As someone who is always on the road, I have long considered COMO Hotels and Resorts my friend. The brand’s focus on both sense of place and holistic wellness are soothing respite from the frenetic energy of constant movement. But it took a stellar stay in COMO’s Thailand locales to officially inaugurate the brand into my Zenith Pick column. Here’s why.

COMO POINT YAMU I’ve never actually wanted to go to Phuket; by all accounts it represents every unappealing stereotype of mass-market Thai tourism. I went anyway, at the beckoning of Como Point Yamu. Or did I? The hotel, perched on a peninsula far from the hub of commercial Phuket, is really a world unto itself—a world I was happy to get lost in for a few days.

Encircled by verdant mountains and cerulean seas, COMO Point Yamu has an Alice-in-Wonderland feel to it, its vivid, whimsical designs by Paola Navone a playful yet elegant twist on Thai traditions. 79 palatial rooms and suites have a deliberate color scheme: blue mirrors the waters of the Andaman Sea, burnt orange references robes of Buddhist monks and Phuket’s unique Peranakan heritage. 27 private villas include some of the most stunning infinity pools imaginable.

The food is divine without being gluttonous—no easy feat in the culinary capital that is Thailand. For breakfast I ate an egg-white omelette like none other: fluffy as a merengue, with local asparagus green goddess dressing. For lunch, lounging on the obscenely comfortable day beds by the expansive pool, I ordered from La Sirena, which serves up a winning blend of Mediterranean and local eats: steamed local sea bass, Moroccan spiced curry, pumpkin risotto, pizzas, phad Thai, myriad Thai soups (not to mention fresh watermelon juice, a host of healthy smoothies—and five flavors of mojitos). But the highlight was nightly dinner at Nahmyaa, perhaps the most inimitable Thai cuisine I have ever enjoyed. I thought I’d died and gone to heaven upon tasting Hor Mok Pla, fish souffle in banana leaf. The curried lemongrass salad, the wok-fried banana heart with tiger prawns and prawn oil—and the list of palate-energizing delicacies goes on.

I’d planned on getting off the resort. There were options, after all: hiking, sailing to a nearby island, taking a cooking class, exploring historic Phuket Town. And COMO Journeys are a thing: one-of-a-kind retreats and residencies with a focus on movement, adventure and cultural immersion—think boxing with the pros in Bali, perfecting padel with the Rafa Nadal Academy in the Maldives, photographing the landscapes of Bhutan.

Instead, day after day, I got mesmerized by mountains while perched on those perfect day beds. One day I decided to take a walk to the beach. “There’s no beach,” said the security guard as I exited. Oh, but there was. Not a beach for the tourist hordes but a glorious stretch of empty sand reaching out to a beautiful bay, crowned by the three most perfectly situated swings in the world. I spent hours on them, soaking in the blissful beauty. Then I returned to my room, took a lemongrass-scented bath in a giant saucer (so I dubbed the funky bathtub), and watched as the sun set crimson and the low tide made the sea, stunningly, disappear into itself.

Days later I arrived in Bangkok, which might as well be another universe: a concrete jungle whose trees are skyscrapers, caressing the clouds. Enter COMO Metropolitan Bangkok, easily the most serene setting in the city—especially given that it’s in the heart of the hectic Central Business District. My chic, minimalist room felt like a yoga studio. The COMO Shambhala Urban Escape spa beckoned with all manner of treatment.

But the crown jewel was nahm, COMO Metropolitan Bangkok’s storied restaurant, for the last seven years awarded a Michelin star. Inspired by modern Thai cuisine, Chef Pim serves up such delights as herbal scallop and roselle blossom, kam pachi ceviche with white turmeric and green mango on betel leaf, tom yum of prawn, mushrooms and chili jam ,and smoked duck soup with sago palm tapioca. If the food wasn’t enough to make me forget the urban grit outside, the lovely setting was: amber-colored décor and brick columns are deliberately reminiscent of Ayutthaya temples, divinely inspiring as COMO loves to do.