semiviking

Im looking for the best resort there is in either koh samui or phuket this xmas/ny eve.

Will be a very large (and picky!) family with small children, so it has to be kids friendly. Would be great if not too far from town for shopping&other things for the group.

Ive inquired into the newly built W in Koh Samui (does not have kids club)
Banyan Tree koh samui- (anyone seen it?)
Id love to stay at Trisara and Amanpuri but theyre fully booked.
FS Koh Samui- seems ok but I need advice.
Rayavadee- not sure we can use beach with a pram if there are turtles laying eggs on beach and i understood it gets very busy with non-hotelresidents.
Soneva Kiri- too remote?

If anyone can recommend a resort for us, would appreciate it!!!

paul2

If you can get one of The Phranang villas at Rayavadee it could be what you are looking for. You will have your own pool and they will assign a member of staff to be on hand all of the time for the children. This worked wonderfully for us as a large family group with children and grandparents. It involved various extra pavillions so depending on how many of you there are, you could even take two adjoining villas.
There are non hotel residents on the beach from mid morning to mid afternoon (they daytrip by boats) but you have a private garden above the beach and a little path into the main part of the resort.
Are you on the waitlist for Amanpuri or Trisara? It might be worth your while also.

Musken

Hello and welcome to FT!

I can comment on FS Koh Samui and children where we went when our son was 4 years old. In my view the resort was children friendly: It is steep and all villas have private pools, but the resort child proofed everything to our satisfaction. It was also no problem for us to walk the resort, but I know others have complained. Since you are a semi-viking, you might be used to mountains, and it should be no problem.
Very good kids club: Activities at the beach in the morning (coconut games, shell collecting, crab hunting, weaving with palm leaves, sandcastle building etc.) and up in the child club room in the afternoon (palm leave painting, making coral/shell/flower "jewellery" + games and video time. My impressions is that the youngest children enjoyed themselves more with the activities in the morning while the older kids had more fun in the afternoon. Programme might have changed now, but you will get a copy if you contact the resort.
Food for kids: Like all FS a good, reasonably priced kids menu with both standard kids favorites and more healthy alternatives. Also possible to get smaller portions of other food, but at a quite high price. Special breakfast buffet for kids during high season.
General kids aspects: Welcome amenity etc. like in all FS and all staff really very friendly towards kids.
Beach/pools: Make sure you specify that you want a villa with sun at your private deck, otherwise trees will make sure that water is too cold for (some) kids. Main pool not very big, but great for kids (too great for kids according to some guest reviews from visitors without kids...). Beach not really swimable for kids: Corals. No snorkelling to speak of (a boat can take you outside the reef, but not good compared to other places.
- Villas: Kids bed can be placed in bedroom. One can rent to villas with connecting door so that older kids can live in own villa.

Regarding your wish to shop etc., I must add that the resort is quite isolated and there is really not much to see and do. The closest village is not that far, but it is not much to see and do there, also no restaurants. Have to drive at least 1/2 hour for this. We rented a car to see the island which was quickly done and make us realise that the FS had by far the best location for our preferences. Chaweng area do have some shops, but it is far and really a place we strongly disliked.

Other ideas:
- Langkawi (FS or Datai - we have been to FS and it is by far the best FS for kids that we have visited, do a search - I have written about it somewhere)

For more spesific information it would be good if you tell the number and age of the kids and group.

semiviking

Thank you for the replies!!!

Im still a little hesitant about Rayavadee still, and as for FS it does seem good. I hope it is still in good standard. Musken, when did you go there? We are nearly 20 persons with children aged 6mnths-8yrs.

As we will stay there 2 weeks we need to stay in a resort that also has activities to offer within the resort and surrounding it nearby, as travelling around can be difficult with so many children. Would FS be suitable in yuor opinion?

Thanks again!!!

paul2

semiviking scratch the waitlist idea ! You need to find out whats available for a group of 20 for christmas/new years in Phuket/samui/Krabi.
If you can find availability then perhaps someone can help with the best from those available.
Perhaps one of the newer resorts on Samui will have availability but the best resorts will be fully booked probably from the previous Christmas.
Good luck and let us know how you get on !

Musken

As Paul2 just said, you might not be able to ask all these questions, rather first check what is available at all, but I can still answer.

We went there almost 3 years ago, pretty new by then. No idea how it will look now.

Activities offered within the resort are very good for the age group of the kids that you bring. I would be more worried for older kids. However, there are really not much to do at or around the resort. At the resort it is more about relaxing. The SPA is also great. Around the resort the only really kids friendly activity that I can think of is the elefant safari. The company that organised this picked us up (with an open lorry ) but we survived and our son had great fun riding and feeding the elefants. There is also a company that organises boat trips to 7 .... (forgot what it was but can check it) + a great restaurant. Might also be fun, but not for the youngest kids. You can contact the resort to find out if they offer other activities and excusions suitable for your group, at the time we were there, the consierge was not really "up and running", but I hope they will be by now.

Be aware: Coral in water and some steep areas without fence (reception). You might be running after kids a lot.

I am starting to think that this is not the best resort for such a large group and so many kids at such a young age. It is really something different compared to two adults and a four year old which we travelled with...

Kagehitokiri

maybe waitlist for villas/residences at amanpuri and trisara?

FS samui seems to have 3 and 4BR available

soneva kiri might be worth contacting, especially about residences that arent published as being in hotel pool (6BR)

sri panwa has private rentals, ive linked some here