The Residence Resort & Spa Retreat

The Residence Resort & Spa Retreat is a pool villa complex by developer Richmond Group in Bang Tao, about 1.7 km (a 10-minute walk) from the beach. The format is 1- and 3-bedroom villas, some duplex-layout with roof terraces; on site there’s a dedicated Sothai spa complex, restaurant, gym and a complimentary tuk-tuk shuttle.

Location and surroundings

The project sits in inland Bang Tao, a leisurely 10-minute walk from the beach — a distance that’s genuinely walkable, not just nominally described as “close.” The area around it has the dense tourist infrastructure typical of Bang Tao: restaurants, bars, shops and rental offices within walking and short driving distance, plus the complex’s own shuttle to the beach and Bang Tao’s key points, which takes some of the logistics pressure off buyers who don’t want to keep a car.

The key difference between The Residence Resort & Spa Retreat and a typical villa community is the resort format of the site itself: the Sothai spa complex with a full treatment menu, a restaurant with its own operating hours (06:30–22:00), a gym and a sauna. For villas of this scale, that’s the exception rather than the rule — this level of service usually shows up in condotels or in projects run by an international hotel operator, not in standalone villa communities.

Economics and pricing

Entry is from ~$1,349,730 for a 1-bedroom villa with a plunge pool; 2- and 3-bedroom duplex options are available on request. For comparison, the catalog has Manick Hillside Phuket (from ~$1,330,194) and Naturale Cherng Talay (from ~$1,104,948) in the same price range — both are slightly more affordable at entry, but neither comes with an on-site spa complex and restaurant.

Villacarte lists a projected yield of ~5% per year, but neither villa area, plot size, nor the total number of units in the project are openly disclosed — which makes it harder to independently calculate price per square metre or compare directly with neighbours. CAM fee, sinking fund and electricity tariff aren’t stated anywhere either: costs for maintaining the villa and using shared infrastructure (spa, restaurant, gym) are worth confirming separately before booking, especially if an accurate running-cost estimate is the priority.

Stage, developer and risks

Richmond Group has been active on the Phuket market since 2000 — a solid track record by local standards, but the company’s public portfolio beyond this project is weakly confirmed: an independent list of everything the developer has delivered could not be found. The complex itself was built in several phases over more than 15 years: some villas are already delivered and occupied, which lets a buyer judge real finish and upkeep quality in person rather than from renders. That’s both an advantage and a source of unevenness — a specific villa can differ noticeably in the age of its systems and finish from its neighbour depending on which phase it belongs to.

Such a long project lifespan is unusual for Phuket villa complexes, where most developers launch one or two phases and move on to a new project. For Richmond Group it’s instead the single large asset the company has been developing and servicing for over a decade — which can be read either as a sign of stable management or as limited portfolio diversification for a buyer weighing risk.

Before buying at The Residence Resort & Spa Retreat, we separately confirm which phase a specific unit belongs to, its real condition, and current occupancy through the management company — villacarte’s projected yield of ~5% per year should be treated as a starting point for negotiation, not a contractual guarantee. Who the project suits: a buyer for whom an on-site spa and restaurant aren’t optional but required, and who is willing to accept a mixed-age villa stock in exchange for resort-level service and a short walk to the beach. The developer pays the deal commission — the price doesn’t change for the buyer.