Michael Cullen

Freelance travel writer specialising in luxury hotels, destinations, and food across Southeast Asia.

Thailand

Michael Cullen is a freelance travel writer based in Thailand, specialising in luxury hotels, destination features, and food and culture across Southeast Asia.

His work focuses on place-led storytelling, with an emphasis on atmosphere, design, and the human elements that shape a stay or destination. He has written for international travel and lifestyle publications, including Luxe Beat Magazine and The Hotel Journal.

Available for editorial commissions, hotel reviews, and destination features.

Portfolio

Luxury Hotels & Resorts

Luxe Beat Magazine
04/16/2026
Beyond the Beach: A Gourmet Escape into Queensland's Coastal Hinterland

Beyond Queensland’s headline beaches lies a quieter indulgence—one shaped not by surf breaks, but by soil, seasonality, and a deep connection to place. In the coastal hinterland, the experience shifts: mornings begin in cool mountain air, days unfold through cellar doors and farm gates, and evenings settle around tables where the region’s produce tells its own story. This is a different kind of escape—less about spectacle, more about immersion—where luxury is measured not in excess, but in...

Luxe Beat Magazine
03/19/2026
Australia's Green Heart: Two Extraordinary Escapes in Queensland's Scenic Rim

A short drive from Brisbane, Queensland’s Scenic Rim offers a deeply immersive alternative to Australia’s wide-open outback—where ancient rainforest, volcanic landscapes, and quiet farmland shape a slower, more reflective kind of luxury. This feature explores two contrasting stays, from off-grid simplicity to elevated indulgence, revealing the region at its most memorable.

Luxe Beat Magazine
11/23/2025
Where the River Slows: Four Seasons Bangkok Redefines Urban Sanctuary

There are hotels that impress, and then there are hotels that shift the conversation. Four Seasons Bangkok at Chao Phraya River belongs firmly to the latter. In 2025, it claimed the #2 spot on The World’s 50 Best Hotels in one of the most competitive luxury rankings in existence. It also earned Two Michelin Keys, a distinction marking exceptional hotels whose design, service, and guest experience rise above the international field. Those accolades don’t just signal excellence; they confirm...

Luxe Beat Magazine
07/13/2025
Bill Bensley: The Maverick Designer Redefining Luxury Travel

Come with me as we go deep into the vibrant, visionary world of Bill Bensley—the maverick designer behind over 200 of the world’s most imaginative resorts. From jungle camps that employ former poachers in Cambodia to floating villas in Koh Samui, Bensley blends bold creativity with environmental purpose. His spaces don’t just look good—they tell stories, challenge norms, and regenerate the land beneath them. This isn’t just about luxury. It’s about redefining what luxury means in a world that...

Luxe Beat Magazine
10/27/2025
The Art of Balance: Rediscovering Luxury at JW Marriott Khao Lak Resort & Spa

An immersive blend of Andaman adventure and mindful indulgence, JW Marriott Khao Lak Resort & Spa redefines what a modern Thai escape can be. In an era when luxury can often feel interchangeable, JW Marriott Khao Lak stands out by returning to something elemental: connection — to nature, to culture, and to oneself.

Luxe Beat Magazine
10/15/2025
137 Pillars House Chiang Mai: A Colonial Legend Reimagined for the Modern Traveler

Hidden behind tall whitewashed walls in the leafy Wat Ket district, 137 Pillars House is the kind of boutique hotel that seems to hold its breath as you enter — a pause before the past and present exhale together. The air carries the faint sweetness of frangipani and pandan, mingling with the scent of polished teak. Within moments, you sense this isn't just another five-star stay. It's a living chronicle of Chiang Mai's layered history — one written in timber, craftsmanship, and care. Read on...

Destinations & Travel Features

Luxe Beat Magazine
11/17/2025
Barefoot Luxury: From Pavilion Hideaways to Lagoon Escapes

Two resorts on Thailand’s Andaman Coast prove that “barefoot luxury” is less about extravagance than it is about ease. At The Sarojin, luxury unfolds in quiet pavilions and tropical gardens, where days stretch to the rhythm of birdsong and champagne breakfasts that last until afternoon, and dinners by the beach to the sound of the ocean. At Devasom Khao Lak, it glimmers across a broad sweep of golden beach, and a saltwater lagoon where guests kayak through mangroves by day and sip sunset...

Luxe Beat Magazine
05/24/2025
White Lotus Thailand: A Set-Jetters' Escape Through Anantara's Island Icons

From Hawaii to Sicily, HBO's The White Lotus hasn't just entertained—it's turned luxury resorts into global icons. With Season 3, the Emmy-winning series ventured east, anchoring its latest ensemble of beautiful dysfunction in Thailand. Along with the Four Seasons Samui Resort, three Anantara resorts take centre stage—each stunning, cinematic, and ready for your close-up. While the storylines are fictional, these three Anantara locations are anything but. Follow in the footsteps of The White...

Luxe Beat Magazine
05/09/2025
The Vietage: Vietnam’s Luxury Train Journey Through Time, Taste, and Tranquillity

Gliding through central Vietnam in a private carriage, where spa rituals, fine dining, and cinematic scenery redefine the meaning of slow travel. That's The Vietage by Anantara, a single luxury carriage coupled to Vietnam Railways’ Reunification Express. It travels daily between Da Nang and Quy Nhon, offering a six-hour immersion in comfort, cuisine, and countryside. Read on to learn more...

Food, Wine & Travel
11/1/2025
Driving Tuk-Tuks through Thailand's Mist and Mountains

Bright orange tuk-tuks lined the resort driveway like a row of tropical beetles ready to race. Their chrome gleamed in the early Chiang Mai light, and our small group fell silent. This was the moment it hit us: for the next 11 days, we'd be piloting these quirky, three-wheeled icons through some of Thailand's most remote and spectacular country. Read on to join our convoy of custom-built tuk-tuks for a soulful ride across Thailand's highlands: elephants, local food, and cultural connections.

Food & Culture

Luxe Beat Magzine
11/26/2025
Where Cantonese Refinement Finds Its Rhythm: Yu Ting Yuan at Four Seasons Bangkok

Cantonese fine dining rarely needs theatrics to feel luxurious. At Yu Ting Yuan, a signature restaurant of the Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok at Chao Phraya River, luxury reveals itself in quieter, more controlled ways: an interplay of design, service, and culinary restraint that feels modern, polished, and deeply confident. Under Executive Chef Tommy Cheung, the restaurant has entered a new chapter that honours Cantonese heritage while embracing contemporary elegance. It is a direction fully...

Luxe Beat Magazine
12/01/2025
MS Jigger & Ruby’s: Bangkok’s Perfect Dinner-to-Cocktail Duo

In a city with no shortage of Italian restaurants or cocktail bars, this pairing stands out because both sides carry equal weight. One feeds the other. What makes the pairing of MS Jigger and Ruby’s special is not just proximity. It’s the sense of a complete night built under one roof. Dinner becomes the prologue to cocktails. Cocktails become the epilogue to dinner. The fable of MS Jigger and Ruby threads between rooms, shaping mood more than anything literal — a tale of heartbreak,...

Luxe Beat Magazine
11/19/2025
Beyond the Plate: How voco Orchard Singapore Elevates Club & Culinary Experiences

The scent of charred Jarrah wood drifts from Opus Bar & Grill as Orchard Road hums outside. Twenty-four stories up, the city skyline shimmers through a glass of Chianti at il Cielo, where the last of the evening sun glows against the rooftop pool. Between these two scenes — fire and sky — lies the essence of voco Orchard Singapore: a hotel that turns everyday indulgence into an art form, where culinary theatre meets a distinctly warm, unstuffy welcome. Read on to learn more...

Asian Journeys
12/01/2023
KITA Food Festival Sizzles in Singapore

My visit to the Lion City coincided with the Singapore leg of the four-city-two-country KITA Food Festival 2023. This Malaysian-born food festival kicked off in 2021 and has now spread its wings, attracting internationally renowned chefs from Asia–Pacific to the program. An annual event celebrating Southeast Asian culinary culture, the KITA Food Festival showcases an array of experiences with some of the finest chefs and food thinkers from around the globe. It also highlights Southeast Asia's...

Upscale Living Magazine
04/03/2023
In Conversation With Alain Ducasse

Alain Ducasse is the world's most decorated chef alive. He is the first to own restaurants in three cities, each carrying three Michelin stars simultaneously. He has an extensive portfolio of restaurants worldwide, including his home bases in France and Monaco, London, New York, Singapore, Bangkok, Japan, China, and Qatar. His Ducasse Paris enterprise has also developed specialized restaurant consulting, events and catering, cooking schools, luxury inns and hotels, and numerous highly...

Selected Earlier Work

The Hotel Journal
12/07/2025
We review The Sarojin, Khao Lak

Nestled on Thailand's Andaman Coast, The Sarojin, Khao Lak promises guests an understated stay with access to white sand beaches. The Sarojin understands how to make time feel slower. Not through spectacle but by creating an environment where nature, service and space take the lead. The beach feels untouched. The dining settings are quietly spectacular. The suites offer generous comfort without showiness. And the team brings it all together with genuine warmth.

Wander With Wonder
01/04/2024
Insider's Guide to Singapore's Chinatown

Singapore, a vibrant city-state at the crossroads of Asia, is a testament to the harmonious blend of tradition and modernity. Boasting a skyline adorned with architectural marvels, lush green spaces, and a culinary scene reflecting its diverse population, the Lion City offers travellers a unique and enriching experience. Chinatown is one area that showcases Singapore's rich cultural heritage. This guide provides personal perspectives on Chinatown's history and insider tips from our...

Escape magazine (Australia)
Meet the Guide -Insider Guide to Singapore

Renowned Singaporean artist Yip Yew Chong (YC) is lauded for wall-filling public murals across the Lion City. He presents stories and memories of the city of his childhood, bygone eras or lost places, and sometimes whimsical scenes of present-day Singapore. Here, YC gives us his insider tips for first-time and return visitors to Singapore.

The Hotel Journal
11/05/2022
Best Wellness Resorts in Koh Samui - Our Pick

The best wellness resorts in Koh Samui, Thailand offer holistic healing, rejuvenating experiences, and healthful nourishment. Taking great care of ourselves, an unapologetic desire to travel, and the need to make a greater connection with our destination are all discernible trends in this post-pandemic world. Koh Samui, Thailand's second-most-visited island, is ideal when thinking of combining meaningful holiday travel and the essence of Wellness – caring for ourselves. Here's our curated...

Upscale Living Magazine
04/03/2023
Cambodia's Siem Reap – A Surprisingly Creative Fashion and Design Hub

Like the rest of Cambodia, Siem Reap is emerging from a sad, dark past. Decades of war and unrest resulted in an enormous loss of life and a deep and gaping wound in the country's cultural heritage, artistic capacity, and, more broadly, its educated class. Considering this developing country's troubled past, it may be surprising how quickly fashion designers and creatives have stepped onto the international stage to showcase what the Kingdom offers. Let me introduce you to local and...

Wander With Wonder
01/17/2023
Raffles Hotel Singapore - the Essence of Luxury

When you walk into Raffles Hotel Singapore, you feel the 135-year heritage of this luxury hotel. Discover how the hotel's ambience, service, charm, and heritage make for an unforgettable and luxurious stay. As writer Somerset Maugham noted, the Raffles Hotel Singapore embodies “all the fables of the exotic East.” Raffles Singapore is where heritage, elegant refinement, and gracious service create the most memorable hotel stays. It is a must for travellers to this island state.

Escape magazine (Australia)
Meet The Guide - Siem Reap

Proud Cambodian national and Butler at Shinta Mani Angkor Wat Resort, Nat (Grace) Chhouern, provides her insider tips for your next Siem Reap and Angkor Wat visit. One of many tips Grace provides is to be sure to allocate a minimum of four to five days for your time here as you'll spend two or more just trying to take in Angkor Archaeological Park's offerings. Then there are the countryside tours plus time exploring Siem Reap's attractions, shopping and dining. A week will give you some...

Asian Journeys
06/01/2023
Siem Reap - more than Angkor Wat

Travel writer Michael Cullen says there is a great more to do than visit temples when you go to Cambodia's Siem Reap. Temple Town, as it is sometimes called, is much more than a gateway to the region's Ankorian past. This is a city with a go-ahead vibe exuding artistic creativity imbued with a community-development slant. He gives you many suggestions and tips for getting the most out of your time in Temple Town.

The Hotel Journal
01/05/2022
Phuket's Best Wellness Resorts - 2022

Who doesn't love a trip to stunning Thailand? And Phuket, AKA The Pearl of the Andamans and the nation's largest island, has long attracted international visitors, with its year-round tropical climate, immaculate turquoise waters, and lush jungle interior. It's no surprise then that this paradise has built a well-earned reputation as one of South East Asia's go-to destinations for wellness.

Hot Magazine
03/29/2022
Chiang Mai's Top Bars 2022 - A Curated List

Chiang Mai offers so much as one of Thailand's top domestic and international tourism destinations. Layers of rich cultural, historical and religious links, abundant natural attractions, a vibrant creative scene, markets and shopping, and extensive entertainment, cafés, dining, and bar scene. To help with your next visit to Chiang Mai, we’ve scowered the bar scene to present a curated list of watering holes. We are talking about stylish drinking establishments with a great atmosphere and...

Wander With Wonder
09/19/2022
Old City Bangkok: My Personal Guide

Old City Bangkok, or Rattanakosin as it is more correctly known, is Bangkok's birthplace. Old City Bangkok remains the cultural and historic heart of Thailand and is home to many of Bangkok's must-see attractions. Missing Rattanakosin would be like visiting Paris and skipping the Champs-Elysées. Let me guide you to what I consider highlights for any first-time visitor to Rattanakosin's treasures and delights.

Amazing Thailand blog
04/22/2022
Romantic Chiang Mai - a Guide to the "Rose of the North"

Chiang Mai, the ancient capital of the Lanna Kingdom, yet modern and cosmopolitan, is one of the most romantic destinations in Thailand. Nicknamed the “Rose of the North”, she is the ideal destination for fun-filled, active, and opportunity-rich holidays, especially for couples. Her lush green fields, towering mountains, languid waterfalls, ancient temples, great food, swanky bars, serene spas, bountiful boutiques, and inspiring galleries add to the romantic atmosphere. For couples, Chiang...

Xyzasia
08/15/2022
Talad Noi - Exploring One of Bangkok's Oldest Neighbourhoods

Talad Noi is a historic Bangkok riverside neighbourhood sandwiched between Chinatown and Bangrak and predates the founding of Bangkok. A seemingly ancient area of unique gritty streets, and multicultural heritage, it is distinctly different from other parts of Thailand’s capital. This unique district of Bangkok is best explored on foot or by bicycle. Street photographers will be in their element. If you enjoy getting off the beaten path, this may be right up your alley. This self-exploring...

xyzAsia
06/07/2021
Khlong Ong Ang - Award-Winning Urban Renewal in Bangkok

One of Bangkok's oldest urban canals has undergone a massive rehabilitation to transform it into a trendy walking street and night market. Khlong Ong Ang is near many of the Thai capital's major sights. It is rich with entertainment, street art, history, tasty street food, and stalls selling local handicrafts. Here's all you need to know...