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- Pimlalana Mankong works at Four Seasons Koh Samui where The White Lotus was filmed.
- She said there were some aspects of the show that wouldn’t happen in real life at the hotel.
- Mankong experiences perks on the job like visiting other Four Seasons hotels and site restaurants.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Pimlalana Mankong, the front office manager for Four Seasons Koh Samui. It has been edited for length and clarity
The first time I visited Four Seasons Koh Samui in September 2013, I felt like a movie star.
I worked at the old Four Seasons in Bangkok and was given a complimentary stay.
I joined the Four Seasons in Bangkok as a receptionist in October 2009.
When you arrive at the Four Seasons Koh Samui a bellman welcomes you by striking a Thai gong. You walk through the hotel’s huge wooden doors to a panoramic view of the resort from the top of the hill. It’s a dramatic arrival experience.
During my visit to Koh Samui in 2013, I saw my former line manager. He said the city hotel and resort had a different ambiance.
The Four Seasons Bangkok was popular with business people. They might say, “Can I have my room key, as I have a meeting in 15 minutes?” At Koi Samui, everyone comes here to relax, and no one is in a rush. There were more opportunities to connect with guests and make special touches for them, which appealed to me.
Around this time, the old Four Seasons Bangkok was rebranding, and opportunities became available at other Four Seasons. I talked with my manager and moved to Koh Samui.
Golf carts and guest requests
In March 2015, I became the guest experience manager for the Four Seasons Koh Samui. Two years later, I joined the front desk of the hotel.
The first thing I had to do when joining the Four Seasons Koh Samui was to take a golf buggy driving test. As the resort is on a clifftop, they need to know you can handle the buggy to chauffeur guests to their room. The security guard pretends they are a guest and says, “Oh, I’ve forgotten my stuff, can you reverse back?” The journey has to be smooth for guests.
In 2019, I became director of housekeeping. If you want to be a general manager, you need to have experience in different areas of the hotel. In housekeeping, the focus is on anticipating the guests’ needs. If you see they only use two bed pillows, remove the others. If there are children in the group, we decorate their beds with monkey duvet covers and leave tiny robes in the closet.
When I moved to housekeeping, I gained a whole new perspective on the behind-the-scenes operations and their attention to detail.
In 2024, I became the front office manager. I now oversee 40 staff who work in reception, guest experiences and the concierge department.
We’re encouraged to check in with guests. In the past, we’ve managed to get our guests tables at a fully booked restaurant or arranged for shopping to be couriered to the island when a guest has lost their luggage. The only requests we will say no to are if they’re illegal.
Perks do come with the job. I’ve enjoyed complimentary nights at other Four Seasons hotels in Singapore and Hong Kong. Because I need to know what to recommend to guests, I’ve enjoyed a cruise on the Four Seasons yacht and get to try new menus in the restaurant.
Filming The White Lotus at the Four Seasons
I was the Director of Housekeeping when they filmed The White Lotus at our resort. The Four Seasons Koh Samui residences starred in The White Lotus as Ratliffe’s room, the room of the three female friends, and Rick and Chelsea’s room.
Looking after the cast and crew was a very different experience from looking after our regular guests. Our guests are here to relax, but the cast and crew were here to work. No one needed us to book a last-minute diving trip or a massage.
We were expecting a lot of paparazzi when filming started, but they kept the filming location such a secret that there weren’t any issues.
One moment on the show that does happen in real life is when the character Belinda visits Thailand to learn Thai massage. Hotel staff members can go on secondment and work in other hotels to gain skills.
A couple of things that happened on the show wouldn’t happen in real life. On the show, they’ve had people working in reception who were engaged and a security guard who wanted to date another employee. In real life there are regulations where a partner cannot be a direct report, or if you are a security, then you should not have your partner working in the hotel.
Thai culture features on the show
I enjoyed seeing the traditional Thai mural featured in the opening credits of each episode. It’s a beautiful representation of our heritage.
The three female friends on the show experience the water festival Songkran, which takes place in April. This is a very auspicious time for us. The core part is to give thanks to your parents. In the past, the sprinkling of water would show reverence, respect, and good fortune, but somehow over time, the sprinkling of water has turned into a water fight. In the north, it’s a three-day celebration, on Koh Samui, we celebrate it for the day.
Many of our guests embrace Thai culture during their stay. They often greet us in Thai. We offer a complimentary Thai language class as part of our resort activities to allow guests to deepen their cultural connection. I appreciate how the show prominently features the Thai greeting, the ‘Wai’, when we press the palms of our hands together.
