"What can I say about this hotel? Simply put, my wife and I thought this was the best hotel we have ever stayed in and we've been all around Europe and don't think we'll do better than returning here in the future for sure!
After our private taxi transfer brought us, we already knew in advance (when we booked the holiday) that the hotel's location is a little secluded, but the hotel is designed and intended for customers who are going there for peace, wellbeing and relaxation, which we wanted after a busy 5 days in Singapore seeing the sights there. Lamai and Chaweng beaches and their respective resorts are only short taxi rides away (about £6 and £11 respectively) if you want more action, bars, cafes and shops and they don't take long to get around the area either - the roads are free-flowing for the most part that we experienced. Our taxi transfer from Koh Samui airport to the hotel was around 20 minutes, which was great.
My wife and I stayed in a partial sea-view villa with a private pool and it really was superb. We booked it for my 50th birthday this year and upon arrival, a birthday message and a cake awaited me in the villa - a really nice touch! There was a huge, comfortable bed, beautifully decorated bathroom with free-standing bath, separate shower room with jet and rain shower and a separate toilet. There was an excellent, spacious lounge with full length settee along the back wall, coffee machine with free milk and bottled water, two large flat screen TVs (one is also in your bedroom) and a huge glass fronted villa that you can see out across the bay from. The minibar is stocked up twice-daily as your room is serviced twice daily with beers, soft drinks, water, snacks and crisps, with a turning-down service included as part of that, where they also leave you little gifts! However, be aware that if you take them, you may be charged on leaving as they are available to buy in their luxurious on-site shop. The staff could not do enough for you and you are picked up and transported around the hotel grounds in golf buggies due to the hilly terrain the hotel is sat on. Ring up reception from your villa and you are usually not waiting any longer than 5-10 minutes at the most to be picked up and taken anywhere you want in the hotel by friendly, courteous staff. A huge thank you to all the staff who collected us and dropped us off countless times during our stay - you were always so kind and pleasant to us, so thank you for a great experience! A massive mention must also go to Taylor, who showed us around our villa upon arrival and was very attentive to our needs and extremely pleasant throughout our stay whenever we saw her - we wish her well for the future as she was a lovely young lady. Food here (The Edge restaurant has a fantastic view across the bay) is wide-ranging, varied, hot and freshly cooked to order, with drinks being ordered at the table and brought to you, such as a variety of coffees, fruit juices and even sparkling wine (thank you, Chin, for bringing our daily glasses of sparkling wine and refills to us most days)! The staff in the Edge restaurant (where you go for breakfast) were amazing and always willing to help you or get you something if you needed it - Am, Fon and Gigg (amongst others whose names we didn't get) were fantastic and not forgetting Stamp, whose last day working at the hotel was our last day of our stay - we wish her well in her future career at her new hotel.
Now moving to the lobby and lobby bar:
Our concierge, Golf, was faultless because there was nothing more he could have done for us - he was so nice and helpful and he kindly arranged a wonderful trip to see the elephants at Kingdom Elephant Sanctuary at our request, which was the highlight of the holiday for my wife. In addition, his colleague, Tak, looked after us on Golf's two days off and she was lovely too. Between them, they made sure we had everything we needed, as well as Dada, who drove us herself to our villa if there was no buggy available immediately - what brilliant service! We also had great service from a young lady called Sanu in the lobby, who helped us settle our bill daily so we knew where we were upto with our finances! At the lobby bar, Fa and Sydney made superb cocktails for us every evening (during happy hour: 6pm-8pm where its 2-for-1 on beers, wines and cocktails, I think) and they were ever so pleasant to us while we chatted to them.
Now moving to the beachside restaurant:
The menu here is varied again and there are plenty of choices, dependent on whether you want a snack or full meal. Drinks overall anywhere in the hotel might seem expensive compared to other places in Thailand (a bottle of beer is around £5 GBP and cocktails around £10 GBP) but this is a 5* hotel, so you should expect it to be more expensive. If you go in happy hour period to the lobby bar (there is also another one from 4pm-6pm at the pool side bar), then it's much more affordable, although we budgeted for the price of food and drink before we went anyway. Similar to the rest of the hotel, the staff here are also wonderful. We must make special mentions of Nene and Praew who served us our first meal there when we arrived in the afternoon and continued to do so really well whenever we were there, as well as all the other staff we met who were so pleasant (I'm sorry we didn't get all your names)!
Now moving to Saffron restaurant:
This is a fantastic dining experience and my wife and I tried things we have never tried before and it was so delicious, we went back again a couple of nights later for our final evening meal (we were being picked up by our private taxi transfer the next late afternoon) to round off a fantastic holiday! Again, the staff here were wonderful - Seven, Ocha, Diamond, Luna, Amy, Melon and Plam. It was a wonderful dining experience and one we would definitely do again.
Overall, we can't rate this hotel and all their staff highly enough - it truly is an excellent place to stay. If you want something close to amenities, then be prepared to walk or get taxis and budget for them to get about if you don't hire a car (petrol here is about 90p per litre). We didn't notice buses much here - I don't recall actually seeing one! For a relaxing, peaceful and enjoyable stay with very attentive staff who care about your accommodation, your wellbeing and your experiences, then we'd recommend coming here. We were delighted to stay here and look forward to returning again sometime in the future. Thank you again to all the staff who made our holiday a great experience!"
A Tripadvisor traveler review
Aug 25, 2026
