The rooms were some of the nicest we’ve ever stayed in. We booked one of the pool villas, which was a stand alone walled villa with a private plunge pool. The courtyard had a couple lounge chairs around the plunge pool. The plunge pool wasn’t really swimming so much a place to just quickly cool off after lying around.
The villa itself was beautiful. There are large glass doors that open to a villa with gorgeous hard wood floors. The bedroom had a very nice four-post bed. There was also a large living room. Gwen really liked the villa because she had her own room.
The pool area was not spectacular. The pool was a large and tiled with blue tiles. However, it was mostly surrounded by concrete decking and seemed to lack ambiance. That said, the resort and pool sits on a hill overlooking a beautiful, tranquil lagoon.
The resort itself was average. It just appeared to have been built before a lot of thought was given to landscaping and setting the mood of a resort naturally carved into the landscape, much like many of the resorts built in the 70’s and 80’s in Hawaii. There were wide concrete sidewalks throughout the resort. The main restaurant seemed to be almost like a maintenance shed converted into a restaurant (although it served some seriously amazing Thai food). It looks like they have tried to add some ambiance to the resort by adding a few water features and Zen gardens. The resort itself was just average but the room was lovely and the staff was thoughtful. There are certainly a few newer, nicer resorts on the island but I still feel like the staff and ownership of Renaissance Koh Samui has done a pretty good job of making the most of how the resort was built.
Koh Samui is an interesting island. It seems to be about 20 years behind Phuket in development. The airport is open air and unique. It was comical standing behind a rope and have to wait there while a baggage claim worker stands 5 feet away on the other side of the rope places your bags on a conveyer belt that appears to be operated by hamsters running on a track.
Chaweng Beach is one of the most alluring beaches in the world. It is a wide, white sand beach lined by beach side outdoor restaurants selling fresh seafood. It also seems to be a hippie hang out with a lot of hackie sacks, topless women and Frisbees, but with the addition of a Four Seasons, golf courses and a few massive private homes, one can’t help but feel the world travelers moving in and the party rave crowd slowly getting pushed out. Chaweng feels about 20 years behind Phuket’s Patong Beach which feels about 20 years behind Waikiki.
The island is easy to get to and quite cheap using
Bangkok Air (a regional subsidiary of
Thai Airways). There are direct flights from many locations across Thailand. We flew direct from Phuket to Koh Samui. True to Asian service, we were surprisingly served a full meal on this short flight.
We look forward to going back to Koh Samui again someday.
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| Lobby at Renaissance Koh Samui |
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| Who knows what Gwen is doing? |
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| A real Zen feel to the lobby |
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| Gwen and Katie at Chewang Beach |
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| Chewang Beach as the day is coming to an end |
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| Idyllic palm tree lined beach |
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| Typical outdoor seafood restaurant |
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| Restaurant Row along Chewang Beach |
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| Gwen shopping in Koh Samui |
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| Ronald McDonald doing a namaste gesture |
