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What is up everyone! So this is the part of the trip that involved a lot of R&R. While Hong Kong and Bangkok are amazing and I can’t wait to go back, we needed some time to chill! When we go on vacation, it’s always go go go so that we can see all that we can in the amount of time allotted. Planning Koh Samui in after Hong Kong and Bangkok was a great idea so that we can recharge to see Chiang Mai and Tokyo!
ARRIVING AT THE AIRPORT
Since we flew in from Bangkok, it was a domestic flight to Koh Samui and we didn’t have to mess with immigration or customs. After deplaning we took a shuttle to the baggage claim area to pick up our bags. By this time we had some luggage to haul around since we bought some goodies in Hong Kong and Bangkok to bring home. After getting our bags, we walked out to the arrivals area. There are several transportation services, taxis, Grab and private cars for hire. We chose Mr. Samui. We had arranged our airport transfer to the Conrad prior to our arrival for 1000 baht each way, which was about $30 USD at the time. I liked the service and the price was cheaper than what others charged so it was a win-win! If you’d like to use Mr. Samui, message him through WhatsApp at +66 89 060 6440. Once the details have been ironed out, he’ll have a driver waiting for you at the airport with a sign with your name on it. It’s that easy!
GETTING AROUND
From the airport to the Conrad Koh Samui, it takes about 45 minutes to an hour. It’s not very far distance wise, but you can’t go 80 mph to get there either. Right after you get out of the airport, you’ll drive through Chaweng which is Koh Samui’s biggest town. Later you’ll drive through Lamai, which is another cool little town in Koh Samui. You’ll drive through some smaller towns and villages before finally reaching the Conrad Koh Samui.
Other methods of transportation in Koh Samui are the songthaew, Grab or taxis. You could also rent a car or scooter, which I don’t necessarily recommend if you’re not used to driving outside of the US.
THE HOTEL
The Conrad Koh Samui is an amazing property with amazing views of the ocean. All villas have ocean views which is very cool. We booked this property for 5 nights with Hilton points. At 95,000 Hilton points per night this is an excellent value, but it gets better. Hilton offers the 5th night free on award stays 5 nights or longer. So our stay ended up costing 380,000 Hilton points for 5 nights! Because of our Hilton Diamond status, we were upgraded to a panoramic view room which offered a lot of privacy, more space to stretch out and yes, amazing views!
We always had breakfast at the Conrad resort since it was included with our Diamond status. That’s one of the reasons we love the Hilton chain because gaining elite status is easy, just by carrying the right card. There’s a few cards that offer Hilton Gold status, which offers free breakfast. We carry the Hilton Aspire care by American Express which gives you Hilton Diamond status just for being a card member. It does come with a $450 annual fee, but you get a lot more in value from the card. Aside from free breakfast, you get complimentary room upgrades, a yearly $250 Hilton Resort Credit and a yearly $250 airline credit. By taking advantage of the credits alone you make $50! Anyway, back to the breakfast though… it was amazing! There was a load of options, both Western and Asian. You definitely don’t leave hungry after breakfast here!
As mentioned, the Hilton Aspire card offers a yearly $250 resort credit that you can use. You can use it towards the cost of your room, food or drinks on the property, spa services or other incidental charges throughout your stay. Throughout our stay we booked an island excursion, went to the spa and dined at the resort. The resort credit was applied to cover some of those costs.
The beach at the Conrad wasn’t very appealing. There’s a small strip of sand to sunbathe if you’d like, but you can’t really go for a swim in the ocean if you wanted to. The water is shallow and there’s a lot of coral so you can’t go barefoot. The cool thing is that the Conrad offered complimentary shuttle rides to either Chaweng or Lamai at 11am, and they’d pick you up around 6pm.
THE FOOD
There a lot of food options in Koh Samui, but since we were in Thailand, the street food is a must. You can eat for an average of about $3 – $4 USD per person and share a large beer for another $2 – $3. There are fancier options available too if you’re not into street food.
The Conrad has a few restaurants onsite if you choose to dine at the resort. They are much pricier than what you would find in town. We did have dinner a couple nights at the resort and the food was great! Jahn was the fancier restaurant and it lives up to the hype. The food and service was awesome.
THINGS TO DO
Chaweng beach is gorgeous and is definitely worth a visit! The sand is soft and the water is beautiful. There’s a lot of little bars and hangouts along the beach so there’s no shortage of places to chill. Lamai beach is nice too, but the sand was more coarse than the soft sand at Chaweng. Plus it seemed like the beaches weren’t as “public” as in Chaweng. They seemed to belong to the hotels and resorts there as they each had their claim to a section of sand.
Aside from beaches, you can check out Angthong National Marine Park. We didn’t get the opportunity to go, but it was definitely on the to-do list. Also you can go see Hin Ta and Hin Yai, or Grandpa and Grandma rocks. I’ll let you figure out why they’re called that. You can also check out some of their elephant sanctuaries or various island tours. There’s a bit of everything to do here to appeal to different tastes.
CONCLUSION
We loved our relaxing stay at the Conrad resort and would recommend it to anyone, especially if you’re booking with points as if offers a good value. It’s luxurious, very comfortable and the service was outstanding. As far as the towns go, I preferred Chaweng. There was more to do and the beach was more appealing to me there. The water was warm and very calm. If you’re looking to be a beach bum all day, that’s the place to do it! Thanks for reading guys and we hope to see you in the next article!
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