MaldivesFreak

Deleted. Misunderstood previous post.

MaldivesFreak

Excellent. The owner is an Australian guy named Rhys and he's on the ball.


@pinniped I would recommend both Conrad Rangali (provided there is a guarantee of no more cruise ship invasions whenever you are staying) and this Conrad. Both have their advantages as have already been mentioned in detail and CKS definintely saves you a lot overall and even more if you have the HPC membership. We were upgraded to 308 and 309 but had a plethora of issues when we were there a couple of years ago but I'm sure with Lyle's 2 years they have been ironed out. The only thing I can say that is probably still an issue is the English language skills of the staff. Hit and miss. Apparently it's really hard to get good English-speaking local staff. Oh, and one more issue. Don't ask for anything in the way of desserts from the pastry chef. He couldn't make sticky a date pudding, a proper pavlova or even plain old custard, would you believe it. It was a joke.

tracktalk88

For the Hilton Premium Club - I see that the link to the website is still active, but is the program still in place for new members? Or has it been replaced by the Hilton Dining Club? I'm going to CKS this May and I could very quickly make use of the spa BOGO and dinner discounts. Thanks!

SantiC

Thanks again for the info. For your trip to Ang Thong Marine National Park, did you use the hotel's boat also? Or did you do a shared trip with Oceana Samui? I am looking at doing a private charter.

The second trip, the hotel boat, was that the trip to a "nearby beach in the beautiful Gulf of Thailand"?

SponsorSFC

It was the shared VIP version of the tour so a smaller shared boat than the normal version of the tour, we had about 8 people total. It was not a private charter and not the hotel's boat. It wasn't actually operated by Ocean Samui (the boat had another name on the side which I can't remember).

From what I understand the hotel boat goes to a few different beaches depending on the conditions and crowds. We went to one around the corner to the North of the property turning left past the Royal Villa. It wasn't far away but wasn't the 5 islands.

SponsorSFC

Best bet would be to email them. All my contact and confirmations were via email.

jinrop

You can not use the CKS as your home hotel anymore for a new membership as of February apparently.

I was able to still join and place conrad BKK as home hotel, but none of the other certificates are valid there. Should still pay for itself in F&B

evergrn

I'm contemplating Koh Samui, Conrad Bali or back to Hilton Phuket. Wife and 2 girls aged 10 and 8. Girls are neither particularly loud nor super-quiet. We are looking for 5 days of beach and pool time. Kids loved Hilton Phuket which was a very family-friendly environment with lots of kids. I wouldn't mind going back, but wife wants to try something different.

I saw a few posts from a year ago regarding whether/not this place was good for kids, but the discussion was not really centered around things I was concerned about.

Things I'd like to know:
- Are kids/families common at this resort?
- My kids like to swim around (actually so I), and so I don't think the 10m private pool will cut it. I'd imagine we'll be frequenting the common pool, but I see that that pool has in-pool chairs and canopies and generally an adult-type vibe based on pictures. Will it be appropriate for kids/families to use that pool to play/swim around in?
- I've read that the beach is small and a bit rocky. But is the sand nice at the beach, and can kids still have fun in the water at the beach?
- Our kids' dinner is usually at EL. But this property does not seem to have one, and I see no kids menu online at any of the resort restaurants. Does anyone know if any of their restaurants have kids menu (even if it's not on the website)?

Thanks!

Cat88L3

"Conrad Koh Samui (one bedroom villas)
- If you book an Ocean View villa (200s) the next upgrade would be the Ocean View Waterfront villa (100s)
- If you book an Ocean View Waterfront (100s) the upgrade goes to the Ocean View Retreat villa (300s)"

I'm HH Diamond...Can someone please tell me how and when did the Waterfront Villa (100) become the upgrade from the Oceanview Villa (200)? I thought that the Oceanview Villa (200) was an upgrade from the Waterfront. The Oceanview Villa even costs more to book vs the Waterfront Villa...

I booked a 3 nights stay for this July using points. My room is the Waterfront Villa(standard award). Does this mean that I will get the Diamond upgrade (if available) to the Oceanview Retreat Pool Villa (300)?

SponsorSFC

We have had an upgrade to the 300s from the standard villa on both stays.

I would email and ask for a few specific room preferences (in the 300s) we have been give the specific room we requested (301) on both occasions.

evergrn

I've never stayed there but I'm thinking about it this fall and have done some research.
I have to believe the above info from wiki is a typo.

monahos

That was the original pecking order, not a typo. 200's swapped places with 100's in August 2017, and parts of the wiki were not updated.

In my opinion the main reason for this change was the emergence of similar competitors driving down prices; as there are more 100's (26) than 200's (23, some of which appear classified as 'retreat'), it was a logical move. For reference there are only 16 300's.
When the CKS first opened, competition was much weaker at the high end of the market, prices higher (discounted rates in the high 20K THB vs. about half now), and amenities posher (thick cotton stationery, organic mosquito repellent, super-plush slippers, silk day robes, etc.)
As to why the 100's were originally deemed more desirable than 200's, perhaps the fact there is nothing between the villas and the sea? That the royal villa is 127 is an indicator of the designer's original vision.

gallagher

Just to complicate things even further.....

In October 2017 we booked a Ocean View Retreat villa. When we arrived we were offered a villa on the 200s which I queried as I thought it was a down-grade.
We were told that some villas in both the 200s and 100s are also classed as Ocean View Retreat villas

JJeffrey

Based on what you're saying I would probably stay away from the Conrad Koh Samui. If you enjoyed Phuket, then I would give the Conrad Bali a try, assuming the renovations are complete and/or minimized by the time you're planning to visit. The Conrad Bali has several very large pools flowing throughout the resort, very family friendly, multiple restaurants on-site with lots more within short walking distance. Plus it's Bali, so there's no shortage of stuff to do.

The CKS is in an entirely different league, a much nicer, more intimate, adult-centric resort, and also much more expensive by a magnitude of several times. While families are certainly not un-welcome, it's definitely more of a honeymoon/couples/adult spot, meant for lounging in your villa, relaxing, admiring the views, and eating at the nice (expensive) restaurants. The "beach" at CKS is largely a no-go, man made, rocky, etc. Honestly you'd end up spending 3-4x what you would in Bali and your kids would probably get bored by the 2nd day .

sarahluv

I have a stack of Hilton points to spend, but i can't quite believe the complete lack of vegetarian options at all of the restaurants!