IC: SAMUI BAAN TALING NGAM RESORT -Thailand

Old Aug 19, 2017, 4:41 am
  #391  
 
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It's always a good idea to buy that. I think the free night certificate and 5,000 bonus points together covers the $200 fee. Note that the website says upgrade is 'guarantee', not 'upon availability'. I got upgrade 100% of the time. I admire the management's integrity and courage to put the word 'guarantee' on their website, and their competency to execute that. ^

Originally Posted by JBG89
Hello all,

I am currently a Platinum Elite and am thinking of upgrading to Platinum Ambassador for a points + cash stay this coming Thursday / Friday / Saturday at the IC Koh Samui.

Can anyone advise on if this would be a worthwhile $200 upgrade for my account? If i am reading correctly I would continue to get an upgrade (perhaps the same as my plat elite status?) but also potentially get Saturday as a free night? Any further experiences would be much appreciated!

Thanks!
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Old Nov 28, 2017, 5:30 pm
  #392  
 
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I can see there is some debate on the merits of this property. This is on my maybe list for next year (Aug or sept). For those that have been, honest opinion on this for 1 week? Keep the following in mind:

If we go, we would book club level.
we have ambassador membership
I am fussy, and expect a hotel to be absolutely in tip top condition from a maintenance and housekeeping point of view and the food and service to be excellent.
I dont really want to do too much, but will want to get away from the resort on at least 1 day. How to get around, where to go??

If not here, where? We are doing Danang at christmas. We did Bali about 18 mths ago. I dont suppose we are absolutely locked into IC but using a bogo and maybe some points along with a regular booking makes it more affordable.
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Old Nov 29, 2017, 6:14 am
  #393  
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Originally Posted by Susiew237
I can see there is some debate on the merits of this property. This is on my maybe list for next year (Aug or sept). For those that have been, honest opinion on this for 1 week? Keep the following in mind:

If we go, we would book club level.
we have ambassador membership
I am fussy, and expect a hotel to be absolutely in tip top condition from a maintenance and housekeeping point of view and the food and service to be excellent.
I dont really want to do too much, but will want to get away from the resort on at least 1 day. How to get around, where to go??

If not here, where? We are doing Danang at christmas. We did Bali about 18 mths ago. I dont suppose we are absolutely locked into IC but using a bogo and maybe some points along with a regular booking makes it more affordable.
I am genuinely unsure of the benefit of booking club especially if you have a breakfast inclusive rate, it just wasn't a good enough offering to spend time on especially if you are fussy.

i don't think the rooms and resort are in bad condition if your fussiness stops at that point you are probably OK if however you expect high service levels you are likely to face the same bitter disappointment that we did. Look at the frequent promos rather than just BOGO they can work out very good value (e.g. 3 for 2 nights offers which can be replicated for multiple 3 night blocks).

i couldn't hand on heart recommend this property to any discerning guest, it is more of a good package holiday place than high service luxury hotel.
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Old Nov 29, 2017, 12:56 pm
  #394  
 
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Originally Posted by Susiew237
I can see there is some debate on the merits of this property. This is on my maybe list for next year (Aug or sept). For those that have been, honest opinion on this for 1 week? Keep the following in mind:

If we go, we would book club level.
we have ambassador membership
I am fussy, and expect a hotel to be absolutely in tip top condition from a maintenance and housekeeping point of view and the food and service to be excellent.
I dont really want to do too much, but will want to get away from the resort on at least 1 day. How to get around, where to go??

If not here, where? We are doing Danang at christmas. We did Bali about 18 mths ago. I dont suppose we are absolutely locked into IC but using a bogo and maybe some points along with a regular booking makes it more affordable.
Note that there is no Club Lounge at the hotel. You would be better off at IC Pattaya or Hua Hin.
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Old Dec 1, 2017, 2:19 am
  #395  
 
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deleted

Last edited by markle; May 25, 2023 at 7:03 am
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Old Dec 1, 2017, 2:26 am
  #396  
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Originally Posted by Eltham
Note that there is no Club Lounge at the hotel. You would be better off at IC Pattaya or Hua Hin.
That isn't the whole story though is it?

For all its faults this property does offer a club experience very similar to that you would get in a club lounge just without the lounge. It is certainly far more similar to a full lounge experience (e.g. Unlimited happy hour drinks within the time slots) than say the Amstel.

Club guests get breakfast in the main restaurant (pretty crowded we thought and not great service), afternoon tea in the main lounge and evening drinks and nibbles at the bar. The lack of physical lounge is not what would put me off this property, is the poor execution of most services.
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Old Dec 1, 2017, 2:40 am
  #397  
 
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Originally Posted by Land-of-Miles
That isn't the whole story though is it?

For all its faults this property does offer a club experience very similar to that you would get in a club lounge just without the lounge. It is certainly far more similar to a full lounge experience (e.g. Unlimited happy hour drinks within the time slots) than say the Amstel.

Club guests get breakfast in the main restaurant (pretty crowded we thought and not great service), afternoon tea in the main lounge and evening drinks and nibbles at the bar. The lack of physical lounge is not what would put me off this property, is the poor execution of most services.
We had a great stay and were treated very well, but I just wanted to point out that there is no physical lounge in case the OP wasnt aware.
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Old Dec 6, 2017, 6:42 pm
  #398  
 
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Originally Posted by markle
Slightly OT, but how would you compare Danang vs Bali @Susiew237 ? My OH and I LOVED Danang - and are looking for a few days in April to chill out and relax on a beach sipping cocktails. Is it worth considering Bali or is Danang a better bet for disconnecting / relaxing / being pampered?
I'll have to come back to you on Danang as we head over there in a couple of weeks time.

I certainly enjoyed Bali when we were there a couple of years ago but wouldnt necessarily rush back there.
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Old Dec 7, 2017, 5:59 am
  #399  
 
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Last edited by markle; May 25, 2023 at 7:02 am
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Old Jan 4, 2018, 4:39 pm
  #400  
 
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edit: sorry this long winded post was about Danang.... moderators can delete it if need be.

We stayed here over Christmas for 5 nights. Booked a club room and we were upgraded to a club terrace as ambassadors.

The hotel is very nice in itself but if the weather is bad then it makes it hard to remain positive. It rained every day we were there so that really was a shame.

The room - compared to the standard club room (which another member of our party had) the terrace was slightly bigger and if having a toilet door as opposed to a curtain is important then you want the terrace (seriously is this a Bill Bensley thing with no bloody doors, have had this at another one of his designed hotels). Also the rooms are quite dark in their styling but the terrace was a bit brighter. The bathroom will drive any woman crazy, absolutely crap lighting. It has a rain shower sort of wet room and a sliding shower that is at an awkward angle. The bathtub is huge. Double sinks which is good but didn't seem to be a lot of space to actually put your things. ONe of these days I am going to write to IC and ask them to let me design their bathrooms keeping females in mind. You cannot really keep you doors open as the monkeys come to visit often. Housekeeping was pretty good, turn down service at night always meant fresh towels - all these hotels that talk about being green and not washing your towels etc, need to actually provide towel racks for them to dry off if that is the case.

To the good. The spa is fabulous and I would rate it highly and definitely suggest you go even though the prices are hefty. I did a 3 hour treatment which just left me in a state of bliss afterwards. Cannot recommend highly enough.

There is quite a bit to do at the resort if you want to. Of course, they have a number of restaurants and bars. We tried barefoot and citron but not 1888. I would say the food was average and expensive. There is a movie theatre that runs movies 3 times a day (free), good if you have kids wanting something to do on a rainy day (free popcorn too). we went one night and were the only ones there. There are classes you can take, yoga, tai chi, lantern making, cooking etc. There is a karaoke lounge if that is your thing! Tennis courts, table tennis, pool table. Some activities are free others you have to pay. So having lots of things to do when it is raining is a good thing in a resort. Also you can do a day trip. Very easy to get a taxi and from memory I think we paid $550K VND to get to Hoi An. (split between 4 of us makes it very good value of course)

To the bad. The club lounge service was absolutely terrible at times, and never really got above average the rest of the time. I started to time them. Getting a cup of tea in the morning took on average a good 15 minutes. A good day was 8 minutes, a bad day it was forgotten. It took me a few days to get them to actually ensure my tea was "hot" as opposed to luke warm. Like a lot of IC club lounges now I notice, the wine selection for evening drinks is rather poor. One evening they told me they had run out of sparkling wine. Really! They soon found some when I stamped my little foot (which by the way is not something I would make a habit of) I suppose I have quite high expectations of the club. You pay a lot more for it that is for sure. I will say all the staff are charming but a lot was often lost in translation and I personally don't think the staff were empowered - the sparkling wine incident is a good example of this. If I was to stay here again (which I wont) I would not pay for club

Also bad, were the exorbitant laundry charges.

Getting around the resort in the rain meant you sometimes wanted a buggy. Waiting periods were long. Not unusual to see dinged carts, their driving skills left a bit to be desired. We often walked with an umbrella which is good for getting the step count up and would then take the funicular to the top.

Something else to be mindful of when booking, is that now the best flexi rate cannot be cancelled up to one week out. .... So I assume if you decided to check out early they would still try to charge you.

Last edited by Susiew237; Jan 16, 2018 at 2:32 pm Reason: put it in the wrong thread.
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Old Jan 4, 2018, 10:00 pm
  #401  
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Are you sure you were in Thailand? Or did you miss the Da Nang topic?
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Old Mar 18, 2018, 3:04 am
  #402  
 
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Hello All.

I've booked a Club King Ocean View Terrace Suite with the BOGO cert. As a gold Ambassador, what would be a reasonable upgrade I could expect? Shall I book a lower category room in hope of few category upgrade? Are they generous in upgrading?

I also have intention to add a points-reward night on the 3rd day. Any advice on the best strategy to approach this if I want to keep the club benefits and I don't mind being moved to the basic rewards room. Would keeping the Club King Ocean View Terrace Suite and ask hotel to forgo my upgrade under the BOGO and in lieu provide the club benefit for the 3rd day a sound plan here?

Look forward to hearing your great advice Thank you
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Old Mar 18, 2018, 3:35 am
  #403  
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You should expect a one category upgrade on the BOGO nights, and if the hotel is reasonable they will let you have the same on the third night (though, that is not guaranteed).

Dont approach this with high expectations or like haggling on a Bangkok street market.
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Old Mar 18, 2018, 3:35 am
  #404  
 
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Originally Posted by appledabble
Hello All.

I've booked a Club King Ocean View Terrace Suite with the BOGO cert. As a gold Ambassador, what would be a reasonable upgrade I could expect? Shall I book a lower category room in hope of few category upgrade? Are they generous in upgrading?

I also have intention to add a points-reward night on the 3rd day. Any advice on the best strategy to approach this if I want to keep the club benefits and I don't mind being moved to the basic rewards room. Would keeping the Club King Ocean View Terrace Suite and ask hotel to forgo my upgrade under the BOGO and in lieu provide the club benefit for the 3rd day a sound plan here?

Look forward to hearing your great advice Thank you
Maybe best choice is Amb to book club room on bogo, take 1cat Amb upgrade for paid nights (x2 bogo), hope 3rd base room on poiints gets same room on 3rd night and at checkin offer upsell $$'s for 1nights lounge access

Booking Club room as a 'plain (non-RA) Ambassador on a BOGO 2nighter is one of the best value uses of said bogo. Not only do you get 2nights club by paying for 1nights club, but the A,mbassador upgrade +1 cat above club is usually a suite.
(If you book non club on bogo, then any upsell pre-arrival/arrival means pay upsell $$'s for both nights of bogo stay, not just first night)
Alas booking a full suite then adding points night(s) is very likely to result in free nights being denied any chance at staying in either suite+1cat/upgrade or just suite (w/o upgrade) on points night.

Most hoped for result is you keep upgrade on 3rd award/points night is get the upgraded room without club access. Amb t+c's since Sep2016 state Amb's will not be given club lounge access , unlike pre-sep2016 when t+c just said not an Amb benefit

ymmv when emailing in early about dealing with 3rd points night, mostly you will likely get automatic stock revenue managers answer that you can keep upgraded room or non upgraded suite room (without club lounge) for AU$xxx or be switched on points night to booked room. This is especially true when Paid room is more than 1cat above free basic room, as is the case with your booking.

My recommended course for you is to wait until checkin, take a very probable foc 3rd night in upgraded room (or same room non upgrade in lie og base room on 3rd night) w/o associated lounge access and upsell to lounge access for third points night.

Last edited by scubaccr; Mar 18, 2018 at 3:44 am
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Old Mar 18, 2018, 4:59 am
  #405  
 
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Thanks @336 and @scubaccr for your reply. Definitely will manage expectation and will not haggle, that's why I wanted to seek advice first before I approach the hotel. I need a little more guidance here, seek your patience.

At this hotel, I'm seeing that only suite and villa comes with the club benefits. It is not possible to book the classic/deluxe room with club benefits.

Among the suites and villas, all comes with club benefits, and this is the ascending order (in terms of price):

(1) Club Tropical Pavilion Suite
(2) Club Ocean View Terrace Suite (This is the one I've booked)
(3) Club Panoramic Ocean View Suite
(4) Club Beachfront Pool Villa
(5) There are two more types of villas after this, but I won't list it.

Let's just look at the standard guaranteed one level upgrade for Gold Ambassador. The next level of suite, i.e. Club Panoramic Ocean View Suite (3), is sold out on my dates. So I shall expect hotel to upgrade me to Club Beachfront Pool Villa (4)? Is there any restriction on certain suite/villa not being eligible for upgrade to Gold Ambassador at this hotel? Where can I find this info please? I saw that other IC like Da Nang excludes certain suite/villa for the guaranteed upgrade.

So, if I understood your messages correctly, assuming that it's not possible to be upgraded to Club Beachfront Pool Villa (4) despite the Club Panoramic Ocean View Suite (3) not being available, I shall book Club Tropical Pavilion Suite (1) so that I will be upgraded to Club Ocean View Terrace Suite (2), and hope that I will keep (2) for my award night [one night only on 3rd day] and ask hotel to upsell the club benefit for the 3rd night, correct?

Thanks so much for your time.

Last edited by appledabble; Mar 18, 2018 at 7:43 am
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