Boutique hotels have really caught on significantly since the concept started in the 1980s. Quaint, intimate and sometimes eccentric, the experience of staying in a boutique hotel is always special and most of the time, rewarding. Now, take that concept, apply it to a golf course and you get the Lotus Valley Golf Resort.

This luxury boutique golf resort, as they like to call it, is located in the Chachoengsao province, approximately 100 kilometres east of central Bangkok. Going into the clubhouse, you can almost immediately feel that it is different from the other golf clubs around Thailand. Stylistically, it looks like you have just arrived at an upscale spa or an exclusive countryside resort. The interiors look aesthetically pleasing with its neat layout and neutral, earthy tones. The designers use plenty of dark-wood furnishings, consistent with the primary colours of the brochures, scorecards and club paraphernalia.

The modern-resort theme extends into the restaurant and changing rooms. The latter, interestingly, has a Japanese hot bath, or onsen, complete with the stools, buckets and faucets customarily attached to the side of the walls. Scrutinising the fact sheet a little further, the club has a Japanese golf professional and a Japanese business advisor. There is no guessing which market they are after.

The club takes a cue from the meticulousness of the Japanese and pays particular attention to details, especially on the state of the golf course. From many accounts, golf courses in Japan are immaculately maintained and that is exactly what you will find in Lotus Valley. Originally designed by Gary Player, this golf course was recently remodelled by Jon Morrow and re-opened in 2008. It is interesting to know that Jon Morrow is also the brainchild behind the highly acclaimed Red Mountain Golf Resort in Phuket. While Lotus Valley doesn’t share the same spectacular elevation changes as its counterpart, the golf course itself is something that will undoubtedly capture your visual attention.

The entire golf course is like a gigantic bonsai that is tended to caringly. The tee box, fairways, rough and greens are cut consistently across the entire 18-holes to the exacting lengths, the trees seem to be planted in equal spacing, and even the wild growth at the sides of the fairway and water hazards have an organised manner about them.

While Lotus Valley impresses with its boutique style, The Royal Gems Golf and Sports Club boasts sterling credentials as one of the region’s top golf clubs. For one, it hosted the Chang Thailand Senior Masters presented by ISPS, the first European Senior Tour event held in the country, ever.

The realisation of such a major tournament at Royal Gems was much credited to by Lars Londal, a golf consultant with 20 years in the business. Having spent two decades plying his trade in the country, he must have played the majority, if not all, of the 200 courses in Thailand. For him to rank Royal Gems as one of the country’s top courses speaks volumes.

Visitors to Royal Gems perhaps need to understand that the course is the main event here. The two-storey clubhouse, is a basic affair that serves primarily as a functional building for the administration of the club. The changing room facilities though, are clean and adequate, and the restaurant serves excellent Thai fare.

Royal Gems is a woodlands course that critically tests your shot making abilities. Designed by Gary Roger Baird, the course has a couple of interesting features such as grass and stepped bunkers. The rough is as treacherous as it gets, and likely to wrap around shots that miss the fairways. Reaching the greens in regulation is cause for celebration, particularly if you’re a high handicapper.

The course has a good variety of holes. For instance, at the signature par-five 18th, the drive is rather straightforward as you have a large landing area, but the second shot requires accuracy and steady nerves because of the converged fairways, flanked both sides by water. Then for the par threes, Gary Baird made it a point for you to hit across treacherous hazards, be it sand or water. There are also quite a number of tight dogleg holes, like the first, ninth and 14th, that call for drives over water.

In short, Royal Gems is not for the leisurely resort golfer. Much like say, a Mitsubishi Evolution is for the serious car enthusiast, the Royal Gems is a “golfer’s golf course”, built for those discerning enough to recognise an excellent golf layout and in possession of the adequate skills to conquer it.