Centara Villas Samui

“Fantastic spa”

The spa is amazing. I had the best massages with Ae and Aff. I’ve been three times so far! Excellent pressure, relaxing atmosphere, kind people and delicious butterfly tea before and after. Also Au and Suwanee were so welcoming. Suwanee did a great pedicure. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend.... more

The spa is amazing. I had the best massages with Ae and Aff. I’ve been three times so far! Excellent pressure, relaxing atmosphere, kind people and delicious butterfly tea before and after. Also Au and Suwanee were so welcoming. Suwanee did a great pedicure. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend. Thank you 🙏😊

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“A quiet place for relaxation”

We stayed here over easter for a week with 2 adults and 3 kids ranging from 6 to 15. Had 2 rooms. I really enjoyed our time here. The location is quiet but that’s what we needed for the first part of our trip to Thailand. The hotel cascades down a hill and ends on the beach with the pools and re... more

We stayed here over easter for a week with 2 adults and 3 kids ranging from 6 to 15. Had 2 rooms. I really enjoyed our time here. The location is quiet but that’s what we needed for the first part of our trip to Thailand. The hotel cascades down a hill and ends on the beach with the pools and restaurants and beach. No sun-beds wars here, in fact there were times we had the pool to ourselves. The beach restaurant has a great breakfast offering and we ate lunch here most days. Good variety and well made. They also have regular evening themed events. The staff are attentive and friendly and keep the hotel clean and the gardens well maintained. This is an older property so is in need of a little updating. But this did not take anything away from our time here. There is a free daily shuttle to 7/11 which is great. We tended to go out into the busier areas on an evening. so we could visit the night markets and other resorts. Taxis are plentiful and cheap. The team made such a great easter sunday with games and egg hunt or the kids. They really did go the extra mile which was appreciated. Would be very happy to return .

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“Kho Samui and the Centara Villas Sumui Hotel, over and out! An honest & detailed review.”

My wife and I decided to return to Thailand once again, this time to the new location for us of Kho Samui and the Centara Villas Samui Hotel. Collection from and return to Kho Samui Airport to the Centara Villas Samui Hotel was by private transfer which was quick, efficient and friendly with an ... more

My wife and I decided to return to Thailand once again, this time to the new location for us of Kho Samui and the Centara Villas Samui Hotel. Collection from and return to Kho Samui Airport to the Centara Villas Samui Hotel was by private transfer which was quick, efficient and friendly with an amenable representative and a safe driver in attendance. The hotel check in process was fine save that we were asked to deposit 10,000 Thai baht (about £240+) as a 'security bond'! This was the first time we've ever been asked to do this, following on from our many visits to Thailand and came as a surprise to us! We were told that we should've been charged 1000 baht for each day of our 14 night stay, hmm! Since I don't use a credit card, only a debit, the hotel wasn't able to carry out the transaction but instead we were asked for 5000 Thai baht in cash, still not an inconsiderable amount, which we (begrudgingly!) paid and really hadn't factored our budget for this, but it wasn't really a problem to provide for. Was there a reason for paying this 'bond', had there been a problem with previous guests absconding without paying their bar bills, who knows and it remains somewhat of a mystery as to why!? This means that potentially this amount of money wouldn't now be spent in the local economy, so really whose loss is that and this practice of taking a 'deposit bond' I really disapprove of! If you do pay by credit card then likely it'll be very expensive for the card holder, when exchange rates and other charges are factored in, so be warned! Are guests not to be trusted here was the impression I was left with!? You'll 'need' to download the Centara Villas Samui Hotel app. It's the only way of getting any information about the room and hotel itself, there's no room information booklet or suchlike, alas so 'now' it seems and needless to say the app was first thing to be deleted from my phone as we left! Anyway onwards! Checked into our deluxe villa with pool and sea view (room number 319 - this room has been reported frequently on Trip Advisor, hmmm!) which is very well located and seemed fine, save a very old built in air-con unit which proved a disturbing adversary to getting a good night's sleep and thank goodness we had our wax earplugs (Quies) to keep the noise at bay, they were needed! There's a wood frame step that surrounds and extends around the bed (why!?) just waiting to snag unsuspecting shins, so watch out for that! The bed is massive (think of x2 double beds together) and comfortable it must be said. A wonky loo seat, malfunctioning smoke alarm (that flashed two lights brightly at night every 2-3 seconds, like an in-room disco and on their way to causing an epileptic fit, but fixed with the application of two strips of gaffer tape, yay!) and a few other small issues such as the faulty air con that failed three times during our two week stay, a wheel that fell off one of our patio sunbeds(!) and ants and various critters in the room, but then it's a jungle environment so not a surprise and we were provided with a suitable spray. But no snakes as a previous occupant had reported, who also claimed the room was dirty (it certainly wasn't!) and who herself came from Calcutta, a place hardly renowned for its cleanliness of course, made me LOL anyway! This made our the first experience of the hotel a little underwhelming and disappointing. The room has seen better days and does need a partial refresh it seems, especially the air-con which urgently needs replacing with a modern remote control programmable unit which not only will be significantly and necessarily quieter but more energy efficient too! We booked on a half board basis, though usually go all inclusive but for us we rarely take advantage of this, neither of us are big drinkers nor likely to eat lunch in the hot climate so this was very much a new experience for us. Our first evening meal (you can dine between 5pm - 10pm) was a little disappointing, being a Thai buffet night (at the time we didn't know we could have selected from the standard hotel full & half board menu) with relatively little choice and the food was cooler than it should have been, it was windy so perhaps that took the edge off the heat of the dish but hmm!? The heat of the cooked breakfast food suffered a similar issue, save the freshly cooked to order egg options. Breakfast at this 'four star' level is pretty standard Thai hotel fayre, so previous reports saying how good it is are perhaps a little overstated but it's perfectly satisfactory though no more than that, with hot drinks from a machine only, which is the norm these days alas (though it transpired more than a week after being here you can order a coffee from the bar if you're staying in a higher grade room, though just during breakfast.) Within 24 hours of arrival we were sent an email from the hotel asking for our first impressions, which we gave honestly and forthrightly (what were they thinking and what were they expecting of course, ha!?) and within an hour of receipt of our reply we had a phone call from the management team asking if they could come and speak to us, oh-oh!! The Assistant Manager, the lovely 'View' (real name Vinanda), listened intently to our concerns and readily offered to address those as best she could and full credit to her for doing so. We were to get just two complimentary 500ml bottles of water between us each day, which for visiting Europeans just isn't enough by far (you need to consume 2-4 litres or more each, per day!) and View kindly increased that courtesy provision to us to 6 bottles per day. The room mini bar offers a 1.5L Evian bottle of water for 190 baht + 7% VAT so not otherwise a cheap option and indeed when ordering drinks from the bar there's a 10% service charge + 7% VAT so drinks are expensive (a small beer and a tonic water came in at 247 baht, about £6!). The service and VAT charge extends to the a la carte food ordered too. It just comes across a little that the hotel's exploiting it's captive guests!? The following day gave us the opportunity to explore the resort and surrounding area. The hotel has three pools, the main of which by the beach seems fine, the other two are tucked away higher up the resort and are less appealing and likely little used. As has been reported before, there are many steep steps in the resort from top to bottom, so I suggest if you're perhaps an unfit pensioner or suffer mobility issues at any age then this resort is certainly not for you! You can only walk a short distance each way along the beach and although the resort tends well to it's own beach area, it goes quickly downhill beyond, with copious amounts of litter and debris, derelict and long abandoned buildings and iffy open space areas with wandering feral dogs (which do venture along the hotel's own beach!), all of which disappoints and raises concerns, with no evident intent to tidy up or control. The islands environmental conditions are a very poor reflection on the local government and some of the Thai people for not managing this and the careless behaviour of many of the visiting tourists, an issue which is the same all over most of the world alas!? As ever money making before sustainability! This reflects so badly on an island that's significantly reliant on tourism but generally isn't well maintained, looks scruffy and unkempt and is very litter strewn (try the litter litmus test of walking 100m to see how much litter there is or if there's none at all!?), so consider that if you're expecting to arrive at a pristine destination, it's absolutely not! There's a lot of traffic about too for a relatively small island, especially mopeds/scooters and most of the riders and passengers don't wear helmets though the law states you must (is common sense left at the airport & guess how that ends!?), hmmm! Our second night's meal and most of those subsequent were far better (we were on half board) with probably more than a dozen set three course meal options, but you're able to choose any starter, main course and desert option to whatever combination of dishes you want, which seems good and provides more of an opportunity to satisfy your appetite. You can select from the set menus as an alternative to the various themed barbecues that are offered most evenings. The menus need clarification - you should be given two (though your not always be warned and sometimes they are the same menu, not the two option menus available!), one of which is a 'red' meat based menu, the other a pork menu (white meat based?) which partly explains why there are some dishes that appear on both menus and others that don't - so why not combine both menus into one which would make it far easier for both staff and guests!? This caused us some confusion until one of the staff kindly clarified after a week of being here! There's also the a la carte menu for which there's a charge for each dish (of course!) - I was going to picture all the menus but Trip Advisor has an issuie with that alas! It has to be said that both full/half board menus are typically repetitive and do become boring, without having to resort to the additional expense of the a la carte menu, depending on the length of your stay! The food quality and quantity are generally fine, though sometimes certain options do run out and the quantity of some of the dishes seem a little meagre (ice cream - one scoop, hmmm!), especially after a long hard day on the sunbed, ha! The best aspect of the hotel without doubt is by far the staff, from maids and gardeners up to middle managers, all whom are very polite, friendly and willing to help, though sometimes the waiting staff struggle to deliver prompt service and a few occasions we had to ask for certain dishes on order to be fulfilled after long waits, but I guess chill and go with the flow. The downsides are the hotel's 'deposit bond' policy, it's relatively high food and drink prices, a need to update the resort in certain areas from ground maintenance to room refurbishment and the hotels poor location. Sometimes the staff struggle to understand English but then how's your Thai!? There aren't shops (7-11 or such like) anywhere near within walking distance of the hotel and few if any (good) bars or restaurants close by or within easy walking distance, a result of the COVID crisis no doubt. One of the nearest bars to the hotel is to the left as you face seawards and to be honest looks very dodgy, situated next to a huge pile of rubbish by the beach (oh the ambience!) but is reportedly alright taking to guests who'd been there and the drinks are cheap compared with the hotel, which is sufficient recommendation alone! The other bar in the opposite direction is located next to the adjacent headland (to the right as you face seawards) and looks even dodgier than the other bar! The major concern about the hotel is that it's so far away from convenience stores, decent bars and restaurants and you need to consider this if you're thinking of coming here! I like some degree of isolation but really this is too much and borders on the inconvenient to be honest. If you need any provisions you'll need to use the hotel shuttle bus to the nearest store that runs free of charge just once a day with a 15 minute turnaround (supermarket sweep anyone!?) or otherwise to the town of Limai, 15 or so minutes away, at a cost of 50 bahts per person each way or 150 bahts each way to the larger town of Chaweng, some 30 minutes away. Like all Thai resorts they liven up at night so choose when you want to visit! If there are only two passengers then you'll be charged for four, four being the minimum passenger requirement on the shuttle buses, but still cheaper than using a taxi! Getting a local taxi one way to or from Limai costs 500 baht be warned, expensive for Thailand! Considering the resorts isolation really all the shuttle bus services should be offered free or without penalty!? The beach sun loungers have certainly seen better days and are generally uncomfortable (chiropractor alert!) so most all could do with replacing. Yes, sunbed bagging is alive and kicking here, with early morning 'towel on my bed' stake reservations taking place and the hotel does nothing about it, despite a notice that towels will be removed after 30 minutes if the beds remain unoccupied, just a pity they don't practice what they preach which in our experience does work if applied! Seems to be a case of if you can't beat 'em, join 'em, but this just shouldn't be so!? There's a reasonable hotel gym located opposite the main entrance which seems under-utilized but is well equipped and air conditioned, perhaps worth using if you're minded to do so (or not!?). You need to think very carefully when considering this hotel. It's remoteness from bars, restaurants and convenience stores is a significant issue and will be a deal breaker, quite rightly, for many! It's perhaps best to stay just a few days but no more than a week here, then move on to another hotel as seems to best suit when staying in Thailand? As a captive guest you get the feeling you're sometimes being taken advantage of, given the prices charged for food and drink, of course there's no real local competition! Though our room was well located and having a private pool was very nice indeed, I think there are likely far better hotel options to consider if staying in Thailand for a couple of weeks or more before deciding on this hotel. I don't think half board really works here without having at least a reasonable drinks upgrade option if one were available especially given that there are few good restaurants and bars near by as an option to go to. As ever it depends what you're used to and what your expectations are and I'm sure many guests leave wholly satisfied, some perhaps not!? Credit to the hotel for allowing us to remain in our room until our collection at 17:30 on our final day without additional charge, checkout otherwise would have been at noon. An interesting comparison with the Centara Villas Sumui Hotel is the hotel located about a mile further up the road called the Shasa Resort, a five star apartment hotel complex we discovered on an exploratory walk, but you need to read the Trip Advisor reviews on that one!? It looks an impressive hotel but there's no beach and it seems to have 'issues' but worth a walk to, up via cardiac hill!! Think of the Thai version of the hotel in the Shining or Hotel California perhaps, hmmm!? Through the Centara Villas Sumui Hotel we booked to visit Limai, Chaweng (both twice) all of which are pretty much the same, save their scale. Limai is small, rough and ready and perhaps a little seedy! It has a very course sandy/gritty beach (ouch!) which in the main is filthy, litter strewn and with patches of oil from the jet skis! Even the beach areas outside many of the hotels there are often not clean! We did find a very good coffee shop there (see my other review) near the shuttle bus drop off point outside a 7-11. Chaweng is the largest town and the hotel shuttle bus dropped us off at the Central Shopping Mall, a very modern European style shopping centre (without half the shops boarded up, if it were in the UK!) with many familiar international shop names there. It seems a little out of character in a Thai environment but works well and is worth a visit. It's quite near to the beach which I'd recommend a walk along and has better sand compared with most other locations we visited, though it's very busy and has plenty of beach side bars. We booked through our hotel a day long jungle trip in a 4x4 which was a very interesting and at times an exhilarating experience and in good company with five other guests on board and whom we got on very well with and an amiable tour guide/driver. You get to see a lot - 3 x temples (all fine), mountain top restaurant for lunch (a literal white knuckle ride in a good way with great views), the secret garden (lots of steps and different), the 'dead monk' (the stuff of nightmares!?), grandfather & grandmother rocks (not what it's cracked up to be, rammed with tourists and over commercialised), a waterfall (a tourist trap and wouldn't dip a toe in due to the dubious water colour, hmm!) and Crystal beach (nice beach but very populated and 'lively' alas). As a tour it's sometimes a little rushed and not everything promised did we get to look at* but nice to see both the interior of the island and the coast and with great company on the day made it all the more enjoyable. (*We were actually picked up a couple of days after the jungle trip to be taken to the overlapping rocks, which should have been part of the original trip itinerary and which isn't far from the hotel, so credit to the tour company for standing by what we were promised and which then ticked off all our expectations.) An interesting experience was trying to book a spa treatment with the hotel's own Spa Centre and what started as a 'special price' soon ballooned into something like a third more expensive with 'add ons' (no, not those sort of extras!!) so beware and we gave up in the end, we've played this game before and nonetheless a disappointing and salutary experience! You're probably better off with a beach shack massage treatment!? So overall this was something of an underwhelming holiday destination and experience alas, alright for some but not all and I'd recommend to carefully consider the alternative options before deciding on here.

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