The routing with Finnair wasn't the most direct, as we had to transfer in Helskinki, but it wasn't that bad either. After one last transfer in Bangkok, we arrived on Samui around 6pm on Sunday evening. It was dark, cloudy, and raining. We knew we were taking a risk in that this was supposedly the end of monsoon season. We came into it expecting the worst (rain all day everyday), but hoped for the best. After a short shuttle ride, where the airport driver made one stop to make what appeared to be a food delivery to a hotel, we arrived at the W Retreat Koh Samui. It was secluded, tucked away from the main road. As we walked into the open air lobby, we were chaperoned to the comfortable lounge area and given a refreshing watermelon drink as they gave us the room information and welcomed us to the island. The first impression of how nice everyone was and how excellent the service was didn't change for the entire week we were there.
We were driven by golf cart (because the resort is built along a hillside) to our room and we made ourselves comfortable. The room was huge. It included a sitting area, an indoor and outdoor shower, an over-sized tub, and an outdoor deck which included our own swimming pool. It was the nicest room in which we've stayed. Any concerns we had about coming to Samui immediately were eased as we recognized that we'd have no problem staying in this room for a week, even if it did rain the whole time.
As you'll see below, there aren't a lot of details to tell about the week because we didn't do much. This was a vacation for resting and relaxing. We have both been working a lot and we needed a break.It was actually the first vacation the two of us have every taken together that really didn't include any sight-seeing. The focus was taking it easy and that is what we did.
WIA: One of the few things we did do was eat. The interesting thing about Samui is that it has completely been overrun by resorts, many of which are very high end. Because of this, you really have to make an effort if you want to eat local. Many of the "local" restaurants there have catered their menus toward tourists anyway. Additionally, the resorts have been developed each in their own secluded area in a prime beach spot, so to venture out at night and go to dinner is kind of an ordeal that involves a taxi ride that is not inexpensive and takes at least 20 minutes. This is by design as the resorts want to keep you there onsite for as much time as they can. We ate at The Kitchen Table at the W the first night and enjoyed it. It was more of an international menu, but it included some Thai dishes. I had the sea bass which came with the head on (which was fun) and Jenn had pad Thai, which kind of looked an enchilada. For dessert, we had the profiteroles with mint ice cream, which we liked a lot. We ate at Namu, the W's Japanese restaurant. It's located right on the beach and only has a few tables, which are not far from the open kitchen. We enjoyed everything that night, but we particularly liked the soft shell crab roll and the Wagyu beef. The molten chocolate cake was more molten chocolate (what Jenn prefers) than it was cake (what I prefer), but it was still pretty good. At the end of the meal, the General Manager of the hotel walked over, introduced himself, and talked to us for a few minutes. We thought it was really nice. We ended up seeing Nick around the resort a lot during the trip.
We got away from the the resort the next day for lunch at Jun Hom, a seafood restaurant literally on the beach. We didn't intend to go there, but the restaurant we were trying to go to was closed. My shrimp in tamarind sauce was fine and we liked the banana fritters for dessert a lot.
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Dinner that evening was an unique and memorable experience at Dining on the Rocks at the Six Senses Resort. The dramatic setting of the restaurant is on an open air deck overlooking the coast where the waves splash against the rocks. It was very windy (as it was every day due to monsoon season), but we put up with it. The food itself was relatively straight forward and international, but the presentation of the dishes was extremely creative. Everything we ate was terrific from my "canned" tuna sandwich served in a tuna jar to my deconstructed chicken burrito to the assorted chocolate dessert and deconstructed s'more.
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We made our way to Chaweng beach, the most developed and also most touristy part of the island. We walked along the beach for a while, carrying our shoes as the approaching waves brought water up to our ankles and splashing up to our thighs. We arrived at Eat Senses and had a perfectly located table overlooking the beach. Again, it was very windy, and even started to rain at the end of the meal, but we didn't mind. The food was okay. I would have preferred more spice. We stopped for dessert on the way back to meet our hotel shuttle at The Library, a modern hotel not far away. On Friday night, we walked through the Fisherman's village and had dinner at H Bistro at the Hansar Samui hotel. It was very dark, so dark in fact that the menu had a flashlight attached. I got my spice at this meal, as the chicken dish I had was very well seasoned.
Our final meal for the trip was for dinner at the Banyan Tree Resort, which was on Lamai Beach, built along the hillside surrounding a small cove. The resort was enormous and though it was dark, looked to be very nice. Every resort we were exposed to during the trip was incredible. Our dinner at Saffron was excellent. The setting was romantic with superb service. The food was good, but I particularly remember having an outstanding mojito. It was a great way to close out our culinary tour of Koh Samui.
The beach itself was small, but quiet since at this time of the year, the resort was less than half full. We had no problem getting beach chairs in the perfect spot any time of day. It was windy, so we could only spend so much time down there. The beach itself was a mix of sand and rocks, so it was uncomfortable to walk on without shoes. The water wasn't too cold, but it was rough and pretty cloudy, again because of the wind. Neither of us spend much time much time in the gulf during the trip. We had our own pool, but we also spend a lot of time at the resort's infinity pool. There are other things that one can do in Samui when the weather is better like snorkeling, hiking, etc., but we weren't able to do those things. We were perfectly fine doing nothing as the W offered such a nice environment for a relaxing vacation.
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We took advantage of the classes offered in the gym and participated in a stretching class, pilates, and yoga. All were hard, but the teacher was really good and helped us through them.
WIS: I've already made plenty mention of it, but the W, only a year old, was fantastic. We were fortunate that there were so few people there because we really had our run of the place. The rooms and all the facilities were top notch and the service was excellent. There were people always working around the resort and they always stopped, smiled, and said hello when we walked by.
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WTF: As I said above, the W Retreat is built on an expansive piece of property along a hillside. The resort has golf carts that escort the guests to and from the hotel rooms and carrying them to anywhere at the resort. Jenn and I love to walk so during the week, we always declined the offer for a ride in the cart and walked everywhere even though in many areas, it is extremely steep. It seemed to us like we were the first guests at the retreat to ever pass on rides in the cart to walk around the resort. There are plenty of Europeans that visit, so it was surprising, but the staff members seemed genuinely shocked every time they offered us a ride and we said "no thank you."
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