SALA Samui Choengmon Beach Resort (Thailand)
 

Introduction As a general rule, I think frequent travelers get more value when sticking to hotel chains where they have elite status while infrequent travelers are better off saving money with independent hotels since they would not get benefits at big chains anyway. For this reason the vast majority of my hotel stays are in hotel chains, however this year most chains are extending status therefore I am more free to try independent hotels. For our stay in Koh Samui I did not really have lots of choices anyway because pretty much all hotels from big chains were closed so I tried SALA Choengmon. My overall takeaway is that it’s a decent hotel and my previous thoughts remain: I would recommend this hotel to occasional travelers, but I found more value out of other (chain) hotels we stayed in Samui before. Room I originally booked at another property which ended up closed for my dates, and as a compensation they moved my reservation to SALA at the same rate for the “pool villa” room type; because it was a good price I took the offer. Upon check-in they were generous enough to give me an upgrade to the one-bedroom pool villa suite which was nice since I am a first time guest at this property. The main advantage of this room type is that it has its own pool and it’s very private because you are surrounded by high walls on every side. The total area is quite big at 176 square meters but most of it is outdoor space. Indoors it’s only 32 sq m which makes it quite a small suite. The bathroom is a further 10 sq m but it’s entirely outdoors. I don’t mind resorts where the shower is outside as it offers something different than standard city hotels, but I am less excited about having the toilet outdoors as well. During our stay the previous month in Ritz Carlton Koh Samui, we hardly saw any mosquitoes because the resort is set on a hill so it is not a suitable breeding ground for insects, however SALA is on flat terrain so we saw more mosquitoes than in RC, not so much during the day, but during the evening it was noticeable. Consequently going to the toilet during times of darkness was not the most convenient although the hotel provided mosquito coils to burn to repel the unfriendly bugs.The swimming pool is far more than a simple plunge pool offered by some hotels; it’s reasonable large 3m x 5m and it’s also deeper because I had water almost to my neck which is not typical of shallow hotel plunge pools. The outdoor arrangement was very nice, including a cabana for people who want to sit in the shadow and two lounge chairs in the sun, in addition to a dining table. At the end of the pool there are large wood panels which we kept closed for privacy, but we could see other people on the resort which opened them in order to have somewhat of a view. It is a good design feature to give guests the choice of more openness or more privacy.Inside the villa as mentioned above it was somewhat cramped so I was glad we had the upgrade; the extra space of the living room came in handy. The bedroom did not have much space on either side of the bed and when we wanted to access the bathroom you had go behind the bed and behind the small working desk which sat at the head of the bed. Overall it’s not a new construction and there was some wear and tear but nothing unusual and thankfullyl no carpets, so overall I was quite satisfied. Dining Breakfast is often more disappointing in Samui hotels than other parts of Thailand, but in SALA it was good quality. We enjoyed having an extensive a la carte menu which is more luxury than a buffet and it contained both western and Asian dishes so it can keep everybody happy. Also they allowed guests to have their breakfast in the villa rather than in the restaurant at no extra charge (assuming you booked a room with breakfast included) which is normally only a feature of luxury hotels. The restaurant itself was an inviting area right by the swimming pool and close enough to the beach that you have sea views from there. Service Service at the hotel was good throughout, from the pre-arrival e-mail exchange to sort things out with our previous (closed) hotel and subsequently extending the dates of our stay. Also there are other service features of this hotel which give a more upscale experience for example in the pre-arrival questionnaire they give you a choice of pillow menu and you can also choose the scent of the soap you desire which is a nice touch. Beach As mentioned above the swimming pool is very close to the beach so you can have nice views from there. The beach is a clean stretch of sand shared by a few hotels nearby. It might not be as good as Chaweng beach but it is a good second choice. Since the beach is located in a bay, the water was calm and water does not get deep unless you walk quite far so it is a reasonably good beach for children. Wifi Wifi worked very well during our stay with speeds of 40-45 Mbps. Overall Overall I was happy with our stay and I would recommend this property to people who are not elite members of hotel loyalty programs. Somehow it is unfair to expect this property to match loyalty benefits at big hotel chains, but in the niche they occupy in Koh Samui it can be a good choice. The price we paid was excellent considering we had a villa with a pool as private as it was.