Originally Posted by
metcon123
Just got back from a 4 night stay at CKS and was at Rangali last year for our honeymoon. Honestly, when comparing these two properties, we will come back to CKS in a heartbeat. A few reasons:
- All of the staff here are very attentive especially the resort host. We had two different resort host in Rangali during out 6 nights stay and they were missing for extended period when I requested help.
- Rooms are much newer at CKS. While there is something to be said on staying on the water, the snorkeling situation is very poor (coral bleaching) unless you're staying on the other side of island where the house reef is located.
- Rooms in CKS are super private with a large pool that you can actually swim in.
- Also, the Hilton Premium Club can be used at CKS which cost THB8,000 to purchase. Given that you and your wife would be doing a spa day, a single BOGO Spa Voucher would more than pay for the Hilton Premium Club cost.
Hope this helps!
How would you compare the quality of the restaurants at Rangali Island with those at or within a short taxi ride of CKS? As I began looking at these hotels, I was under the impression that Ithaa was in the top 5-10 restaurants in the world. (Perhaps because of all the media when it first opened.) Reviews on the FT thread seem a little mixed...good, but probably not the single best meal I've ever had. It looks like the Koh Samui area has several outstanding-looking choices, including one at the Conrad (Jahn).
I'll have to read more about the Hilton Premium Club. I've been Diamond for a few years, was vaguely aware it existed at the Asian hotels, but have never evaluated it. It didn't really come into play in my short stays in HK and Japan because I didn't use many services (beyond the lounges) in the hotels.