EuropeanPete

I'd give the hotel a call directly - I wouldn't rule out a mistake rather than deliberate malfeasance here. Koh Samui is relatively quiet at the moment and given that all their rooms are essentially the same it makes no sense to discourage points stays unless they're at 100% which I don't believe they are even close to.

partsunknown

Update: according to the hotel they have now imposed a 7 night minimum on all award stays. Year round. That’s a bit absurd, and rather sleazy.

What’s the diamond desk email?

Gertjaars

Wow their email is such a lie... how could Koh Samui out of all places have "high demand" even during the rainy/monsoon season months? Can guarantee that Koh Samui isn't as popular as the maldives where guests willingly want to spend 7 days inside their room while it pours nonstop outside. Sleazy as heck.


You can email [email protected]

partsunknown

Absolutely, pretty sure no other property is imposing such blanket requirement with high night minimums. I sent an email and cc'd their executive desk to bring it to their attention. Can hope that its just a hotel going rogue and would be walked back on.

hugolover

This is really interesting, what a clever way to block award stays especially our American friends with their certificates. This is a managed hotel, franchised properties should watch closely what they can get away with.

Premium room awards are blocked completely. Even searching for 7 nights doesn't show any. Standard awards are only loaded on the "1-BEDROOM TROPICAL ISLAND POOL VILLA" and only for at least 7 nights. You can book multiples of 5 to avail of the free night free, like 10, 15 nights.

I'm really curious how they've achieved this and puzzled why they would block premium room awards as they show at the Conrad Residences and the reimbursement is much higher.

I thought it was a brand commitment that all rooms are bookable with points, resulting in the nice examples of some rooms costing millions of points

exmike

wonder if you can book 7 days then call to reduce it to whatever length is less than that thats is suitable for you

Miltani

Anyone managed to get rooms for redemption in October for 7 nights seemed like the whole month of October is either full or blocked.

tkcdao

Wondering the same thing as well.... Or would they continue enforce the restictions over the phone

quant88

Seems the 7 night restriction is gone and redemptions for Tropical Island Pool Villa are open although not the same priced Sunset Pool Villa.

Miltani

Thanks for the info, booking as still not showing for me after Nov 13th be it 7 nights or more

tkcdao

Looks like there is very limited reward availability. I just booked one night in Aug and went back to the same day and there were no other reward stays available.

For you stay in october, it looks pretty wide open for multiple day stays

asdfghjk

Thanks for the heads-up.
Be aware of the new cancellation policy. It used to be free cancellation up to one night before. Now it is one week before.

rman18

Thanks for this! I booked 2 nights in Dec 2022. Was able to apply 2 free night certs. I had one cert expiring Nov 2022 and the agent was able to extend the expiry date as well!

Miltani

Thanks for the heads up on my reservation date range. Managed to secured a 5 night stay here.

Can't wait to go diving at sail rock. Anyone engaged the appointed dive centers for this property?

quant88

I recently stayed here for three nights using points/free night certificates. As a diamond I got upgraded to the ocean view villa. Overall it's definitely a nice property and a great use of free night certificates but I think I would stay at a different property next time I visit Koh Samui.

Pros:

• Great villas with big private pools. Unlike most other resorts all the villas are pretty nice. The villa was showing some minor issues with wear and tear but in generally good condition
• Spectacular ocean views from villas/elsewhere on the property. Ko Lounge has great sunset views.
• Generally good food at very reasonable prices especially with the 25% discount for gold/diamond members. By the end of the trip I wished more options for lunch as only Azure is currently open for lunch. The cocktails at Ko Lounge/Zest were decent although not great and the Botanikka cafe was pretty cute with good coffee/komubucha.

Cons

• Isolated and far from the airport
• Beach is pretty bad. The Ritz-Carlton Koh Samui doesn't have a great beach but I thought it was considerably better than the Conrad's. We tried kayaking for a little while but the area near the hotel is very rocky and we didn't want to kayak in the open ocean so didn't have a great experience.
• I would rate the service as good but not great for a luxury hotel and although the staff were friendly they seemed somewhat lightly staffed. Some requests required asking several times before getting a clear answer and food/cocktails often took a long to come at restaurants. The last night of our stay we got very cute bears with our names on their bathrobes although there was a typo in my name on the bear. The airport transfer at 1500 THB is definitely reasonably priced for the 50-60 minute drive although not especially professional or luxurious compared to other hotel transfers I have taken.

I think this is often the case at Hilton family hotels but the latest checkout I was offered was 12:30.