snorkmaster

I have not been to Koh Samui but from the pictures on the website, the hotel looks like its fairly tranquil / removed from activity. Is this the case? Thanks.

Chris26WI

I just stayed for 3 nights in a deluxe room in the Renaissance. I was tempted to upgrade to a pool suite, but none available, so stayed in the dlx room which was already indeed really really nice.. almost more like a junior suite in other hotels. The whirltub on the balcony is a nice thing and the open architecture of the bath room is well done. Everything nice designed. The beach was quite disappointing however (but I was in low season, so the water was usually "gone" during the day, afternoon).

The location is quiet and to walk its a little bit far to get to lamai beach, though Ive seen that the hotel offers some shuttle busses (but not sure about the regularity and destinations as we had rented a car). The resort itself is really not very large - not to compare with JW Marriott Phuket -, its more a retreat for romantic hours. The service was nice and friendly, however not yet on par with the service levels of the other Marriott properties in Thailand, IMHO (though I can't really explain this.. its more a feeling... seems a little bit more routine-service, not as "warm" yet as in the other properties). Allover, I enjoyed my stay and would not hesitate to go to the Renaissance again. I will submit some photos and a link later if wanted.

rebadc

I would love to see pictures.
Also what is the difference in a pool suite and deluxe room.

Was there a C-Lounge?

Chris26WI

Posted some photos here

No, there's no club lounge (no club rooms, only deluxe rooms and villas).

Didn't see a pool villa from interior, but each pool villa has its own (smallish) pool and has a separate living room/bed room (larger).

haveric

I stayed in a pool villa (when I visited the deluxe rooms were all closed for renovations). The villa had 3 seperate areas -- a bathroom w/ a huge shower / tub; the bedroom, and a den-like area w/ tv and couch. Also outside was the pool and several chairs, table.

If you have particular questions, feel free to PM me or post them here.

Chewie

The pictures were great, Chris26WI!

We'll be staying here for a week on our honeymoon next year, so I'd love to hear more about the area, what there is to do on and off the property.

We're DEFINITELY looking for a relazing and quite week, but we also want to make sure that it is not oto difficult to get to some other areas of the isalnd for the nightlife.

snorkmaster

Thank you for posting the photos.

Maybe it was just the time of day that the photos were taken (or because the tide was out), but the beach area looks kind of "mucky" (for lack of a better term.) Was the water outside of the hotel nice?

Also, are the beach photos on the Marriott webpage from in front of the hotel, or elsewhere? (I ask because they look rather different.)

http://marriott.com/property/propertypage/USMBR

Perhaps I'm just having flashbacks about the beach at the Marriott in Costa Rica.

haveric

It's a short cab ride (not really a cab -- you ride in the back of a pickup) to Chaweng - the main beach. Just walk out of the hotel down to the main road and flag one down (destination is on the front). Price is negotiable.

haveric

Those are photos of the beach in front. The water is really nice (but a bit shallow) when the tide is in (the afternoons). In the mornings, the tide is out and the water might be a bit murky. But I didn't find it a problem at all.

I can email you photos of the difference if you'd like to see them...

Chris26WI

Yes, it's the same beach, just under "different conditions". I stayed in low-season when the water on Samui is rather "low". The water just came back a little bit in the early mornings. The afternoons, the water was just like on the photos... made it almost impossible to swim in the afternoons. The situation usually becomes much better end of October. So better don't stay in June/July/August.

Chawaeng is some kilos away, but you can grab a songtaew (collective taxi) or rent a small motorbike (or a car of course).

snorkmaster

Thanks for the added info -- we were thinking of visiting this August, but I'm now having second thoughts. (I recognize this is probably not a big deal for most people, but I would like to visit when the water is higher...)

Miss Simmers

Hi Folks - I've just joined the forum after reading all the interesting posts about the Renaissance in Koh Samui. We are planning a stay in September and we hope that the tide will be fairly Ok by then. Anyway I just wondered Chris 26WI, when you walked past the pool villa's in the garden area, could you see right into their pool area? It says in their adverts that guest are assured complete privacy, however I believe the walls surrounding the pool area are fairly low and not as totally private as they suggest.

Thanks in advance for your help.

haveric

No, you cannot see into each villa's pool -- most have high walls around. However, you can see if someone was walkign around the outside of the pool -- at least someone tall like me.

If you tried really really hard to snoop, you probably could catch a view of someone's pool, but between the high walls and the foliage, it's not likely.

Chris26WI

It really depends on which villa you get... for most of them I'd confirm they're really very private, but there are some where you could easily have a look inside (to the pool area) from passing outside. By the way, the pools are really very tiny, so if you want to take a villa only for the private pool I am not sure if it's worth the surcharge to the deluxe room (especially as the lap pool near the deluxe building was never crowded, and usually in the early evenings empty).

Miss Simmers

We went to the Sala Samui last year and stayed in a pool villa and the pool was actually 5m x 3m....could manage about 3 arms of front crawl but it was enough just to cool off really. The best thing about it was the 10ft wall surrounding the villa so we had complete privacy.

The pools in the Renaissance photo's look about the same size but perhaps they have been stretched for effect? maybe the best thing to do is contact the hotel and ask to be put into a secluded spot to assure privacy and ask the size of the pool at the same time......