Hotels with balcony in Koh Samet

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.

The resort is beautiful and the location is excellent. The rooms are clean, and room service is convenient. The natural environment is lovely; we often saw squirrels running around. However, the room facilities are quite basic. The bathroom didn't have hot water, and the bedside lamp and door lock were broken. The staff were generally friendly, but not particularly enthusiastic. We rarely experienced proactive or smiling service. On the way to our room, no golf cart offered to help with our luggage. When we asked to use a sun lounger at the private beach, the attendant surprisingly said, 'I don't know,' and we never saw any guests using the sun loungers there. We ate twice at Winkks, and the staff at the entrance never greeted us or proactively showed us to a table. When they found out we didn't have a reservation, they immediately said there was no availability, even though there were clearly two unoccupied tables indoors that hadn't been reserved. They only seated us after we explicitly said we could eat inside. The front desk staff on check-out day were quite good, but the overall service compared to other places in Thailand was pretty average. Overall, it's an unremarkable resort. If I return to Koh Samet, I would consider other hotels in the same price range.

Facilities: The hotel has a restaurant and offers massages. Although the sea-view bungalow I booked wasn't very big, the view was great, and the ecological environment was lovely. Hygiene: The hygiene conditions were quite good, and staff were cleaning the path to the room both morning and evening. Environment: The environment is actually very good. It's excellent for watching the sunrise, and there's a beach right in front. At low tide, there are plenty of crabs and fish. The only downside is the bar at the neighboring hotel, which played loud music past midnight, disturbing my rest. Service: Overall, the service was good. They helped with luggage, and both check-in and check-out were very fast.

This was my second stay here. The location is super convenient, less than a 5-minute walk to Diamond Beach. It's also easy to catch a songthaew (local shared taxi) right across the street from the hotel. It's a no-frills type of hotel, perfect for travelers who don't spend much time using hotel facilities and prefer to enjoy the natural beauty of the beach, as it saves travel time. However, because it's on a main road with a 24-hour 7-Eleven and a corner eatery nearby, there's constant noise from people and thumping music late into the night. If you're a light sleeper and your room faces the street, you'll have a hard time getting to sleep.

Loved our first stay here! Our room was a ”Second Row” Sea View, but the view was still lovely. The room was huge, clean, and very comfortable, though the shower pressure could be stronger. The balcony is massive and great for relaxing. Since the resort gets a nice breeze all day, you can just sit and ”slow life” it for hours. The food is a standout—the Grilled Ribs and Grilled Garlic Fish are must-tries. Everything tasted so fresh. We will definitely be returning!

We loved our stay at Samed Amoris Resort & Pool Villas. We booked a villa with private pool for 3 days and that was exactly what we needed. We spend most days on the hotel area and not many people around so it felt like we had a resort for ourselves. The breakfast buffeet was great, the service personel was kind and serviceminded as well. The place is a bit far away from the island «centre» and other activities so I would recommend renting a motorcycle to get around. The hotel does have a restaurant, but we didn’t try that out. For the pool villa I miss having a pool net, and a rake/broom to remove excess leaves and millipedes. There’s a lot of millipedes around. Other than that this is a perfect vacation resort. I would definitely come back some day.

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 had an amazing stay at Kira Baya on Koh Samet and would definitely recommend it overall. Ace and the rest of the staff were incredibly friendly, attentive, and always made us feel welcome throughout our stay. The rooms were exceptionally clean, very well maintained, and we felt comfortable from the moment we arrived. Both breakfast and dinner were enjoyable, with good variety and quality. We also really appreciated having access to the kayak, which added a fun touch to the experience. One thing to note, as others have mentioned, is that the beach in front of the property is quite stoney and could benefit from some cleaning. Additionally, the hotel is located at the far end of the island, so getting around requires some planning. There is a shuttle service available, but it is not included in the stay and not directly provided by the hotel, which is something other hotels tend to handle better. That said, I was able to rent a scooter for 100 THB per hour, which gave me a great opportunity to explore the island independently. Overall, despite a few minor inconveniences, this was a fantastic stay with excellent service, and I would happily return

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.

Great location on the beach. The beds are comfortable and the air con works perfectly. One thing to keep in mind, very rarely will they replace your empty toilet paper roll. I have stayed here twice and had to go to the lobby to ask for a new roll for a total of three times. I suggest stopping by the lobby when you come back from the beach (after housekeeping has been done), so you don't go to your room and find out there's no toilet paper the hard way. They will also ”usually ” replace your towels, but this time they just took them without giving a fresh ones in return. While this may all be bad for some, I now know what to ask for in advance, so I wouldn't mind staying again.