mnredfox

Ok, did a TR for Maldives, so thought I would post my thoughts on CKS here. First off, it's truly hard to compare this property to the Conrad Maldives. I know they are considered two of the top beach destinations for Hilton hence the urge to compare, but they truly are two different properties. The Maldives has ocean, beaches, and excursions (nothing can beat the blue of the Maldives) - but you truly are secluded and can't really go anywhere. This is good and bad of course (you're nearer to other tourists and see them all the time). At CKS, you have the option to go off resort and do excursions on your own. CKS seems to be more quiet regardless of occupancy which we enjoyed more. I think it generally fit what we wanted for the end of our trip. Anyway, enough about the two, here goes the review:

The good:
Upgrade, got UG from std room reward to 2-BR residence (room 504)
Service - honestly the staff was outstanding here.

The bad:
I wouldn't call it bad, but we were disappointed with breakfast at Zest. Perhaps it was because we were used to what we had at CMRI, but it has neither the variety as Atoll nor quality of Vilu. Anyway, breakfast was fine, but the made-to-order items were a disappointment.
And while I can't complain about Diamond treatment given our UG, seems like other benefits have been reduced given the loss of lucky draw and drinks at HH.

Room:
Again, got an UG to two bedroom residence room 504. We loved this room (shouldn't even call it a room). HVAC worked great and we loved having all the options we had (upper room in side, balcony outside, oversized infinity pool, etc. Reports of the building being dated were true (outside deck needed wood replaced, some worn areas like bathroom grout/caulk, some dry wall etc). But none of this was something that really took away from the experience for us. Fresh fruit on day 1, beautiful elephant decorations with towels and roses in the BR on day 1 (for our honeymoon). Cookies given daily on turndown and towels were replaced regularly along with new amenities. Plenty of water refilled daily as well.

Food:
We ate breakfast at Zest daily, dinner at Zest once, and had HH at the Mainlobby/Zest/Azure. Service was always good. Already talked about breakfast - overall pretty good but areas of disappointment. I thought we should have seen more fresh fruit (never saw fresh mango) and the OJ was the standard carton OJ you see in Thailand - would have hoped/expected for fresh squeezed OJ. But good selection of foods. Highlight of breakfast for me was the daily noodle soup.

Dinner at Zest was reasonably priced and the food was good. We were a bit turned off that you have to purchase water at a minimum of 190 THB for a small bottle - not totally surprised as this happens in Asia often but given that was the cheapest option it seemed a little bit off putting. Food was good though, although portions were small.

We enjoyed HH Daily at several locations (utilizing the 4 Diamond coupons and the B1G1 deal at HH). Drinks were quite delicious and were sometimes served a welcome drink and some nuts at HH (at Azure).

Property:
Honestly, we did not explore as much of the property as we did the Maldives - probably because we can go offsite. We rented a car which we would recommend. Gives you the ability to drive around for some more local restaurants and or other excursions (we did off site massages two nights). The little we did was nice, the main pool area is nice for a refreshing swim (esp during HH where it gets hot). We did watch the fire show two nights which was cool, keep in mind the front tables often get reserved for dinner so if you want a good seat reserve a table for dinner (though we saw fine in the back and from the side one day). Didn't go to the beach to snorkel or rent a kayak (we would have if we had more time) and the chairs/hammocks over the water weren't an option given how hot it was (it would be nice in the AM before the sun hits that part of the water though). The hammocks in the shade were nice too.

Walking actually wasn't as difficult as most folks make it out to be. The hills are steep but we walked beach to reception several times and it was nice to stroll after breakfast. Given though, my wife and I are both from Colorado and we enjoy hiking in the mountains.

Activities:
I know the speed boat ride is mixed, but we enjoyed it. You get to see different sites/views of the Koh Samui area and you get some free snorkeling. The beach part of that boat ride was just ok. Nice to purchase some overpriced snacks at a tourist trap if you want, but the beach there wasn't very good. Good tip on bringing your sandals on the island as the bathrooms weren't that good.

Other than that, we didn't do the cooking class (maybe next time, but hard to justify 2-3x price you can find for a class in Bangkok and Chiang Mai but heck this is the Conrad) and instead of the Ang Thong tour we did the fishing day trip. We were looking for a more local not as posh option and that's what we got. Sat on a hot local fishing boat all day with a toothless fisherman - but in the end had a blast. Caught a lot of fish including a nice barcudda, did some snorkeling, and ate a BBQ lunch they cooked on board. As expected only two others came on board with us (we actually had the boat to ourselves and our two local fisherman tour guides for half the day) - but everything went smoothly and pickup/drop off at hotel went well.

Summary:
Overall, I think we would come back for sure (wife wants to go back and also visit Phuket). We really enjoyed our time in Thailand and Koh Samui gave us the opportunity to have both a resort and local experience at the same time. Renting a car was smooth as a breeze (though drop off at the airport was confusing for a few minutes) and google maps without cellular worked fine (you can't download offline maps so just sync up via wifi before you leave). We probably would come back here before going back to the Maldives (mostly due to distance from the US and limited experience Maldives has to offer). The beauty of Koh Samui is amazing, but the beaches and ocean in the Maldives can't be touched. Service was amazing and there is something magical about the kindness and attitude of the local Thai people.