Smile House (SHA Plus+)

We like being able to walk to the shops and restaurants, then come back to the quiet and the lush jungle garden. This is our second stay at Smile House, this time as a couple; we came before with our teenage kids. The bungalows sit in a beautifully kept tropical garden, with two pools, daybeds, and parasols. Breakfast is served in the restaurant across the street, by the beach, with a nice view. When the night market is on next door, the buzz and music go on until half past midnight. Our bungalow, S14, was almost against the wall, very close to the noise, though we could fall asleep once inside. The one downside for us was that the bed felt a bit hard for our taste and our backs.

Breakfast on the beach each morning was a highlight. We stayed five nights in the three-bedroom villa as a family of five, and found the resort to be good value for Koh Samui. It’s a quiet, well-kept boutique property on Bophut Beach, right in the Fisherman Village market and walking street. The room was very clean, and both pools were lovely.

We wanted somewhere peaceful to unwind near the beach, with a playground, two pools, and a garden feel, and this family-run, homely hotel suited us well. It made our few nights on Koh Samui memorable. Just know what kind of place it is. If you’re after a huge, fancy resort with the latest imported features or highly trained service, this probably won’t be for you. And because it’s right by the nightly walking street, there isn’t a big parking space for a rented Lamborghini after an extravagant evening.

The nightly street outside is busy with vendors, and that wasn’t really our thing. But once we were inside the grounds, we couldn’t hear or feel it. We loved the separate rooms set around a beautiful tropical garden, with two great pools. The rooms were clean and nice, and the service was consistently good. You could tell they made a real effort to keep guests happy. The beachfront restaurant serves a very generous breakfast buffet with options for different cultural preferences. We’d enthusiastically recommend it.