BonViveur

Vana Belle: will be there for first time in Oct, but the map tells me it is walkable along the beach:http://bit.ly/13D1Fd0 with maybe a short detour at the rocks, just north of the hotel. Go to satellite view and zoom in.

le Meridien has a few massage shacks nearby, on the beach and the road, but it is fairly remote for walking. Beach Republic is next door, but that's also hotel-style food. I prefer to rent a car, but there seems little decision to make between Vana Belle and le Meridien, unless money is the issue.

newshound

I think it would be a fair old walk to be honest with you. We took taxis rather than drove and it was a fair distance to get to Chaweng town.

Didn't notice any massage shacks but would be surprised if there weren't any

Hartmann

I am looking at the Vana Belle for a vacation in March of 2014. We are not big resort people, instead we usually explore cities/food/etc but we are considering spending the end of our vacation doing a little relaxation.

Are there attractions/towns close by that have things to explore that don't require a car?

I am going to try and use a few Suite Night Awards here as well, have others had any luck?

flguy

I was here in July, it was a great resort but you will have to take a taxi to see anything, there is nothing within walking distance except other hotels

BonViveur

I wouldn't say you can do any exploring in Samui without transport. There are a few temples, and plenty of natural sights, but they are spread out over the island. If you're nervous about driving you can get a car and driver or take tours, but Samui is a 'relax' destination. Vana Belle is closest to the largest tourist town on the island but there are few sights near enough to walk.

Hope you enjoy. It's my favourite island in Thailand but I like to eat, enjoy the warmth and always rent a car. On the other hand, my advice may be taken with a grain of salt, as I feel that you need a car everywhere in Thailand except BKK..

dannybhoy

I had a good 3 night stay at VB in mid-August. I was upgraded to a Deluxe Suite at Vana 2 where I found the restricted sea view adequate. The private pool was adequate for me n my girlfriend, tho we also used the main pool. I thought the sun beds in the main pool were a waste of real estate. The sea and beach were pretty good n I thought the VB stretch was superior to the Chaweng area. The private pool was sufficiently private if one was inclined to skinny dip although the gap in the wall with the next door suite was a tad disconcerting - admittedly one would have to deliberately pull oneself on the ledge to look through.

Service was very good even excellent, and at the very least, one could not fault the effort. The one minus point that I would highlight is that the breakfast arrangement was not as good as it could have been - a question I thought more of organization than actual content.

I thought the general location of VB was almost ideal - just 5mins drive from the busy heart of Chaweng. We hired a car for the 5 days we were in Koh samui. Parking was a bit of a hassle but not a real problem.

One thing I hadn't realized was that VB was a limited participation property. Are we entitled to stay/nights and full points credit? They haven't been credited yet and this would have been my plat requal on stays and I would be 5 days from plat 50.

jmurat1041

Very nice property as mentioned by all, staying in 7XX in a classic pool suite, hotel will not upgrade Platinum on SPG award redemption, except if we pay USD 212= 7,000 THB/night+tax for a pool villa, which they said is a "special upgrade price".

Platinum benefits:
500 Starpoints or local gift (brass bookmark)
+ daily breakfast for 2 at Kiree Restaurant
+ one-time cocktail/glass/person at lobby lounge
+ laundry 4 pieces/stay
+30% discount for laundry
+ complimentary wifi

As reported breakfast orders may take a long time and are not always accurate or get forgotten, and the bathroom lacks privacy. Other than that everything is near perfect and the staff is amazing. Beach and pool area and exquisite. The restaurants and night life of Chaweng Beach are about 1.5 km away, we walked it most days though it is not an easy walk since the beaches of Chaweng and Chaweng Noi are separated by rocks and you have to follow the road instead. Tuk Tuks and taxis are readily available.

I just wish they would have upgraded us, considering that the property requires a high number of points it would be nice not to stay in the lowest category room (which still has a private pool but is not a suite in spite of the name, rather it is a spacious room). Anyway this is just so others know what to expect. Recommended.

fdem

Does this mean no upgrades for Platinums when paying cash. Can understand how many spg properties won't on points but would hope some upgrade if available at check in. Stayed a couple of years ago at W Koh Samui and there were no upgrades on a paid stay, no benefits apart from free wifi, but then again that is the W for you.

yosithezet

They have limited participation in SPG and are considered an all-suite hotel, though most rooms are nothing close to what any of us would consider a suite. I did get an upgrade but not to an actual suite or villa, but YMMV.

kevinflyaway

Anybody seen the difference between LM and VB?
I might be able to pay THB 1500 a night more to stay in VB.

Although there is an open bathroom, there is seperate toilet right?!

3rdworldresident

personally, Vana Belle is MUCH BETTER in every aspects.

haahwee

I just booked 5 nights at the Vana Belle in early September for ~100K points (using the buy 4 nights, get fifth free deal). Is this a good use of my points for a hotel in Koh Samui, or should I look into the Le Meridien? I'm going to SE Asia for 3 weeks for my honeymoon and want to maximize my point usage as best I can, but also want to splurge a little on the resort time.

Also, as a platinum do we get free breakfast and/or free Internet? The agent I booked with over the phone applied SNAs to my reservation and also noted that I will be coming for my honeymoon. Any experiences with getting an upgrade to a better suite?

bigjim

If you're wanting to splurge and make good use of points, I'd highly recommend booking one of the ocean front pool villas at Le Meridien. The hotel is willing to work with you on almost any combination of cash, points, SNAs in order to get you into the villas. We literally didn't leave the room except for breakfast and sometimes dinner. Platinums get free breakfast, free wifi, two drinks each day. Breakfast was incredible. Rest of food was good - stick with the Thai choices and you're pretty safe. Upper management was incredible and really catered to our every need. The front desk staff tried really hard, but they weren't extremely polished. Of course, that might have had something to do with my lack of speaking any language other than English...

With that being said, I'm not sure that I'd stay at the LeMeridien if I wasn't in one of the ocean front pool villas...

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/starw...hailand-8.html

smokie

My wife and I, and our teenage daughter are planning to stay at this property, and both of these room types indicate up to 3 guests.

I'm wondering what the arrangement for the 3rd guest is in each type of room?

It appears that the Ocean View Pool Suite has a separate living room with a couch. Is there also an option for a rollaway in the living room (this would presumably be more comfortable than a couch)?

The Tropical Pool Villa on the other hand doesn't even seem to have a separate living room in its 2200 square feet (does this include the outside grounds?). So does this villa just have a couch in the bedroom for the 3rd guest?

Any advice appreciated.

travelswithmyself

Not sure if this helps but I had a stay in a Grand Pool Suite. From the description on the website, I think it sounds like the Ocean View is a similar sort of room, but in a corner so that you get a bigger bathroom and a larger terrace and outdoor bath. The actual sleeping/living space seems to be the same from the pictures. Email the hotel for confirmation.

The suites are housed in 3-storey buildings, with about 6 units per building and 2 per floor (might be 4 floors and 9 and 3, I can't remember). The class of suite seems to increase as you go up and get more privacy and a better view.

The layout of the Grand Pool suite I had was a large split-level room on the top floor. The lower level was a king bed facing the balcony and ocean. The pool is built into the balcony. There's about a metre plus (4-5 feet of space) on each side of the bed.

The upper level of the split-level is where the long desk is (directly behind and above the bed) and on either side is space for a rollaway which they gave me gratis.

The sofa is in the front of the bed and I vaguely recall it was one of those decorative things which was long enough for an adult to sleep on, but may not have been wide enough to be comfortable. However, it's been a while so I'd have to refer to my pictures.

I suggest you email them, they were very good with Plat Privileges during our stay and you may get the rollover for free. I glanced into a Villa but didn't go in so cannot speak for that.