Santiburi Koh Samui

“10/10!! Staff, food, location! Absolutely perfect!”

What a fantastic resort! Location is perfect for families! We stayed at a deluxe pool villa with a family of four and can’t rate this resort enough! All the staff are so helpful, kind and go above and beyond to ensure our stay was magical! Food was and theme nights were really well organised and … more

What a fantastic resort! Location is perfect for families! We stayed at a deluxe pool villa with a family of four and can’t rate this resort enough! All the staff are so helpful, kind and go above and beyond to ensure our stay was magical! Food was and theme nights were really well organised and my family enjoyed the much variety of food and activities including a fire show that was spectacular 🤩🤩 Thank You

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“Not just a hotel stay, a hotel experience”

We have just returned from our second stay at Santiburi where we competed our three centre trip across South East Asia. Our expectations before arriving were high as we had such a good experience here in March 2025. And I’m pleased to say this second visit did not disappoint in any way. From the … more

We have just returned from our second stay at Santiburi where we competed our three centre trip across South East Asia. Our expectations before arriving were high as we had such a good experience here in March 2025. And I’m pleased to say this second visit did not disappoint in any way. From the moment we arrived to the time we left we felt the charm of santiburi wrapping its arms around us and giving us that relaxation and reset that we needed. Of course it’s the staff, the professional culture and attention to the hotels environment that makes you feel this way. We stayed in a deluxe garden villa near to the beach which is what we requested as we know that this is extremely comfortable accommodation. Breakfast selection was excellent as usual and the couple of lunches that we did have were also very good. My only slightly negative comment is that I do think prices for drinks, food and the spa in particular are high (indeed spa prices exceed what you would expect to pay in a good one in UK) but I will not let this effect my score as ultimately you have a choice as to whether you want to pay it or not. Also I can i can imagine the costs of running a hotel such as this! Overall another excellent time at Santiburi so thank you to hotel and staff. We will return!

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“Bittersweet”

We have recently spent 17 days at Santiburi 5* resort (February/March). In 27 years of visiting Thailand and Asia this was our 21st visit to the hotel. It was always a wonderful feeling when entering the driveway to Reception filled with energy and excitement but this time the "sparkle" was not t… more

We have recently spent 17 days at Santiburi 5* resort (February/March). In 27 years of visiting Thailand and Asia this was our 21st visit to the hotel. It was always a wonderful feeling when entering the driveway to Reception filled with energy and excitement but this time the "sparkle" was not there. However, we did get our usual warm welcome from the staff (friends) The hotel boasts a wonderful location next to a beautiful beach, villas in lush well maintained gardens. During our repeat visits we have made lifelong friends with many of the staff, who in fact "make" the hotel what it is and quite likely has an influence to encourage guests to return. The hotel was originally family owned, had a lovely warm and "family feel" to it but unfortunately as it is now a corporate organisation this feeling has very much disappeared. This year there have been changes in quite a few things, one of which is the 'happy hour' late afternoon at each of the different bars. In the past this was a nice opportunity to sometimes meet other guest enjoying a relaxing drink which often encouraged them to indulge in refils. Now there are various weird schemes of 20% off specific drinks at different locations and only a few staff seemed to be aware of the offer. Food - the Sala Thai has always been our favourite place to eat and we did have some nice dishes there this time, but it would seem that the Thai dishes, except curry, are being made into 'fine dining' (or with Italian/European influence) and all seem to be finished with some kind of white dressing. The Beach house is a nice venue serving good food, but it seems the emphasis is on bbq-style food at set prices (at least £50pp + taxes) most evenings. However, we were treated to two wonderful meals of our choice cooked by chef U-Tid and team. Breakfast - buffet style as one would expect which was rather diasppointing. Fruit selection was poor - pineapple,watermelon,cantaloupe,dragonfruit,passion fruit. For some reason bananas seemed to be in very short supply. Mango was always part of the selection in previous years but not a Mango in sight. This is rather strange as the local markets were bursting with a huge variety of the fruits one expects in Thailand. There was a damaged decking area in the outside breakfast location which was left unrepaired during our whole time there. The pastries were basically a variation on one theme - "Danish & Croissant" and "doughnut" - .....doughnuts of stodgy quality. In past years, there has been a lovely variety of sponge-type cake/tray bakes included and different every day. This time, every day was the same. There was a distinct feeling of "cut-backs". The cheese is bland and poorly presented. What a waste of energy individually wrapping pieces of butter in greaseproof paper - very messy Complimentary afternoon teas has been discontinued and replaced by expensive European -style cakes/pastries for guests to purchase, in the Lobby bar Complimentary fruit in the room was always full of variety, and our preferences noted on our profile. This time it amounted to some small oranges, very highly polished apples, dragon fruit, sometimes longan and if we were very lucky small bananas. This presentation has never occurred previously. F&B manager, when around, asked if we had enjoyed our meal, but very little other conversation took place. Yet again this year, we never say the manager around the hotel. Clearly he appears not to enjoy meeting his guests We have never expected special treatment, but as many-time return guests it would have seemed appropriate to actually engage in conversation with us. The afternoon complimentary ice cream trolley is only located in one area and not many guests are aware of it. The excuse is lack of electric plugs but they are available even as far as the beach boys station at the other end of the beach. Non residents are allowed to "rent" sun beds leading to lack of availability for guests, the beach being advertised "Private".....clearly not the case. Throughout the grounds are wooden signs of "Rules" of what you can and cannot do ! - a 5* luxury hotel ? The hotel is in need of quite a lot of remedial work. Without exception, and putting 'negatives' to one side, we enjoyed our stay, but disappointed to see that the hotel seemed to be crunching numbers on everything. All about money. We have to say a huge 'thank you' to all the staff (they know who they are) for looking after us in an exemplary way. They will forever remain in our hearts

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“Seriously lacking. Need to work harder to provide true FIVE star experience!”

This will be a balanced review of our experience. Just returned from 6 nights here. First the positives. Location is great and is within easy walking distance to shops, restaurants etc. Hotel grounds etc well maintained. Staff especially housekeeping very friendly. However, once you look past the b… more

This will be a balanced review of our experience. Just returned from 6 nights here. First the positives. Location is great and is within easy walking distance to shops, restaurants etc. Hotel grounds etc well maintained. Staff especially housekeeping very friendly. However, once you look past the beautiful reception area and are shown to your room we realised After a day or two this resort was seriously lacking. Firstly the room. We had a Grand Reserve pool villa. Very clean etc but quite bland and grey. Also there are two tv’s in the room but neither seemed to be “Smart” so couldn’t connect to Netflix etc. The pool is in the shade most of the day so hardly used it. Shower had to keep being turned off as hot water kept disappearing but I presume this is a sustainability issue so I’m fine with that. Beach is nice, but after you have been set up you have to go and find beach staff to request more drinking water. Not attentive at all. I never saw anyone ordering drinks etc at the beach so I’m not sure if this was an issue. Now to food. It is seriously expensive and very mediocre and even poor at times. We had an issue with my lunch which arrived cold, and not well cooked so I had to send it back and order something else. Not once were we offered a drink while we waited. At the end the restaurant manager came over and apologised and stated we would not pay for lunch that day. But as I got up to leave one of the waiters literally chased me to sign the bill!! This made me uncomfortable and I did not want to challenge the poor Thai waiter who clearly had no idea. Which of course was added to our final bill. Clearly no communication there. Thankfully there are lots of amazing options outside the hotel. People have mentioned hotel managers speaking to them at breakfast etc. This was not our experience and we felt ignored, and that other guests were prioritised maybe because we would have expressed our feelings about this resort. They charge for things usually free at other FIVE star resorts. Like soft drinks in room or beach yoga. Overall this resort feels soulless and bland. The “vibe” felt “off” and guests often looked bored!Management need to work harder on their own professionalism in regards to treatment of ALL guests and either lower their restaurant prices or significantly raise their standards. I am happy to pay a premium but only if it is justified and it just isn’t here. So disappointing, would not stay again.

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