HBO's The White Lotus will give you complicated feelings about your next vacation. While the social satire raises ethical questions regarding wealth and class, the series is filmed in some stunning locations, with shots that could easily be added to a vacation mood board. After the first Hawaii-set season became a sleeper hit (and won several Emmys), the show became an anthology and went international with an Italy-set season 2. In early 2025, The White Lotus returned for season 3 with a brand new cast populating a Thailand wellness resort.
'The White Lotus' Filming Locations
Each season of The White Lotus is filmed in real-life luxury hotels. All of the resorts that stand in for the fictional White Lotus chain are Four Seasons properties, with the third season filming among several locations in Thailand after production took over five-star estates in seasons 1 and 2. The installments also include restaurants and amenities from the hotels.
Some shots of the scenery from the first three seasons:
'The White Lotus' season 1: Hawaii
The first season of The White Lotus was filmed at the Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea in the fall of 2020, with the production forming a bubble under strict COVID-19 guidelines for several months. The luxury resort, where rooms start around $1,000 a night, includes many of the amenities shown in the series, including the spa, three pools, 81 cabanas, water sports, and snorkeling. It's also steps from Wailea Beach, which was also seen on the show.
While the series includes colorfully decorated rooms like the Pineapple Suite and the Tradewinds Suite, the real-life rooms are more muted. (Production designer Laura Fox told Deadline that she re-designed the rooms under White's note to imagine "the Madonna Inn and the Four Seasons having a baby.")
While the hotel is available to book for anyone who finished the social satire and still wants to visit, Hawaii has a thorny history of over-tourism. Native Hawaiians have pointed out that the hotels receive preferential treatment compared to locals (see the July 2021 Maui water shortage where residents were fined for overuse but authorities turned a blind eye to the hotels). Season 1 also only lightly touches on the history of colonialism and how the tourism industry affects native Hawaiians. So, definitely read up on the issue before you decide whether to visit.
'The White Lotus' season 2: Sicily
The real hotel that stands in for the White Lotus Sicily is none other than the San Domenico Palace, Taormina. According to Architectural Digest, the hotel is a "clifftop retreat" that overlooks the Ionian Sea, and includes views of an ancient Greek theater called Teatro Antico di Taormina, as well as the active Mount Etna volcano. The former 14th-century Dominican convent was first converted into a hotel in 1896 and has a history of hosting Hollywood stars, including Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, and Sophia Loren. The Four Seasons has owned the hotel since 2020, and it's gone through a multimillion-dollar renovation.
"We saw a lot of properties in France and Italy," White told Architectural Digest. "Many of them were small and wouldn’t photograph very well. But when we went to the San Domenico…there was just something about it. [The hotel] had a real vibe."
For anyone already planning their next vacation, the 111-room hotel and spa includes rooms starting at around $900 a night, as well as suites with private terraces and plunge pools. There are also three bars and three restaurants—one of which, Principe Cerami, serves local Sicilian specialties. Guests can also venture into the town of Taormina and its main street, Corso Umberto.
In addition to the hotel, season 2 was also filmed at Lumina Studios near Rome and on location around Sicily. Noto, a southeastern town famous for its baroque architecture, was featured in a quick girls' trip for Harper (Aubrey Plaza) and Daphne (Meghann Fahy). Some of the locales they visited include the Palazzo Ducezio, which serves as the seat of the Town Hall of Noto, and a cathedral the thoroughfare Corso Vittorio Emanuele.
The Di Grasso family also took a trip to the Castello degli Schiavi, a castle in the coastal town of Fiumefreddo, known as a filming location for The Godfather. The real-life location is a private home, though the owner offers private tours. Additional scenes were also filmed in Palermo, the capital city of Sicily, and the nearby coastal town of Cefalù.
'The White Lotus' season 3: Thailand
In The White Lotus season 3, the Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui is one of four hotels used as the titular resort's Thailand location. According to HBO, all of the hotel rooms featured in season 3 are one of the Four Seasons Koh Samui resort's many gorgeous villas with attached private pools, which start at around $1,000 per night. Another Koh Samui resort, the Anantara Lawana Koh Samui, stands in for the fictional hotel's entrance area—including the entry gate, driveway, lobby, and jewelry store—and bar.
Show creator Mike White has a surprising connection to the picturesque island in the Gulf of Thailand. The writer previously competed on the reality TV series The Amazing Race for two seasons, and when he was eliminated on both seasons, he had to stay in the series' elimination station in Koh Samui. In an interview with PEOPLE, White Lotus executive producer David Bernad said that they had to use Koh Samai's Four Seasons, despite the hotel not having all the spaces that the script required.
"The Four Seasons in Koh Samui is an A-plus vacations destination, but it didn't offer us certain things we needed for our show to work visually," Bernad told the outlet. "The hotel was just so perfect. It called our name, and I think it's fair to say that Mike has avenged his Koh Samui demons after shooting there."
As for the other two resorts, fans wanting the full White Lotus season 3 experience would have to grab a flight (or drive about 200 miles) to the other side of Thailand, specifically the country's largest island, Koh Phuket. The fictional hotel's spa and wellness sanctuary, as well as Belinda's room, are part of the Anantara Mai Khao Phuket Villas's award-winning Anantara Spa. Meanwhile, the dinner scenes were filmed at the Rosewood Phuket's Ta Khai restaurant (a five-time Michelin Guide eatery) since the Four Seasons' restaurant area was "too dark" to film at night, according to Bernad.
Apart from the four resorts, several locations in Koh Samui, Phuket, and Bangkok were used for areas surrounding the fictional hotel. For anyone interested in season 3's Buddhist temple, those scenes were filmed at the Wat Pu Khao Thong monastery and the Dusit Dhewa Cultural Center in Koh Samui. As for the beach and yacht scenes, some outdoor filming locations include Choeng Mon Beach in Koh Samui, Ya Nui Beach in Phuket, Phuket Yacht Haven Marinam, and Phang Na Bay.
The season expands in episode 5 to Bangkok, Thailand's biggest city and capital. Rick travels there hoping to find answers to the mystery he's been trying to solve. He also catches up with his old friend Frank (played by Sam Rockwell in a guest performance) and the pair dine at another five-star resort, the Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok.
Outside of Bangkok, other characters also venture outside the hotel to explore local nightlife. These scenes were filmed in the Fisherman’s Village Night Market in Koh Samui's Thanon Bo Phut, Haad Rin Beach in Koh Phangan (where they filmed the country's famed Full Moon party), and Café Del Mar in Phuket.
