Aspira Residences Samui

The room was really comfortable, and the swimming pool was amazing. The gym was out of order, unfortunately. Big C, a large supermarket, is five minutes away, and Chaweng beach is about a ten-minute drive.

The hotel has lost its former glory. There’s a nice, large swimming pool and an amazing view from the top, but there are construction workers next door and it gets really noisy. The internet in the room didn’t work, staff couldn’t understand English at all, and there were flies throughout the breakfast room. Breakfast was monotonous. The public toilet had no soap. The beach is an hour away on foot or about ten minutes by scooter. A supermarket isn’t far, but you have to walk along the main road with no sidewalk. We paid 27 euros a night for a deluxe room. It was okay and pretty clean, but the hotel photos online are far from reality. Don’t expect a luxury four-star hotel. It may have been one in the past, but not now. The simple room is pretty nice at 17 euros, so that might be worth the money, but I wouldn’t pay more.

We booked a king-size room but were given two twin beds, and told to push them together to make a bigger bed. On the day we arrived, we booked another hotel instead. This isn’t a good place if you plan to get around on foot. Unless you have a car, it’s far from the main attractions, and walking is dangerous because there are no sidewalks. Expedia says Aspira offers a free area and shopping shuttle, but it has only three departures, goes to Chaweng Beach only with a reservation, and has no return service, so you have to take a taxi back.

The photos make this look like a gorgeous resort-style hotel, but that’s quite different from what we found. There’s nowhere interesting or anywhere to eat within walking distance, so it’s not suitable for most people unless you have your own transport, like a scooter, or are happy to pay for taxis everywhere. The pool looked lovely, but the water was too cold to swim in during all five days of our stay. WiFi worked on and off, and it was easier to use a prepaid Thai SIM because it was faster. One night we asked the desk to borrow cutlery. They said they had none, even though we’d used some at the breakfast buffet that morning. Breakfast was prepared in the underground car park, then put into bain-maries that weren’t heated. The sausages, eggs, ham, noodles, soups, and everything else were cold. Water pressure was either nonexistent or so strong it knocked the shower head backward, and the shower heads were badly corroded and need replacing. When we left, the staff weren’t helpful. They were doing their eyebrows and using their phones behind reception. The previous evening, we’d booked a taxi to the airport for the morning, but were told it had been sent off with other people in it. We paid the hotel 400 Baht, though I was told it would have been cheaper to order it ourselves. Staff made promises they knew they couldn’t keep, and we were lied to more than once. Don’t stay here!