Tongsai Bay Hotel. Koh Samui. Thailand. Recommended Luxury Hotel

Tongsai Bay Hotel, Koh Samui, Thailand (Room 509), originally uploaded by garybembridge.

I have mixed views about the island of Koh Samui, where the Tongsai Bay is located. But you cannot fault the beauty of the Tongsai Bay Hotel, and the standard of the accommodations.

We stayed in one of their Pool Villas. From the site it sounded and looked like it would be very special, but it was dramatically better when we got there. There is a huge open deck, which has a fairly large plunge pool; outside double bed sized “Day Bed”, loungers, a bathtub, dining table and kitchenette type thing. Inside there are 3 rooms: the bedroom with seating area, entrance area with seat and cupboards and then the bathroom. The whole thing is huge.

Tongsai Bay is spread over a fairly large area on a somewhat steep hill, and so there is quite a lot of walking up and down the hill. Although when you could not be bothered there are small electric golf carts that they will dispatch to ferry you to and fro.

The main swimming pools are great. We especially liked the half moon infinity pool as this is reserved for adults. It also meant that it was generally very quiet as we were there at a time when there were a lot of families there. While at the pool they bring you water on a regular basis. A great advantage as it is very hot. There is also a larger pool near the beach.

The beach is a disappointment in my view. And we only sat briefly one day out of the 9 we were there on the beach and went in the sea once. It seemed that most people tended to sit by the pool and swim in them.

There are 3 restaurants. A Thai one, that is supposed to be something special but we did not enjoy the food at all. In fact, they gave us a voucher for a free meal during our stay and we did not use it. Then there is the Beach Restaurant that is open from lunch through to late. This has a large and varied menu and we ate here quite a few times. The food was okay but not amazing. Finally there is the closet to a “fine dining” restaurant. We went only once, to a Chinese special night. It was also okay but not stunning. Overall, I think the food options are at best adequate. I suspect a lot of guests venture out to find variety. We also ordered room service quite often and this was fast and efficient.

We hired a car for 2 days via the Avis office on site and explored the island. Overall the island left us less than excited about. The Tongsai Bay though as a resort is stunning.