Shiva Samui

The Ocean View rooms (2 x double, 1 x single) that we booked were not exactly ocean view rooms. The rooms faced a creek containing muddy water plus ? and debris and on the other side was another resort. If you looked hard to the left you could see the ocean. Not exactly what we expected going by their advertisement. The staff were great, especially with our grand children and nothing was a bother. The jewel in this resort was their main swimming pool and even though we had 3 rooms with two smaller pools we shared one pool and over the 5 days it did lack daily cleaning. Our pool was tarnished with green, slippery walls so we did not use this. We had pre purchased the food package which saved us the worry of paying each night. The restaurant served delicious Thai, vegetarian and western food which we thoroughly enjoyed. Overall our experience was pleasing but the question is would we go back, probably not in view that there are so many excellent resorts in Koh Somui that are closer to facilities.

5 nights for family of 4 adults Fantastic food and service Air con leaked but it got repaired fast Beds great size but a bit firm Beach debris on shore and surrounds a concern

Spent 10 days at Koh Samui Beach Village which was a very pleasant and relaxing stay. Staff obliging and owners very friendly. Resort (Villas) are located away from the busy main town of Lamai which is less than a 10 minute drive but worth going as beach is very good and shopping for souvenirs (ie standard cheap T shirts etc) is plentiful. Beach front at resort has an excessive tide so depending on time of day will effect the kayaking and snorkelling but a good safe beach for families. A shuttle is available 3 times a day that will take you to Lamai or Chenwen but you need to get a taxi back. Unless you get your own transport to get around the resort is isolated from the main towns. If you were looking for night life and action then stay closer to town but for families this would be a good choice. Resort will arrange any tours, car or bike hire you need. Food was good but not very exciting. Full board package a good idea if you don't plan to venture out to eat in main town. A few other eating places are within walking distance and offer good reasonable food.

Overall the stay went very well. A few points to bear: 1. The picture used for their profile shows an infinity pool by the beach. There is one beside a makeshift bar at the beach, however, it is not for all guests use as it is within one of the properties (houses) that they rent. Bottom line, there is no infinity pool by the beach. 2. The village focuses on the rental of houses, most of which look really nice from the private streets. We stayed at one of the ocean-view apartments (Ocean 1). Ocean 1 is below Ocean 2. There is technically no view from within the apartment but all you need to do is step outside and the beach is there, along with a small pool (don't get me wrong, it's big enough for 4 - 5 people) meant to be for those staying at Ocean 1 and Ocean 2, though we had the pool all for ourselves all the time. 3. The room smelled like cigarettes, coming from the bathroom, which had no windows to the outside. The smelled probably also came as there was a vent in the bathroom connecting to the upstairs apartment. We requested a resolution but the best action was to provide an oil burner with a citronella aroma enough to quell the cigarettes. Not a proper solution but at least they tried. However, I still consider unacceptable that a room is provided in such conditions, particularly because we explicitly mentioned we were travelling with an infant. Can't write more due to limits!

We are a family of 5 - (3 kids ages 10, 12, and 15) and had a very relaxing 4 day stay here after a hectic couple of weeks in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai. The villas are beautiful (each has its own pool) and the staff is very courteous and knowledgeable. The beach is beautiful and expansive as well. We will definitely make it back here!

The staff was very friendly, the beach was beautiful and only five mins walk in the back of the hotel. The pool in the villa was a great size for us cuz we have adults and a five year old. The only problem we had were two things. One of the rooms had lots of dead bugs lying around and even on the towels, another was not changing the beach towels for us. We had called housekeeping and then spoken to the cleaning ladies and asked that they give us new towels but they never did. We stayed for four days so that was quite inconvenient. We paid for the full board package and since one of my family members couldn't make it at the last minute, they gave us hotel credit for one person.