Spa and Beach Vacation Guru

Airport Transfer

Our flight from Bangkok to Koh Samui was delayed and we arrived at the small but charming Koh Samui airport 45 minutes later than scheduled. We waited for our luggage at the extremely unusual luggage belt and soon, we collected our luggage and were looking for the driver from Sala Samui Beach Resort and Spa for the airport transfer.

We were unable to locate the driver. After 20 minutes, when most of the people had been picked up by their hotel or taken other forms of airport transfer, we decided not to wait any longer. We took up the offer from one of the airport transfer services available, costing us 200 baht per person. Unfortunately, the van was parked in a muddy car park and we had to pull our luggage through the mud. I was really annoyed as the wheels of my luggage were covered with mud after that.

Check-in

After 20 minutes of journey, we finally arrived at the Sala Samui Beach Resort and Spa. Located on the beautiful and pristine Choeng Mon beach, northeast corner of the island and only a 15 minutes drive to the popular Chaweng beach, the Sala Samui Beach Resort and Spa was opened on the 1 December 2004. It is a stunning new deluxe pool villa resort, featuring private swimming pools in 53 out of the 69 villas and suites. We were readily greeted by the hotel staff who quickly picked up our luggage. At the resort’s front desk, a helpful and professional greeted us and welcome us to the resort. We were served with cool ginger tea and cold towels while she performed the usual check-in procedure. My companion requested for twin beds and she provided us with it readily. We enquired on why we were not pick-up at the airport as requested. She apologized profusely for the mistake and offered a free transfer to the airport. We informed her that instead of going to the airport after checking out from Sala Samui, we would be staying at Le Royal Meridien Baan Taling Ngam and hence would need a transfer to Le Royal Meridien Baan Taling Ngam instead. In truth, Le Royal Meridien Baan Taling Ngam was a lot further as compared to the airport. She assured us that we would be still transferred to Le Royal Meridien Baan Taling Ngam.

Resort Surrounding

Our rooms could only be ready in 20 minutes. Hence, another warm and friendly front desk staff, Goy, gave us a personalized short tour around the resort. She introduced us to the resort’s gift shop and library (where free internet was provided). Strolling down Sala Samui resort’s central avenue and passing the individually-walled, private pool-villas, we were met by a wide vista of two swimming pools with the white, powdery sand Choeng Mon beach and the turquoise blue gulf of Siam beyond. On the right lies the restaurant with its numerous dining areas. Goy chatted warmly with us, making us felt comfortable and at home right away.

Room

When our room was ready, Goy walked us there. Sala Samui Beach Resort exudes a comfortable, intimate, casual and relaxing ambiance, created not just by the harmonious blend of Thai architecture but also by the warm, friendly and helpful staff of the resort. Our room was a deluxe balcony room on the second level of the villa. We opened the brown wooden door and walked into a room that gave us an immediate feeling of warmness and comfort. With dark brown parquet floor, the room was spacious with a large balcony and bathroom outside the room. In the room, there were 2 beds with the bed frames made of rattan, 2 wooden side tables, 1 ceiling fan and 1 TV cabinet housing the TV, 1 DVD/CD player with surround sound and the fridge.

On the spacious balcony, there was a very large sala (day bed) and a comfortable white Thai couch on the floor. The bathroom was separated from the balcony by curtains and the room by a large glass door. Essentially, the bathroom is semi-outdoor with it covered by wooden roof-top with a huge bathtub with a rain shower and a hand shower, toilet and a rather shallow sink. The cabinet was also located in the bathroom, which makes changing of clothes some sort of a hassle as we need to get the bathroom outside the room before reaching our clothes in the cabinet.

After half an hour, our luggage was send to our room. When the luggage, we were a little shock to find that there were no luggage stand available in the room and the porter had to leave our luggage on the floor. After a day of traveling, I decided to have a quick shower. Both the rain shower and hand shower was rather weak, causing me to take a little longer than expected. The adjustment of the water temperature was also quite difficult, where it was either too hot or too cold.

After my shower, we decided to make our way to Chaweng Beach for some nightlife and shopping. We also wanted to visit the tailor “Armani Suits‿ which was featured on BBC to custom made some clothes. Noticing that free transfer was provided by “Armani Suits‿, we gave a call to the resort operator to request for their assistance in contacting “Armani Suits‿ for the free transfer at 5:30 pm. The resort operator assist us readily and informed us that “Armani Suits‿ driver would be picking us up at the resort lobby at 5:30 pm.

The “Armani Suits‿ driver arrived half an hour late and we were on our way to Chaweng only after 6 pm. After 15 minutes, we arrived at Chaweng’s Armani Suits tailor shop. After visiting “Armani Suits‿, we had dinner at the “Jing‿ restaurant. At around 8 pm, we finished our dinner and do some shopping at Chaweng Beach.

Food

Next morning, we woke up after a good night sleep on the comfortable bed and firm pillow of Sala Samui Beach Resort and Spa. We went to the resort’s only restaurant for our breakfast. It was an ala-carte buffet breakfast, meaning that the guest could order from the menu or consume the buffet breakfast spread provided. We ordered an omelette with sausages, bacon, grilled mushroom and tomato; and 2 pieces of banana pancake, 1 cup of chamomile tea and 1 cup of hot coffee from the ala-carte menu. Then we took some bread, fruits and juice from the buffet. The banana pancakes were really tasty and delicious and we had it almost everyday for breakfast. The breakfast buffet spread was quite limited with one-third of the spread being fruits. However, the fruits available for breakfast had a very good variety including mangoes, pineapple, banana, mangosteen, dragon fruit, watermelon, papaya, pomelo and honeydew. For breakfast, do order the ice café latte and ice peppermint tea (without sugar). It is absolutely out of the world!!!

For lunch, we had it just beside the pool. We ordered a Seafood Tom Yam Noodle Soup and pasta in white sauce. The Seafood in the Tom Yam noodle soup was really fresh and tasty. All in all the food at the Sala Samui Restaurant meets the standard of our really picky taste bud and we were not even tired of eating at the restaurant after having six days of breakfast and lunch there!

Swimming Pool and Beach

The two swimming pools were located right at the beach where guests could alternate between swimming in the clean and calm sea and two swimming pools. For the active, there was free kayak provided by the resort or you could choose to rent a boat or jet ski along the beach. Thai Massages were also available on the beach for a mere 6 euro. If you are tired of the food at the Sala Samui restaurant or wanted to taste some other restaurant’s food, you will be able to find a nice scattering of restaurants and bars along the beach.

The two Sala Samui swimming pools each served different purposes. For those who would like to really swim in a lap pool, use the pool surrounded by lotus pond. However, for those who really like to sit, laze and read in the pool, choose the one near the restaurant. It is voted by us as the “Best Reading Pool‿ that we have encountered so far. With stone seats located along the entire perimeter of the pool as well as in the pool pavilion, it provided the best environment for reading in the water.

Standard of Service

At Sala Samui Beach Resort and Spa, we really felt the warm, friendly and intimate atmosphere. At every opportunity, the staff would smile and greet you with a “sawadeekap‿ and make sure that you are carefully taken care of. From the security guard to the cleaning lady to the gardener to the waiters and waitresses to the drivers and the front desk staff, we were greeted with the signature Thailand smile. At the restaurant, the waiters and waitresses would make sure that every table was cleaned (with proper table cleaning fluid) after the guest leave so that the next guest would have a completely and spotless clean table. At the swimming pool, the beach attendants would make sure that you are comfortably seated at your desk chairs and would come with your beach towels with you walking to them. At the front desk, the staff would make sure that you are attended to. At Sala Samui Beach Resort and Spa, we truly felt the renowned Thailand hospitality!!!

For a list of Koh Samui Hotels, click here.