Introduction We had a short stay at Anantara Lawana as part of a mattress run in Koh Samui to compare & contrast various properties and better steer our future stays on the island. There are two Anantaras in Koh Samui and I picked Lawana because I thought there would be better potential for valuable upgrades than at the Bophut property which divideds its room types in too many categories. Not only the upgrade turned out to be quite good at Lawana but other features of this hotel such as service and dining were strong points as well so I can recommend this hotel. Location When going to Koh Samui, Chaweng is the place to be. Anantara Lawana is not on Chaweng Beach but it could hardly be any closer. It is at the southern end of Nora Beach and Chaweng starts at the tip of the land where Nora Beach ends. Room I booked the Deluxe Plunge Pool room type which is one category above entry level and I received what I believe is a 2-category upgrade as GHA Black guest to the Garden Pool Villa. The villa had traditional Thai design (like many Anantara properties) instead of generic look and feel of some other resorts. The room was not new and modern but I found the resort and the room to be well maintained and in good condition. The living room could be separated from the bedroom with doors but it was mostly for privacy because the wall panel did not extend all the way up to the cathedral ceilings. There was lots of outdoor space with a wooden patio around the private pool, some chairs were in the sun but there was also a covered seating area under the large sala. Both the toilet and the shower had a large window overlooking the pool area which provided great natural light inside the bathroom but because the vegetation at the end of the outdoor space was not as dense as it could be, people walking to their villa on the footpath could partially see us therefore it was better to draw the blinds down. There was also another shower outdoor which is a nice feature of tropical resorts; that shower was completely private. Dining One attraction of Anantara Lawana for GHA Black members is not only that we can have a valuable upgrade to a pool villa in times of lower occupancy, but also this property has one of the better Black experiences I have come across: a private dinner by the beach. The retail value of the seafood feast we had was 8,000 THB plus a local bottle of wine therefore probably 9,000 THB value (300 USD). Most Black experiences that I see in other hotels have a value closer to 100-150 USD instead.The food during our dinner was good and service was excellent with various staff members stopping by to ensure we had a good time. Breakfast was also better than I expected at this hotel. They no longer have a buffet due to covid but the a la carte menu was excellent with delicious local options such as Kanom Jeen with crab. Service At Anantara Lawana guests can have a private butler, which is normally not found at hotels of this caliber; it contributed to Anantara punching above its weight in terms of service. Our butler visited us during our private dinner, also greeted us at breakfast, and proactively called Vana Belle (our next destination on our tour of Samui) on the day of our departure to find out at what time our room would be ready and she informed us during breakfast. It was clear that they tried to get ahead of guest needs and provided good service. C Common Areas Common areas of the hotel looked good including the pool near the beach and the bar as well, both providing nice views. For guests with young children they recently opened a kids’ club which had lots of quality wood toys (instead of cheap plastic), many of which were still in boxes and not unwrapped yet. Wifi Wifi worked well with speeds of over 40 Mbps. Overall Overall we enjoyed our stay at Anantara Lawana. The location, food, and quality of the villa were all satisfactory and the price tag was competitive with other (larger) hotel chains. The one drawback of Anantara is that most rooms / villas do not have sea views – for views then it is necessary to book the higher categories of rooms at a higher price. So for people who highly value views then there are probably other hotels which might be a better fit but for everything else Anantara is good value.