Koh Samet Hotels with Balcony

I have stayed at Flamingo Villa before (In the Garden Room), but this time I decided to stay in the loft room, which apparently is called the Family Room. Flamingo Villa is somewhat strange, since the ”Hotel” is basically three rooms within the Samed Your House hotel. Our neighbors actually knocked on our door to try and check in ~ You need to call the phone number for Flamingo Villa in order to check in, as someone will come out to meet you. So, bottom line up front: Flamingo Villa is awesome, but get ready to kill a lot of mosquitos! The owners do a good job of lighting incense sticks to try and keep the them away, but there are fountains around the area and the mosquitos are no joke. I would say I killed at least 10 in our room, so it is super important to make sure you close the sliding doors behind you every time you go in and out of the room. The Family Room was awesome. The lower floor is basically a living room with a large day bed and a big TV with great speakers. The toilet room is separate from the shower. The stairs to the loft are pretty steep, but once you get up there it is really nice. There are two queen beds in the loft, and the glass wall and sliding door separate the bedroom from the main room, which is great because the bedroom has its own AC unit, and the glass keeps out the mosquitoes. The beds were comfortable, but be careful because the ceiling is very low above the beds. The view from up in the loft is very peaceful, and the owners obviously spent a lot of time decorating the place (The Christmas tree was still up while we were there). The hotel is a 5 minute walk from Sai Kaew Beach, and the pier for the ferry is only a 10 minute walk ~ but you can take a mini bus if you would like. The hotel is close to restaurants and stores, and there are two 7-11s close to the beach. We rented a motor bike the last time we were in Koh Samed, but Sai Kaew Beach seems to be the nicest on the island, so we just hung out there. I love Flamingo Villa, and I am sure I will stay there again in the future.

How do I even begin! I went to Koh Samet with no expectations, but Le Vimarn Cottages & Spa is supposedly the second-best resort on the island. My overall impression wasn't great, mainly due to how the resort handled the broken air conditioning in our bungalow on the first day. We took a private car from downtown Bangkok to Ao Prao Pier (the hotel's private pier, which has its own lounge). Following the resort's email instructions, we boarded the 1:30 PM boat to the resort, which took about 15 minutes. The welcome drink upon arrival was quite good. The resort isn't very large, and there weren't many guests. When we discovered the AC was broken, we immediately contacted housekeeping. From housekeeping to engineering to the front desk, and then to Ctrip, we spent an hour in the sweltering room and outside before finally being moved to another room. It seemed like Ctrip had to intervene to resolve the issue before the front desk staff led us to our new room... The whole process was incredibly frustrating due to the heat! Later, the front desk found me on the beach and offered us an upgraded room. I went to see it but declined, as it was quite dark inside, and I prefer bright, airy rooms when I'm on vacation. She told me the room would be held for us if we changed our minds. Because I didn't move, the front desk came to find me again on the beach and offered a complimentary pizza as compensation. This proactive attitude was a definite plus. We stayed at Le Vimarn for three nights. The rooms are simple, Thai-style wooden bungalows. The 1.8-meter bed was just right for a family of three. The mini-bar is chargeable. If you're visiting Koh Samet, remember to bring a filtered shower head. Breakfast was pretty much the same every day, but it tasted good. We had dinner at Buzz once, and the food was good, but with a 10% service charge and 7% tax, it ended up being a bit expensive! The resort is a 15-minute drive from the main street (where the 7-Eleven is, 200 baht one-way). The front desk can arrange a taxi. Later, we rented a scooter, which we could park on a slope about a 2-minute walk from the front desk. I scraped my foot on a coral reef while swimming, and the front desk provided basic first aid. For the last two days, we stayed at Paradee Resort, which is a sister hotel to Le Vimarn, so they offered a free transfer. However, if you're traveling with kids, I'd highly recommend Paradee Resort – the environment, facilities, and staff are all much better.

Even though Koh Samet isn't a very large island, after exploring a bit, my favorite spot was definitely the beach right in front of the hotel. The waves were gentle, the sand was clean, and it wasn't as crowded as Diamond Beach. While it's about 2.5 kilometers from the main street, the hotel front desk can arrange scooter rentals or help you call a songthaew for 200 THB one way. There's also a small pier directly in front of the hotel, so you can take a speedboat straight from Ban Phe Pier to the hotel for 300 THB one way. If you plan to use this service for a round trip, it's best to confirm the times with the hotel in advance. The hotel's breakfast selection was really limited, but honestly, that's pretty standard for the entire island. My family of three had a perfect 5-day stay here, and my child absolutely loved it. All the staff at the resort were very nice, especially the young man at the front desk who provided excellent service.

The facilities are great. I stayed here once for New Year's Day and came back for a few more days. The hotel has its own beach, and in the evenings, they offer open-air movies and fire dance performances. They thoughtfully provide both deep and shallow swimming areas, so kids can play safely. The pier is also a unique feature. It's a bit disappointing though that when I came for New Year's, the room included a welcome scarf, and the mini-bar had free snacks and drinks. This time, the room price was significantly higher, and those little extras were gone. However, the overall experience is still excellent, making it perfect for a vacation. P.S. First thing to do when you get to the island: rent a scooter!

I found it a simple walk from the pier. Straight road about 15mins. Check in was easy. Rooms are a bit dated bit totally fine. Water pressure for shower was excellent. Quiet at night. Two 7-11’s and several food options basically right at the front door. 2mins to the beach. They leave 2 bottles of water, coffee and tissue outside the room door everyday.

After booking, I wrote them over Trip.com, but never got an answer. When we went there personally to ask the day before check-in, the front-desk lady ripped my phone out of my hand without asking, to “check the booking”. We checked in into a room on the first floor, which was in front of a shallow pool. Room was spacious, with the bathroom divided in three sections. In the toilet section, the window can’t be opened, and there is no ventilator. There is a safety box, a beach bag, two umbrellas, a fridge, a kettle, and even a Nespresso machine. However, even though there are two cups and two glasses, there is only one capsule of Americano and one capsule of Espresso, and you have to buy the water, rather expensively, at the bar. There is no laundry rack on the porch or balcony. Bedsheets were spotless, but the bed was wet, hence we woke the next morning feeling like we’d slept on the beach. There are no bedside lights. In the next room, the huge TV was dangerously dangling off its 360° stand, and the balcony was dirty, with only the bathtub being spotless. They have few employees and many managers, with the employees doing what they can for many hours a day. Breakfast options are very limited for people with a plant-based diet. Beach towels are not always available at the pool area. However, the white-sand beach is easily accessible, and there are many butterflies and birds around the property. It is very romantic and nature-bound.

The hotel room itself was fine, clean and included everything you would expect from this hotel. However, on the second day, we told the front desk that the water heater was not working and could they send someone to have a look. The staff replied they would send in 5 mins. 5 mins came, 1 hour came, 3 hours came. No one came and nobody said anything when we walked past reception. So in my experience of staying in over 100 hotels in Thailand, i learned something very important. When you select a hotel, it does not matter how much you pay. The hotel service is usually equal to the standard of the hotel. In this case, it is ranked 2.5 stars. So even i paid 4000 Baht per night , no ABF, we should only expect a 2.5 stars service from this hotel. I will book Sai Kaew next trip, and only 200 metres from this hotel.

First off, the environment is nice, and the staff are all very good, especially the one who helped us with the small boat for snorkeling. Secondly, the pier is extremely far from the hotel, and there's no shuttle service – no pickup, no drop-off. A songthaew costs 500 Thai baht one way. There are no convenience stores nearby, so you're stuck at the hotel for all your food and drink, but the hotel food is really bad. There wasn't enough conditioner in the room. I called the front desk, and they told me they didn't have any conditioner. How can a hotel costing over 2000 RMB a night not have conditioner??? Good environment, but service needs improvement.

This hotel isn't bad, it's stylishly designed, and the room is clean and tidy. The only downside is that there's no real beach directly attached to the hotel, and the access is from the sea side. There are no sun loungers, just tables on the sand. When it's high tide, the water comes right up to the hotel entrance, and when it's low tide in the evenings, it recedes about 200 meters, creating space for a walk. Breakfast is mediocre, and the service is too; everyone is a bit slow, but that's okay, it works for a couple of days' stay.

The location is convenient, just a few meters from the sea, and close to the lively areas too. The hotel itself is in a relatively quiet spot, and I say 'relatively quiet' because it's surrounded by lush vegetation. Many birds start their dawn chorus early in the morning, which is actually lovely – waking up to the sounds of different birds is quite nice. The hotel is a bit old, and the rooms aren't large, but they do clean upon request. The rooms have everything you need for a short stay. We really enjoyed it, though our noisy neighbors who were playing loud music and singing spoiled it a little. However, the hotel staff quickly quieted them down by asking them to keep it down.