Tongsai Bay Hotel

Chose Tongsai Beach having read Tripadvisor reviews and was not disappointed. We stayed in the cottages which were fine although possibly just starting to need a revamp. For instance I didnt like approaching our cottage having just arrived and having to view the back of the TV with protruding wires etc through the window. Our cottage was fine but not quite as luxurious as I was led to expect. The resort however was perfect in every other respect. The distance from the beach and the main building are no problem as the staff pick you up on the golf carts and are there whenever you call. All the staff were fantastic and service everywhere was excellent. For honeymooners and couples it is a perfect way to unwind and relax. Some families were there but apart from the beach with limited sports equipment and the excellent pool (there are two but one is just for adults-heaven!) there wasnt much for children. The restaurants and occasional shows are excellent but a quick cab ride into any of the near by towns and villages will offer equally fantastic meals incl drinks at less than half the price. The Grand Villas were indeed 5 star+ and something we would definitely consider next time.

Having read the reviews on trip advisor, we chose Tongsai Bay for a much needed break. We are very difficult customers to please and have stayed at world renound 5 star resorts/hotels such as Pangkor Laut, Malaysia; Parrot Cay, Turks & Caicos and La Residencia in Mallorca all of which are trully 5 star and hard to beat. We have high expectations on our holidays. I can honestly say that Tongsai Bay Hotel and Cottages certainly competes with these if not surpasses them. The Plus's The whole resort is stunning in a low key luxury kind of way, beautiful paths a gardens, spread out to give you enough privacy. No need to walk up the steep hills, you call for a golf buggy and no sooner have you walked out of your room and there it is waiting The staff - always friendly but not over the top and nothing is too much trouble. Not once did we have to wait too long for anything. In fact, they have thought of everything before you've thought of it yourself. The food. Excellent. There are three restaurants and the food is outstanding and well priced in each one. The room - we had a cottage suite, lovely with bath tub on the terrace. The swimming pools, again lovely and nice to have a choice of with or without kids. The pool attendants - just wave a flag when you'd like a drink! The spa - loved the treatments and fair prices, we went almost every day! If I had to be really picky about anything it would be only that the sandy beack is kind of fine shingle which gets red hot during the day and is hard to walk on without sinking - not a major issue, the sea is really nice and this part of the coast is unspoilt unlike in Chaweng. Must return!!

Date May 2006 My partner and I stayed here for 1 week at the end of April in a beachfront suite and were very impressed with the quality compared to the price we paid. We stay in 5 star hotels around the world and this was by far the best in terms of service and attention to detail. Don't expect any 5 star nuveau riche, but traditional Thai furnished rooms to a very high standard with free fruit, water and biscuits whenever required. The staff are extremely attentive and genuingly friendly, even for Thai standards. Don't expect to lift a finger for yourself or walk further than the bar/restaurant as buggies come and collect you from your rooms and water/cold towels are brought to your sunbed with a flag to wave when you require more drinks! Private beach quite rough to walk on but sea really warm and clear. Views are perfect from the rooms and the hotel grounds are perfectly kept. We highly recommend Floyd's restaurant on the beach for dinner at Tongsai and Zicos in town is a good night out. 10 min cab ride to Changmae beach - you may need some nightlife after the tranquil Tongsai Bay.

Stayed at the Tongsai Bay in a cottage suite for 1 week on honeymoon. The suite looked over the beach and ocean, there is a bathtub outside on the deck, and enough privacy to use it. The beach is natural pebble, so it takes a little getting used to. We were lucky to go in March before the busy season, but even at peak season the hotel is not so large that you will feel like a number. There were barbecues set up on the beach and lobster dinners by candleight on the beach on different evenings. There are kayaks and windsurfers available to use, which we took to a nearby island to snorkel and have a private beach. We were lucky and had perfect weather the entire trip, but March can be unpredictable. We had heard stories of mosquitos, but we never saw any or had any bites. The staff is very friendly and made every effort to keep us happy as soon as we asked for anything. Restaraunts are all very good. The spa is fantastic and reasonably priced. The Tongsai is the perfect place to have a private and relaxed holiday. It is not the place to go for parties and nightlife. The East side of Samui caters more to that. Understand that Thai resorts are not as modern or perfect as more developed areas, but the imperfection adds to the charm in our opinion. I would gladly reccomend the Tongsai Bay to anyone looking to have a memorable honeymoon or some time away from a hectic life.

This was a very relaxing getway on a wonderful private piece of ocean front. If you have been to the Caribbean, it has much of the flavor of Curtain Bluff in Antigua. Is it worth coming all the way from the US for just a beach vacation here? Clearly no. But if you're combining with other SE Asia travels, definitely keep it in mind. The staff is superb and friendly. The pool is huge. The food is very good, albeit not spectacular. There are three restuarants. We especially liked the Thai restaurant at the top of the hill. Breakfast buffets are there also and quite sumptuous. The rooms near the pool are busy, but we knew that and took one because of our grandchild. They are nicely appointed, if a little in need of refurbishing. Overall, in the bustle of most Thai ocean resorts, this is a most relaxing and enjoyable resort. The only problem was the beach. A bit disappointing with its size and no swimming warnings were posted regularly. Not much to do here---but that's the charm. Very child friendly.

We stayed 8 nights and had our wedding at Tongsai Bay as part of a wedding/ honeymoon trip which included Bangkok - Koh Samui - Maldives. We also visited several other hotels on Koh Samui where our wedding guests were staying, so had a lot to compare Tongsai Bay to. Firstly, the wedding was fabulous. We had the Thai Buddhist ceremony followed by cocktails on the beach and then the "Grand BBQ buffet" which had been set up in a private area of the beach, and quite frankly the food was outstanding. For anyone considering this as a wedding option I highly recommend it. Not only is it very good value but every little detail is taken care of by the staff here and you can just relax and enjoy the perfect wedding day. The food, scenery, photos, and overall co-ordination of the wedding (it was run like a military operation with staff on walkie talkies all day!) was excellent. All our guests had nothing but praise for the hotel & wedding arrangements. The staff here are the best I have ever encountered in a hotel of any rating. They are simply the nicest friendliest people who genuinely seem to be pleased to help and go out of their way at every opportunity. Our wedding was made so special, and throughout the stay this continued. The staff at the gate salute you (!), all staff "wai" at you as you walk past, and you can call reception for a buggy to collect you from your room, which they send immediately (very helpful for us as my husband twisted his ankle during our stay). The taxi service is very good too, the hotel have their own service who will also come and pick you up from wherever you are. Fare from hotel to Chaweng is 200 baht (8 minute journey, approx £3). Our room was okay, we had a Beachfront Suite. The four poster bed was beautiful (most comfy bed I've ever slept in) and the balcony bath was great with great views. However, the room is small and has little natural light so can seem a little pokey, and looks in need of a refurb, especially the bathroom area. We saw one of the Cottages as we had family staying in one and I must say, upgrade to whatever you can afford, the cottages are by far superior. We didn't eat in the hotel a lot as we were too busy exploring the island. However, we did eat in Floyd beach bar a couple of times which was nice, and did breakfast a few times (there is enough food in the American Breakfast for about 3 people!). The beach is as described by other reviewers. It is absolutely gorgeous to look at, and the water is good for swimming in. But the sand is very pebbley and hurts the feet and the water isn't great for snorkelling (although is got clearer toward the end of our stay). However, there are plenty of trips you can orgnise to the marine park or Koh Tao/ Koh Pan Nang where the snorkelling/ diving is good. There are also free watersports to keep you busy - I tried kayaking and there are windsurfs and sailboats to try too. The beach area for me is beautiful, I loved sunbathing and relaxing by here and there is always lots of beds available. Both pool areas are very nice too. The staff make up a bed for you with 2 towels each and you have a red flag you can wave for attention if you need it - including unlimited complimentary iced water which is a lovely touch, and very gratefully received in that heat! We visited several other parts of the island, and I would recommend avoiding Chaweng and spending time at Choeng Mon beach (behind Imperial Boathouse) and Bophut for meals/ drinks. We also visited several other hotels, including the Boathouse, Amari Palm Reef and Samui Peninsular. Tongsai is easily the best we saw, but the Amari is much bigger and very good for children. The Boathouse seemed nice but not very luxurious, and the Samui was very pretty but quite small and would not recommend for families. Just two small gripes about Tongsai: all prices quoted on menus etc are not inclusive of tax or service charge, which I found a bit misleading - you have to add 17% on to eveything to work out the actual cost. For us this included the wedding costs too, which affected our overall budget considerably. We did feed this back to the hotel who promised to look at it. Also, during the wedding, we were presented with the bills to sign on 2 different occasions, which seemed a bit heavy handed as we had pre-booked everything and weren't going anywhere so could have signed for them the next day rather than in the middle of a wedding. But otherwise, fantastic hotel, very good value for money & would recommend it to anyone!

We spent 8 days at The Tongsai Bay in mid March and on the whole I have to admit it's a lovely hotel with excellent staff. The breakfasts on offer are the best I've ever experienced, with fresh fruit, fresh fruit drinks, fresh bread and cakes, and just about anything you might want cooked fresh for you. The food in Chef Chom's is lovely and the selection of food available elsewhere is very good. The rooms are a good size and the bath on the balcony is a great idea - the room we were in could do with a bit of an update but was clean and comfortable. The only thing that lets the hotel down for me is the beach. The sand is not really what I would call sand, the grains are the size of small ball bearings and not comfortable to walk on (so no bear foot moonlight walks by the ocean). The sea is not clear and you can't really snorkel as there is not much to see. We took a trip to the national park on a speedboat but again the sea was not very clear and marine life was scarce. If you want a hotel on Koh Samui I think you'll find The Tongsai Bay hard to beat. But if your just looking for a place to get away from it all and to relax on the beach for a few days I'd say go to the Maldives.

My Husband and I stayed at Tongai Bay for 10 nights following 4 nights at the Mariott Spa, Bangkok. Having had a great stay in Bangkok, we were aprehensive of moving on. On arrival, we were not disappointed! This place is PARADISE. The service, food & surroundings are 1st class. The staff are second to none and to us, they made our stay the delight that it was. The staff are an absolute credit to this hotel. There is nothing negative I can say about our stay apart from it was not long enough. We moved on to Dubai at The one & Only Royal Mirage following Tongsai Bay which was a total dissappointment in comparison. I recommend anyone going to Tongsai Bay as part of a multicentre break should go at the end of your break. Its a hard place to beat!

What can I add? The staff are so helpful, and seem genuinely happy. Sign of a well run hotel. We stayed in Grand Villa . Expensive, but worth every penny. Fabulous deck space and huge interior. Never used the pool/beach. You can book hotel taxis to pick you up from Chaweng etc. (at cheap rate).

We stayed at the Tongsai Bay for 5 days and it was absolutely brilliant. We had our own little hillside cottage, among all of the tropical gardens and palm trees, which was quiet secluded and overlooking the bay. We had an outdoor style shower, which felt like you were showering in the garden, as it had a complete glass screen, and a huge outdoor bath on the balcony, Sunloungers on the balcony, 4 poster bed, comfy sofa, ..need I go on. The staff were all really friendly and helpful, and there was plenty of choice on the menu for food. There is also a wonderful spa hidden in the tropical gardens, where you can have loads of nice treatments. You can ring reception and get a buggy to drive you all over the resort if you are feeling lazy too!! Good gym also with modern equipment. Would definately recommed!! and would visit again.