsides you should know before you book. We got it at a more affordable rate because we were there in August during rainy season. If I was feeling like a baller I would definitely go ahead and book the seaview room but it was out of my budget at this time!

If short on time, then check availability right now for Idyllic Concept Luxury Hotel on Agoda here

Quick verdict: is Idyllic Concept worth booking?

• Idyllic Concept is ideally located on sunrise beach, right at the end of the beach by Koh Usan which has lovely snorkelling spots (hello, pretty coral reefs!).
• This Koh Lipe luxury hotel offers two swimming pools, a delicious breakfast and spacious rooms.
• My only feedback for the hotel would be to provide water refills rather than plastic bottles in the room to be a more eco-friendly luxury resort in Koh Lipe.
• It’s perfect for friends, family or a romantic trip!
• At around 3000 baht a night during rainy seasons – booking a place this lovely is a no brainer!

Best for: It’s great for couples, would love to stay here on a honeymoon but also enjoyed my trip with my sister and her boyfriend! Divers and snorkellers who want a beautiful room on the beach to retire to after a day out on the ocean!
Not ideal for: people who want nightlife, Koh Lipe is pretty sleepy and not a party island
My top tip before booking: Make sure you get breakfast included – it was exceptional!

Stunning Views at Idyllic Concept

Idyllic Concept is located on sunrise beach which is a great beach for snorkelling and being near my favourite dive shop Adang Sea Divers. The views are stunning as Koh Lipe has the whitest sand beaches (it’s nicknamed the Maldives of Thailand – although I have worked in both the Maldives and Thailand so I can attest that it is pretty white sand and super clear turquoise water!)

Sometimes sunrise beach can be busy with longtail boats but that’s part of the view as you can see below! At low tide it gets very very shallow so it’s good for walking out but you cannot take kayaks or snorkel as you could cut yourself on the reef or damage the reef itself. I love that Lipe has these protections for its beautiful coral.

You can see two little islands from the view in front of Idyllic Concept Resort and they always have a board telling you about the tide timing so you can plan your ocean adventures around that!

Stunning Room Design

One of the features that makes Idyllic Concept one of the best luxury places to stay in Koh Lipe is the rooms and their unique design. I’m not an interior expert but they are very modern looking with statement pieces like unusual lamps and lighting.

All rooms offer complimentary water and tea and coffee along with a kettle and fridge. Tea is a big one for me and they had nice tea bags (not the rubbish Lipton ones that I don’t like!). Our room had a large balcony which was ideal for drying things after diving and snorkel ventures.

The rooms are lovely with various unusual features as part of their interior design and have great hanging ‘nest’ chairs on the balconies. Next time I’d splurge on the boujie room with the wrap around windows with ocean view!

The bathrooms are spacious, with a great waterfall shower and even a bathtub. They were cleaned every day and we were provided with shampoo, conditioner and shower gel along with other amenities. Bath tubs are rare in Thailand where I live, so I was excited by that! Super hot showers too as I always need that after getting a little chilly after scuba diving.

My only feedback for the hotel would be to provide water refills rather than plastic bottles in the room to be a more eco-friendly luxury resort in Koh Lipe. I also noticed the plugs were in strange places so there wasn’t a plug on the sideboard for the kettle so I had to plug it in near the bed or in the bathroom.

Restaurant and the yummy breakfast!

Another feature that makes Idyllic Concept the best resort in Koh Lipe is the restaurant and breakfast that is included.

As a vegetarian, I always love when restaurants provide loads of fresh fruit. As well as this, you could have any type of bread, pancakes, cookies, cereal, Asian cuisine or freshly made eggs of your choosing. They also provide tea and a coffee machine, freshly squeezed fruit juice and will make Thai tea or iced coffee for you. My sister and I loved these little glass cups of overnight oats, mango and chia seeds which were delicious and kept us full before our morning dive!

One of the other things about breakfast at this top Koh Lipe luxury hotel was that it started early so if you are scuba diving in Koh Lipe then you are able to eat before going diving. Most dives started at 8am so we could have breakfast at 7 and even half 6 at one point. Service was fast and the staff so smiley and efficient.

Lovely Staff

The staff were fantastic at the resort. There were really friendly and helpful and I felt like they could be themselves.

We were met at the pier and taken to the resort and given a welcome drink while we checked in. The hotel picked us up in an island version of a tuktuk so we didn’t have to carry our bags. It’s great that the hotel knows the timings of the speedboats so will be there when you arrive.

What it’s like at night: noise, bugs, AC, privacy

Nighttime on Koh Lipe is lovely and calm as I mentioned it’s not a party island. There’s a few bars and some great restaurants, mostly available on Walking Street which is a few minutes walk from Idyllic Concept. I love that you can walk around everywhere on Koh Lipe. There are some areas for cars but very rare to see one on the main walking street – usually just for deliveries to shops and restaurants.

• Noise: longtails have noisy motors (from second hand engines usually!) this can cause some noise disturbance on this peaceful island but it’s how everyone gets around
• Bugs/mosquitos: always some mosquitos around, particularly at sunset so stay covered up
• AC: great AC here, stayed the temp I set it at which is rare in Thailand as they don’t all have thermostats!
• Privacy: people could see onto the balcony from down in the pool but the windows were reflective

Activities to do on Koh Lipe (from Idyllic Concept)

From Idyllic Concept resort you can rent snorkelling gear, kayaks and stand up paddleboards at a very affordable price (a few hundred baht per day or per hour). They had the clear kayaks that I’ve always wanted to try out where you can see the coral and fish beneath you – love it!

Koh Lipe is a fantastic place to view healthy coral and, in my opinion, it is the absolute top snorkelling in Thailand. There is a wide range of marine life here that you can view snorkelling, diving or from a paddleboard or kayak – they even have clear perspex ones so you can see what is underneath! On one snorkel when we swam around Koh Usan we saw pufferfish, nemo, anemones, scorpionfish, tangs and really colourful coral.

Pros, cons, and deal-breakers (my honest list)

Pros

• Idyllic Concept is ideally located on sunrise beach, right at the end of the beach by Koh Usan which has lovely snorkelling spots.
• This Koh Lipe luxury hotel offers two swimming pools, a delicious breakfast and spacious rooms.
• The bathrooms are spacious, with a great waterfall shower and even a bathtub.

Cons

• Provide water refills rather than plastic bottles in the room to be a more eco-friendly luxury resort in Koh Lipe. This is a big one for me as I want to me as sustainable as possible when I travel. Luckily the dive resort offered free refills from large water containers so my sister and I would always fill our reusable water bottles there. Unfortunately my sister’s boyfriend had to use the plastic bottles as he wasn’t diving.
• I also noticed the plugs were in strange places so there wasn’t a plug on the sideboard for the kettle so I had to plug it in near the bed or in the bathroom.

How to Book (and how I check prices)

I always use Agoda to book all my Thailand hotels. I find that the rates are usually cheaper than with other providers and I find their set up easy to use. It’s easy to make money back on each booking with their cashback that you can claim a few months later too!

If you’re booking peak dates: December/January time is peak season in Thailand so the island can be busy as well as Songkran (around 15th April) for Thai New Year.

How to get to Koh Lipe (quick version)

The best way of getting to Koh Lipe from Bangkok is to fly to Hat Yai and then take a minivan (1.5hrs approx) and a speedboat (1.5hrs approx). It’s not the easiest journey but it does all work out. I generally use 12GO Asia to book or occasionally I’ve booked through my dive shop too.

Some people are worried about seasickness with the long speedboat ride. In my many trips to Koh Lipe I’ve only felt seasick once when the waves were rough. Although my friend Jen did feel awful one trip when I was fine. My travel sickness cure is to get travel bands.

The boats always offer you seasick pills which are common to take but they make me super drowsy and then I’m out for the rest of the day so I don’t bother anymore after a bad experience in Indonesia where I was zonked after!

Would I stay again?

In summary, Idyllic Concept is one of the best luxury places to stay on Koh Lipe and you won’t forget a trip to my favourite island in Thailand. I will definitely be back to stay at this resort!

Koh Lipe Itinerary

Looking for a Thailand itinerary that includes Koh Lipe? I have it covered with my multiple itineraries here that include the paradise island of Koh Lipe, for two week itineraries, three week itineraries or one month in Thailand itineraries.

Here is my full travel guide to Koh Lipe to discover what activities to do and where to eat. If this luxury resort isn’t for you then I have stayed at more affordable options here.

Looking at visiting other islands in Thailand? I have a Thailand island guide for them all.