In December 2012, I was in Koh Samui for 4D3N for my ‘annual holiday’. Due to my previous mistake I made for my Krabi trip, this time around, the holiday was planned in the mid of the year to avoid any unnecessary extra exorbitant cost. Research was done fast and furious in advance and all bookings (including air tickets) were made by third quarter of year 2012.
There are plenty of resorts and hotels in Koh Samui to choose from and it really depends on your preference, choice of location and moolah. I was having a hard time (as usual since it is my first time at said island) to pick on the location I’d stay for the rest of my holiday. Famous spots in Koh Samui such as Bophut, Chaweng, Lamai and etc. are usually THE place for tourists.
At the end of the day, I had to decide and this resort; Mantra Samui Boutique Resort & Spa, was the choice of mine out of many other potential ones. Booking was made via their website and I got a really good deal for early booking. Besides that, free airport transfer service was provided by the resort for guests (like me!) who booked directly from their website.
Located approximately 20 minutes away from Samui International Airport, this resort is strategically built on the hills. The reason why I said ‘strategically built’ is because each room has a sea view. Besides that, it is located far from the main road and the resort is quiet throughout the day. But having said this, the downside is that one requires transportation to travel to other places. Daily shuttle services were available to popular places such as Chaweng and Fisherman’s Village. Car and motorcycle rentals were also available at the resort at affordable rate.
Upon arrival, guests will be ushered to the deck sofa and will be served chilled fruit juice and cold towels while waiting for check-in. The lobby was simple, cultured with semi-open air concept. Furnished with artistic touch, sofas were decked out here and there while brochures were stacked and placed nicely for guests’ reference.
One particular part I liked about the lobby was the key area. Nicely decorated, each key has a bird keychain and the ‘hook’ resembles like a bird house.
Getting to the room was quite a chore. Due to the design and placements of the resort, the walk paths were probably one of the steepest I’ve experienced. One would need much energy to walk around the resort. Morning exercise was inevitable for me since I had to walk up to get to Ubuntu restaurant for breakfast.
There are four types of rooms at this resort. My initial reservation was the WOW Mantra Room. But to my surprise or maybe due to their mistake of giving me wrong salutation during airport transfer pick up, my room was upgraded to Love Jacuzzi Oasis.
By that, the room is slightly bigger and there is a jacuzzi tub at the balcony… with breathtaking sea view! There is also a lazy bed at the balcony for sunbathing or….
I always prefer wooden tiles compared to the carpet floor and this room has won me over in this case. Spacious, simple yet contemporary, the room was probably one of the best rooms I’ve stayed for holidays. The room was so comfortable and cozy that it made possible to hibernate in there for the entire day, which I did so on the second day because the weather was rather wet, rainy and gloomy. The king size bed, the soft, large pillows and comfortable duvet were also part of the culprit for sleep-ins.
And for every anti-social, Facebook/Twitter/internet addicts, the room has a desktop that’s hooked to a LCD screen. The main purpose was for web browsing. Plus, there’s complimentary wifi for guests’ usage. Moreover, Mantra has more than thousands of movies and tv series that are accessible via their network.
On the same table, there was a Illy coffee machine (chargeable for usage) and iPod/iPhone speaker dock. Complimentary items such as teas and bottled waters were all available. Bookworms will be glad to know that Mantra Samui encourages reading. And with that, story books were found in the room as well as at common areas such as restaurant and lobby.
The bathroom, which occupied roughly 20% of the overall floor plan, situated behind the bed. Due to space constraint, there was no bathtub in it. Instead, a powerful shower head and rain shower were available. Toiletries such as soaps, shower gel, shampoo, conditioner, lotion, cotton buds and etc were arranged neatly in between two hand basins.
Facilities were somewhat complete as what you normally would have expected from a hotel. 24 hours gym and swimming pool, playroom, yoga studio, squash court, spa, terrace (for sun bathing) and movie theatre room were readily available.
I didn’t get the chance to soak in their infinite pool and I regret not doing so.
There were two restaurants in the resort (with more to come in near future). The breakfast was held at Ubuntu restaurant and boy… it was a lovely place.
With the sight of the sea and cool breeze in the morning, it was probably the best environment to have the first meal of the day. The vicinity of the restaurant was not huge (neither was it small) but it was sufficient to cater its guests.
As for breakfast itself, options were not abundance but it was sufficient to fill one’s hungry tummy with its selections of breads, pastries, cold poultries, cereals, fruits, and yoghurts.
Eggs, as usual, were cooked-to-order and hence, selections like scrambled, half boiled, omelette, sunny side and even egg benedict were available from the hot kitchen. Apart from that, there was special-of-the-day menu and it’s available at their makeshift stall. Of all days, I loved their pork noodles the most. Oh… did I mention they serve awesome pork bacon too?
Americano, latte, cappuccino and tea were available for order through their wait team while fruit juices were stationed at the bar.
So… one might wonder whether is there any complaints about this resort? Well… there are a couple I would like to voice out such as noisy air conditioning unit and erratic shower water temperature. But those were so minimal compared to what I have experienced. The staffs were friendly yet helpful (I did ask for some local food recommendation and they were happily providing details) while the resort was clean, nice and quiet. It’s things like these that made my stay wonderful.
Checkout my Flickr for more photos of this resort.
Address :
9/124 Moo1,
Mae Nam Koh Samui,
84330, Thailand
GPS Coordinates : 9.558232, 100.015163
Telephone Number : +66 77 951 600
Fax Number : +66 77 951 601
Website: http://www.mantrasamui.com/
Email : wow@mantrasamui.com / reservation@mantrasamui.com
