Koh Samet Hotels with Balcony

Pros: The hotel features an all-wood design, and the ocean-view rooms offer a truly pleasant experience with stunning sea views and the sound of the waves. I'd expected the bedding in the room to be damp, but to my surprise, it was dry and fluffy. The hotel restaurant: The dining environment is spacious and comfortable, with a pergola and tatami seating right on the beach. The chef's culinary skills are excellent, with both presentation and taste being perfect. Both hotel and restaurant staff are incredibly polite and friendly. Right next to the hotel is their company's pier for guest transfers. The hotel provides free shuttle service, boat rides, and luggage handling, making island access and departure very convenient, hassle-free, and effortless. Cons: The hotel offers paid laundry service, but there's no self-service laundromat. The nearest 24-hour self-service laundromat on the island is a bit far.

We stayed for 2 nights and 3 days on Koh Samet, at the Tubtim Hotel. We absolutely loved it! The hotel is really well-located. If you go right, you'll find parties, fire shows, restaurants, and shops. If you go left, you'll find peace and quiet, beauty, and serene beaches. The room had everything we needed, except for toothbrushes. The breakfasts were good, there's a coffee machine, and the coffee was even tasty, which is rare for Thailand. We had a bungalow with a sea view, and it was simply perfect!

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.

Even though Koh Samet isn't a very large island, after exploring a bit, my favorite spot was definitely the beach right in front of the hotel. The waves were gentle, the sand was clean, and it wasn't as crowded as Diamond Beach. While it's about 2.5 kilometers from the main street, the hotel front desk can arrange scooter rentals or help you call a songthaew for 200 THB one way. There's also a small pier directly in front of the hotel, so you can take a speedboat straight from Ban Phe Pier to the hotel for 300 THB one way. If you plan to use this service for a round trip, it's best to confirm the times with the hotel in advance. The hotel's breakfast selection was really limited, but honestly, that's pretty standard for the entire island. My family of three had a perfect 5-day stay here, and my child absolutely loved it. All the staff at the resort were very nice, especially the young man at the front desk who provided excellent service.

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.

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!

The hotel room itself was fine, clean and included everything you would expect from this hotel. However, on the second day, we told the front desk that the water heater was not working and could they send someone to have a look. The staff replied they would send in 5 mins. 5 mins came, 1 hour came, 3 hours came. No one came and nobody said anything when we walked past reception. So in my experience of staying in over 100 hotels in Thailand, i learned something very important. When you select a hotel, it does not matter how much you pay. The hotel service is usually equal to the standard of the hotel. In this case, it is ranked 2.5 stars. So even i paid 4000 Baht per night , no ABF, we should only expect a 2.5 stars service from this hotel. I will book Sai Kaew next trip, and only 200 metres from this hotel.

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

So good that I have to go back again. Quiet, very beautiful room, lovely maid, private garden to sit and relax in the morning, two large and small showers are very good, big TV, very good wifi, 7-Eleven, food, dry cleaning are just a short walk away to Sai Kaew Beach. Next time I will stay at only this place.

The location is excellent, but it doesn't meet expectations for the price. When we visited in 2023, sun loungers were free, but now they charge 60 baht per person, I believe. The standard rooms are terrible – old, with no shelves or tables, so clothes just end up on the floor. The shower is bad, offering no comfort at all. The noise isolation is awful; every morning from 5:30 AM, a rooster crows non-stop right under the windows. Staff start making a lot of noise and working early in the morning, and then at night, someone was snoring incredibly loudly. For this price, you could definitely find a much more comfortable and convenient place to stay.