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Review of the Conrad Koh Samui

a pool with a chair and chairs on the side

After checking out of our two bedroom villa at the Intercontinental Koh Samui, we headed to the Conrad Koh Samui — the whole purpose of this 2 week trip.

a group of houses next to a body of water

For some reason I love having a private horizon pool and it’s a perk I can rarely afford. So when I heard years before it was built that the Conrad Koh Samui would feature one and two bedroom villas with private horizon pools, I fell in love! Originally a good deal on points as a category 7, it was one of the properties affected by Hilton points devaluation, becoming a category 10. So I booked a stay as far in advance as possible (15 months)  to get in at the category 7 pricing and built the rest of the trip around those dates.

Check rates at this hotel:   Hilton  |   Booking.com   |   Orbitz   |   Expedia  |   Priceline

We arrived at the Conrad Koh Samui late at night, having stayed at the Intercontinental long enough to catch the sunset. Check in was in the breezy lobby at the top of the hill.

a patio with a fountain and chairs

a room with a desk and chairs

 

 

 

As a Hilton HHonors Gold I got free breakfast and our choice of what scented lotion and soap we wanted in our villa.a group of white containers with a black pump dispenser

It was dark so we could vaguely make out lights below, but had no idea how steep it was until the morning! I’d read reviews and seen pictures, but hadn’t really internalized why we’d need to take golf carts everywhere we wanted to go.

a golf cart with a white cover

a small cart on a road

Villa 110 was at the bottom a few down from the main pool and fitness center, which meant we had alot of privacy since our pool overlooked nothing but the ocean.

a walkway with a stone wall and a stone wall

After anxiously awaiting coming to the Conrad Koh Samui I was surprised by my first reaction. Since we’d arrived at night, all the floor to ceiling drapes had been drawn and the space felt surprisingly dark and claustrophobic, especially since we’d just come from the 2 bedroom villa at the Intercontinental!

a room with a bed and a table

a room with a couch and a table

a bathrobe on a wall

a bag with a variety of cosmetics

Once I’d walked outside to the pool I started to feel better and when I woke up in the morning with the drapes open, I was very happy.

a pool with a deck and umbrella

a pool and a table outside at night

a pool with a chair and chairs on the side

There was welcome fruit waiting for us, as well as a nightly treat with turn down service.

a table with plates and fruit on it

a small bag of food on a black tray

The villa is great, but for friends traveling together, it can be a little tight and feel rather on top of each other at times when both people are inside. Having your own private pool makes a big difference though and I would spend many a delightful hour toasting on the edge of the horizon pool looking out at the water or taking in the gorgeous sunsets.

a woman lying on a pool edge

a view of the ocean from a room with a table and chairs

a pool with a palm tree and a sunset in the background

The rest of the hotel grounds were lovely, though we wound up spending very little time during our 4 night stay outside our Villa (except to go to a Thai boxing match).

I did go to the kickboxing class with hotel fitness expert at the main pool. It wound up being a great workout and wasn’t boring even though I had some familiarity with the technique.

a pool with a deck and a blue mat

We decided to avoid the pricey reservation-only restaurants for dinner and mostly ate at Azure by the main pool or had room service outside on our deck.

a salt and pepper shakers next to a pool

Breakfast was served at Jahn every morning and had an amazing view.

 

a table with a glass of juice and salt shaker

There was a decent breakfast buffet that had the usual array of pastries, meats, and cheeses. My favorites were the fresh smoothies served in little bottles a la Alice in Wonderland and the little jars of yogurt.

a bottle of milk and a jar of yogurt

While the buffet had a limited number of hot dishes that changed up every day, you could also order entrees off the menu (included as part of a buffet).

a menu with text on it

 

I tried the Thai Eggs Benedict that had dried shredded pork that looked rather like rope. 🙂

a plate of food on a table

Normally I try out that spa, but with prices starting at over $100 and no great specials, I decided to skip it on this stay.

Service was great (with the exception of trying to book tickets to the Thaiboxing event and the hotel car dropping us off at the wrong place). Given how empty the Intercontinental was, I was surprised to find out the resort was at high occupancy, but at no point did it feel crowded or busy.

Despite my initial disappointment, I wound up loving my stay here and would happily do so again, though now that it’s a Category 10, it’s no longer a great value for points redemptions.

Check rates at this hotel:   Hilton  |   Booking.com   |   Orbitz   |   Expedia  |   Priceline

More posts from the trip:

Checking In and Air France Lounge at IAD
Korean Airlines First Class IAD-ICN
Hyatt Regency Incheon: Great Service, Hard Beds
Accidentally Seeing Seoul Like a Native
Tight Quarters at the Park Hyatt Seoul
Worth a Hike — Bukchon Hanok Village
Checking In for a Flight from Downtown Seoul 
Korean Airlines First Class Lounge Incheon Airport
Korean Airlines First Class Seoul to Kuala Lumpur
You Don’t Get Massaged By a Blind Paralympic Everyday...
Great Value at the Le Meridien Kuala Lumpur
Flying Firefly Airlines from Subang to Penang
Is Penang Hill Worth It?
Tour Bust in Penang
Campbell House: the Highlight of Penang
Penang to Koh Samui on Firefly
Sunsets & Villas at the Intercontinental Koh Samui
I Went Looking For a Fight in Thailand

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5 Comments

  1. Great property and I truly enjoyed my stay there.

    GIven all the turmoil in Thailand this year I did notice the was a pretty fair amount of cash and points rates that made this a fairly attractive place to go. If I remember right it is like $200 plus 38,000 points a day which isn’t terrible.

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