Koh Samet Hotels with Swimming Pools

This hotel has the best atmosphere on the Sai Kaew Beach, but it asking price far exceeds the value of dining and service they provide. Basically, they charge close to 5-star prices for what is essentially a pretty nice 3-star hotel. Hotel staff were fine, but the staff at the beach club, which is part of the hotel, tend to be very rude to customers. They enjoy giving guests orders that do not make much sense. Other guests got yelled at for resting their legs on a chair at the their table. I came back from the beach, dried myself and changed a shirt before sitting down on a beach towel, and I was ordered to leave (by yelling) because I'm wet. I am respectful of rules and my family and I have visited many beach front properties, I do not believe we commited any violation of etiquette. I also did not see any of these ”rules” displayed near the beach club. May be this is part of their culture at the Sai Kaew Resort, but when they ask for almost USD 20 (incl. tax) for a simple plate of pasta and YELL at customers, then none of these is acceptable. PS. We stayed over 4 nights, and the breakfast buffet was swarmed by flies every morning. Their food court style free seating arrangement means we had to awkwardly hunt down tables ourselves. Again, TOTALLY NOT WORTH THE MONEY.

The hotel is really good and everything we expected. The rooms are spacious and very nice and are cleaned every day. The pool is small but really beautiful, the whole hotel was built in traditional Thai style and is very clean. The beach is just a few steps away and so are the best beach restaurant on Samed (at the Samed Villa hotel) and Silversand bar for late night cocktails. Breakfast was a bit poor. The downside was the beach itself- with high tide hardly any place to lay down, had to rent beach chairs and a rough sea with high waves. The better alternative was to go to Ao Prao for the day, the beach there was amazing, no waves at all and saw the best sunsets there. With the songtiew just 5 minutes away, with a scooter even faster. The resort is quiet and even though almost on the beach, still secluded so the nightrest is assured. Will definitely stay again, because it was more than worth the relative low price (compared to the Ao Prao resorts).

As a couple who have traveled to many luxurious destinations around the world, we can confidently say that the Paradee Resort is truly one of the most incredible places we have ever had the pleasure of staying at. From the moment we arrived, we were greeted warmly by a fleet of friendly faces and introduced to the destination. We were immediately enveloped in the serene and tranquil atmosphere of this tropical paradise. The resort's lush tropical greenery and extraordinarily pristine beaches are enough to take your breath away, but it's the incredible attention to detail and top-notch service that really sets the Paradee resort apart, with our spa experience made top notch by Noi and Pin. Every single staff member is incredibly friendly and attentive, making sure that your every need is taken care of throughout your stay, with special mention to Tony. And the accommodations themselves are simply stunning, with spacious, beautifully-appointed rooms that provide the perfect blend of luxury and comfort, with our experience in the Garden Pool Villa absolutely exceptional. But perhaps the highlight of my stay was the incredible food. The resort's restaurant offer an incredible selection of fresh, locally-sourced ingredients that are expertly prepared and presented. Whether you're in the mood for Thai specialties or international cuisine, the Paradee's culinary offerings are sure to impress even the most discerning foodies. Our favourite meals were the chicken pad see ewe, duck Massaman curry and the chocolate and peanut butter lasagne that we indulged ourselves with more than once! All in all, I can't recommend the Paradee Resort enough. If you're looking for a truly luxurious and unforgettable experience on Ko Samet, this is definitely the place to be and we can’t wait to return!

I’ll start by saying that the hotel’s surroundings are breathtakingly beautiful. The beach is one of the best on the island - clean and tranquil. It made spending time in the hotel a delight. And overall, we had a really memorable time - which was enhanced by exploring the island on motorbikes every day (which you can rent from the hotel). However, there are a number of areas where there could be significant scope for improvement and which, if improved, could make this a much better class of hotel. These are primarily: 1. There was repeated miscommunication with the hotel staff, who generally-speaking (with the exception of one or two receptionists) have poor English. It would of course be unreasonable to expect everyone to speak perfect English; that’s not my criticism here. But what I will say is that a lack of common language between us and the hotel staff made asking questions, even simple ones, about our trip difficult and led to mistakes. 2. The food is really poor at the hotel restaurant, Breeze. We had expensive Thai food which was inedible in part and the only bad meal which we have had during our two week stay in Thailand. Until improved, I’d suggest going to other restaurants on the island - Banana Bar is a real highlight. 3. The rooms which we were first shown to were unacceptably far away from the main hotel and up a number of flights of steps. We asked to change and were moved with no questions asked, which was a great result for us. We thought the hotel dealt with that issue brilliantly. We wondered how often they had encountered this issue having shown people to those rooms. And to be honest, those rooms shouldn’t really be hired out at all unless it is for a serious discount and it’s made clear to guests when they book. 4. Parts of the hotel feel unloved and a bit neglected to be honest - I don’t want to be too harsh here as it may be that the hotelier hasn’t been able to put as much money back into the resort following COVID and it’s aftermath. In particular, the room showers could do with an update. And generally there is an outdated feel to the hotel which could do with being modernised - the furniture in the common parts, the shower by the pool, etc. For the reasons above and taking into account the price paid for our stay, I would give Ao Prao three stars, but my lasting feeling is that with a bit more money, love and attention to detail, it could become a four or five star in the future.

First, I chose Koh Samet because I asked a local Thailand friend which island has not been overdeveloped since my early days coming to Thailand in the 1990s. His response was ”head to Koh Samet”. I looked for a value hotel on one of the more southern, less developed beaches which led me to Wong Duean Bay and the Vongdeuan Resort. The pool was a big draw. With the low tide being pretty extreme, it is really nice to have the salt water pool to cool off in and swim laps. The food seemed pretty authentic to me. With mainly Thai visitors coming in on the weekends it figures the food would be good at the Vongdeuan Resort. :) The staff were wonderful and always so fun to share a story or two with. The beach area all along the bay was extremely clean with no plastic on the beach or garbage in the water. This is a big plus when going to the shore in SE Asian countries. There are several beach restaurants but none of them had loud music, at least during the weekdays when I was there. It is definitely a sleepy and peaceful place to enjoy the water at high tide as well as the white sand beach for walks.

I’m not going to lie, we booked this island stay from Koh Chang as we were travelling islands, and I thought I’d booked Le Vimarn cottages. A place I’d wanted to stay for years. Instead I booked here. Same name, similar name! Not the same! I made a mistake with the booking, I have no regrets! I also have no doubt this resort will thrive, the amount of building work that was going on was skilful and impressive. Not ideal for us but the beach restaurants kept us happy all day! I don’t regret my location being wrong at all! It’s beautiful and stunning and I would come back in a heartbeat! I struggled to get a coffee before 9 am though because my facilities didn’t work in my room and I was up at 6 and looking for a functioning reception or breakfast bar really irked me! But apart from that, I’d say, work on your pool but I’d love to see your finished work in 6 months because this place will be Amazing! But please don’t sell your rooms without letting us know it’s under construction

We stayed at the Ploy Sea a couple of weeks ago for 3 nights. The hotel was fairly quiet and so they very kindly upgraded our room to a sea view. Staff were very friendly, accommodating and welcoming. In particular a lady who worked on the front desk called Ratchadaporn. She was amazing and helped us so much. The food in the restaurant was a good standard with plenty of choice and the sea front was just idillic. Looking forward to returning again soon.

I was in Vietnam and Thailand on business, had been to this place back in December 2022 with my wife and daughter, so it was the perfect place to come for the weekend. Got a taxi from Anantara riverside resort and spa in Bangkok Saturday lunchtime to the Resort Ai Prao Pier at Rayong, 2500 thb, caught the 4pm hotel boat 660 thb for return trip. Dropped off in Ao Prao bay directly at the hotel. It makes you feel like James Bond. “Biw” greeted me like long lost friend, these are the sort of touches that make a difference to me. my cottage was 706 on the highest level with views over rooftops of cottages below and the sea. On Saturday night I eat at Kerala Coco next door, BBQ night with fire show, delicious and thrilling. the hotel has a pizza oven so I had pizza twice, the second one was a mixed seafood with huge prawns and scallops. The rooms are big, big comfortable bed, good air con, large shower, veranda with chairs and tables if you wish to watch the sunsets from there. if you have thought of going to ko samet and worry about the cost and hassle then think again, it’s super easy, wish I could have stayed for a week. I write this after catching the 3pm boat back to Rayong in the taxi.

This hotel is definitely OVERPRICED This is the third time of staying here over a 5 year span and nothing has changed for the good The rooms are very very basic with A/C but no fans the bathrooms are very poor and the water stops a lot for no reason We stayed for 10 nights but the buffet breakfast was only available for 2 mornings, the staff would offer a very small breakfast menu which the owner called a la carte 🤣 The staff werw very friendly and also very helpful but they can only do soo much without the tools The owners of this hotel need to put a good bit of money into this hotel rather than just covering up the holes They are relying on the beauty of the island to carry them and their prices This hotel does nothing at night to attract customers for a drink or to have some food The room was cleaned now and then as the cleaner didn't speak any Thai or English so it was hard to communicate with her It seems a lot of the time rhe staff are standing around doing nothing with the same couple of members working night and day We will not be staying here for a 4th time unless there are big changes made to the upkeep If you are going to stay ask for a room at the bottom of the hill as I felt sorry for the customers having to climb the hillside to get to their rooms The 5 island tour turned into a 3 island tour with one being visited twice ??? And as soon as they get to the first island they stay for 2 hours and call it lunch, which was melon rice and pineapple Not sure if we would visit Koh Samet again when there are better islands but we are very sure we would never stay here again

The hotel has a nice and private location, although the beach is not very large. The rooms are large and have a good bathroom. The weak sides of the hotel are the high prices in the restaurant relative to comparable places in Koh Samet and the service quality of the personell at the reception and in the restaurant. It appears that they need more training. Example: at the outside buffet, the little butter plastic containers are on a plate without any cooling device (e.g., ice cubes) as of 6:30 and, moreover, placed right next to the continously running toaster, which makes the butter extremely soft. A few ice cubes and a different position would improve this so much.