Samed Tropical Resort

The hotel is on an amazing beach, with well-designed rooms, a lovely bathroom, strong shower, powerful AC, and a really comfortable mattress and pillows. It was quiet, and I slept well. The staff are lovely, especially Kiki and the girls at reception. This is my second visit in recent months, and the hotel gets a lot right. I only tried the chicken satay at the restaurant, but it was delicious and the prices weren’t bad. Breakfast coffee could improve, though. The one coffee machine keeps breaking. I also wish the park would use the 200 baht entrance fee to find a better way for visitors to get to and from the pier and to clean up the island’s main town.

The room could use more lighting and storage, and some small additions would help: sheer curtains or blinds for privacy on the main walkway, a doormat, bedside tables, a soap dish, a full-length mirror, and a bigger or smart TV. We also noticed a stain on the sofa bed. At breakfast, hot sauce was sometimes missing and the egg chef wasn’t always around. Dinner was quite expensive and had no vegetarian choices. The evening movie was hard to hear over the live music and fire show, so moving it farther away or changing the time might help. Even with those issues, we had a fantastic five nights at Samed Tropical. The surroundings are beautiful, and the staff are very friendly. The bed was comfortable, the AC worked well, and there was a kettle and fridge. The room also had thoughtful extras like a beach bag, flip-flops, and umbrellas, which were handy in rainy season. There were plenty of sunbeds and umbrellas on the beach, and beach towels were provided. You can borrow snorkels to see the giant clams. Walk out near the pier to avoid the rocks. Breakfast had a good range of fresh food, changed each day, with vegetarian options. The evening entertainment included live music, a movie, and a fire show. Construction near the entrance wasn’t noticeable from our room and didn’t affect our stay. The location worked well for us. V Café is just around the corner for good coffee and a stunning beach view. You can walk along beaches on both sides of the resort, though the routes aren’t shown on Google Maps. By following signs and asking locals, we easily walked back from 7-11 in the main town along the beach in about 15 to 20 minutes. We’d stay again.

The beach and nature are nice, and would be even better if the scattered trash were cleaned up. Around the resort, the roads are poor, there are no signs to guide you to the exit, and there’s no outdoor seat or ashtray by the room. The shop near the beach was always closed. Our cabin was disappointing in several ways. The TV seemed purely decorative since no channel or app worked. What looked like a large double bed was actually two beds pushed together, with a hole in the middle. The breakfast selection was tiny, and they charged for scrambled eggs or an omelette without telling us beforehand. Staff didn’t speak English. There were loud construction sounds nearby, too. The Google pictures show rooms that don’t belong to Samed Tropical Resort.

The staff were welcoming and friendly, and breakfast was fresh and tasty. The resort is very quiet, with an amazing beach, and in the evenings you can have dinner in a cosy, romantic setting with a daily singer and a fire show. I’d recommend it for families, solo travellers, and couples. Just be careful swimming because there are stones in the water. I suggest wearing aqua shoes.