It’s time once again to check into The White Lotus. Season 3 is about to open its doors on Sky Atlantic/Now TV, and creator/writer/director/tour guide Mike White has shifted his attentions to a Far East branch of his fictional luxury hotel chain.

While the location has changed, however – the first two seasons were set in Hawaii and Sicily, respectively – we can expect more of White’s exquisitely observed comedy-drama of manners. Going on holiday with White means taking a peek into the lives of the super-rich – and the staff who serve them – and he’s zeroed in on a unique formula of biting satire and, at times, excruciating awkwardness. The death toll is also remarkably high.

So, with The White Lotus season 3 waiting in the departure lounge, ready to transport us to an all-new exotic locale, we’ve put together a guide to the five-star vacations that have appeared in the show – and what the brochure’s promising when we land in Thailand.

Travellers beware! Spoilers for The White Lotus seasons 1 and 2 lie ahead.

Hawaii (season 1)

Location: Maui (filmed at the Four Seasons Resort Maui in Wailea)

Key hotel staff: Manager Armond (Murray Bartlett), spa manager Belinda Lindsey (Natasha Rothwell)

Notable guests: Wealthy honeymooning couple Shane (Jake Lacy) and Rachel Patton (Alexandra Daddario), and his similarly wealthy mother, Kitty (Molly Shannon); the wealthy Mossbacher family, Nicole (Connie Britton), Mark (Steve Zahn), Olivia (Sydney Sweeney), Quinn (Fred Hechinger), and Olivia’s wealthy friend Paula (Brittany O’Grady); wealthy heiress Tanya McQuoid (Jennifer Coolidge)

Fatalities: Armond (stabbed with a pineapple knife by Shane)

It always starts with a body. In what has since become a macabre White Lotus tradition – something the hotel chain is, presumably, keen to play down – the very first episode kicks off with a crate labelled “human remains” being loaded onto a plane to Honolulu. But who’s in the box? We have to flash back a week to find out…

With its stunning beaches and well-appointed rooms, the Maui branch is undeniably an attractive destination, but irritable manager Armond does little to add to the ambience. Admittedly, demanding honeymooner Shane was never likely to give the experience five stars on TripAdvisor, but Armond’s behaviour is overly antagonistic – leaving a dirty protest in Shane and new wife Rachel’s suite is clearly crossing a line.

The White Lotus management dodge a potentially troublesome HR bullet, however, when Shane accidentally kills Armond with a pineapple knife, confirming that the hotel manager is the unfortunate individual in the aforementioned crate.

White Lotus staffer Belinda does rather more to impress in the in-house spa, to the extent that wealthy guest Tanya McQuoid offers to bankroll Belinda’s new independent business venture. Meanwhile, the beautiful Maui scenery is enough to prompt screen-obsessed teen Quinn Mossbacher to ditch the tech and embrace the great outdoors with the locals.

Italy (season 2)

Location: Sicily (filmed at the San Domenico Palace, A Four Seasons Hotel, in Taormina)

Key hotel staff: Manager Valentina (Sabrina Impacciatore), concierge Rocco (Federico Ferrante)

Returning guests: Tanya McQuoid-Hunt and wealthy new husband Greg Hunt

Other notable guests: Wealthy Hollywood producer Dominic Di Grasso (Michael Imperioli), son Albie (Adam DiMarco) and father Bert (F Murray Abraham); wealthy banker Cameron Sullivan (Theo James) and his wife Daphne (Meghann Fahy); their wealthy friends, tech entrepreneur Ethan Spiller (Will Sharpe) and his lawyer wife Harper (Aubrey Plaza); Tanya’s not-so-wealthy assistant Portia (Haley Lu Richardson)

Fatalities: Tanya McQuoid-Hunt and her new (non-resident) “friends” Quentin, Niccolo and Didier

Another week at The White Lotus ends with a corpse, as an unfortunate swimmer’s Mediterranean dip is interrupted by a floating body. Brusque hotel manager Valentina is quick to point out that the deceased was discovered in the sea – and therefore not her responsibility – but the arrival of additional cadavers turns the incident into a potential PR disaster. Can The White Lotus bounce back from another controversy?

Just as Armond exploited his position – and the promise of more favourable working hours – to seduce a member of staff in Maui, Valentina takes a similarly loose attitude to managerial ethics. She allocates less favourable jobs to capable concierge Rocco because she doesn’t like him, and offers local woman Mia (Beatrice Grannò) a piano-playing gig in the hotel restaurant in exchange for sex. (It should be noted that Mia and her friend Lucia (Simona Tabasco) are, by some distance, the most resourceful people in the hotel. They also scam naïve college boy Albie out of a lot of money – with that sort of cash injection, they may be the ones staying at a White Lotus hotel on a future excursion.)

Meanwhile, returning customer Tanya McQuoid-Hunt continues to build up her stash of White Lotus loyalty points, booking rooms for both herself and her assistant Portia. Tanya’s become fixated on the idea that bad-tempered new husband Greg (another White Lotus beteran) is trying to kill her, and spends much of her time with Quentin (Tom Hollander), the wealthy expat Brit who takes her under his wing.

She ultimately ends up killing Quentin – along with his morally dubious associates, Niccolo and Didier – on their luxury yacht, when she realises they]re trying to extort her. This act of self-defence ends in tragedy, however, when she dies following unfortunate tumble into the Med. In hindsight, the hotel should probably have done more to protect its guests from predatory locals.

Thailand (season 3)

Location: Thailand (filmed at the Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui)

Key hotel staff: “Health mentor” Mook (Lalisa Manobal), security guard Gaitok (Tayme Thapthimpthong)

Returning guests: Belinda Lindsey

Other notable guests: Wealthy best friends Kate (Leslie Bibb), Laurie (Carrie Coon) and Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan); the wealthy Ratliff family, Timothy (Jason Isaacs), Victoria (Parker Posey), Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger), Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook) and Lochlan (Sam Nivola); (presumably) wealthy Rick Hatchett (Walton Goggins) and his uch-younger girlfriend Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood)

Fatalities: Unknown (but inevitable)

In The White Lotus season 3 the stay will be slightly extended (eight episodes compared to season 2’s seven and season 1’s six), but once again you can guarantee there’ll be a dead body on check-in, and lots of very rich people being exceedingly rude to one another.

That said, going on The White Lotus season 3 trailer, the wealthy Ratliff family may not be rolling in the cash for much longer, as patriarch/businessman Timothy asks, “What am I supposed to tell my family? We’re poor now and daddy’s going to prison.“ Money may buy luxury hotel suites but it doesn’t always buy happiness.

Elsewhere, BFFs Kate, Laurie and Leslie embark on a girls’ holiday with the mantra “What happens in Thailand stays in Thailand”, while Rick Hatchett (described as a “rugged man with a chip on his shoulder”) is clearly looking for more than relaxation in the gorgeous surroundings of Koh Samui.

The stories of White Lotus staff may well be just as compelling this time around, however, as the returning Belinda Lindsey carries out a recce for her own business venture – how will that turn out following the passing of her eccentric backer, Tanya?

And romance is on the cards between security guard Gaitok and “health guru” (the quote marks are likely to be important) Mook. (It’s worth noting that Mook looks a lot like Lalisa Manoban from successful K-pop group Blackpink. Uncanny…)

The White Lotus season 3 is available on Sky Atlantic and Now from Monday 17 February.