Amari Palm Reef Reviews

We started our holiday at the Amari Watergate in Bangkok, hotel was great but Bangkok was horrible.

We stayed at Amari Palm Reef for 12 nights for our anniversary and one word sums the hotel up - OUTSTANDING.
The staff were friendly and helpful, as were the people of Thailand in general, it was the only time we have been on holiday and made to feel welcome everywhere. The hotel is located in the North end of Chaweng about a 10 minute walk from the main resort centre where all the bars are.

The rooms looked just like the pictures and were exceptional, the upgrade to the deluxe room was well worth it. Our favourite restaraunts were Poppies (quite expensive 4000 Baht/£60 for 3 courses and wine) but excellent food and service, also Snapper, Rice, Budsaba (real Thai food and ambience), and Cocos for Chinese, a good 3 course meal and wine will usually cost 2000-3000 Baht(£30-£40) but there are cheaper places to suit all budgets a Thai curry will cost 300 Baht (£4.50).

There are loads of massage places to try the cheaper ones are on the beach, the best being 'family massage on the beach' about 20 meters from hotel, 250 Baht for 1 hour Thai massage.
Chaweng is a busy resort with lots to do at night something to suit all tastes in music from house (our favourite) to commercial RandB, pop and dance.

Try and go when a full moon party is on, we missed it (but not next time!!!). We did catch a Black moon party - Brandon Block was DJing. Other things to do at night (there are many!!) include ldy boy cabaret (good for a laugh and free), Thai boxing, and many bars around the Green Mango which were very good, Ark bar on the beach was also good and plays good music.
If you are thinking of staying here DO IT!!!!

This was out third trip to thailand and we think this was the best resort we have ever stayed in.

The resort offers white clean beaches and at night these are transformed into restraunts on the beaches and all lite up and at prices so low you would not believe. The sea food available was out of this world. The main street is about one and half miles long full of plenty of shops and bargains to be had. My only complaint was the accommodation, the room it self was clean but i would not have described it as superior as per the brochure in fact it was across the road from the hotel and the view consisted of a six foot hedge and a road the other side.We were offered an upgrade to a room on the hotel side of the beach for an extra sixty pound a night which we refused. The actual reception and main hotel was wonderfull with a great breakfast included in the package.just a shame about the lack of view from the room.

What a super hotel! We were upgraded on arrival to deluxe room and it was superb. Service was excellent, friendly, prompt and courtious. The food was was vey good and quite cheap. Hotel very clean and gardens well kept. There is a lovely open lounge that can be used to get out of the sun or rain or just to relax. Accomodation is split into 2 areas, half at the reception and half across theroad, both equally as good.
The hotel is on te north side of town, about 5 minutes walk to the centre.

Samui is growing quickly and is beginning to lose it's earlier ";untouched"; charm. Go sooner rather than later.

Fantastic hotel - welcomed with a garland of orchids, cold flanels, and a free drink.

Stayed in one of the ";bungalows"; literally just across the road from the main hotel, which were very nicely appointed, perfectly maintained, and in a lovely verdant setting...a lot more authentic than the hotel rooms on the beach side. Every night the maids came round to ";turn the room down"; for us, and left an orchid on the bed.

The ";bungalows"; also came with their own pool on this side of the road, and the porters came around two/three times a day with cold flanels and took drinks orders. Bungalows are notably larger than the hotel-type rooms across the road nearer the beach, reception etc.

Both pools were fairly good - deep enough to swim but with only small areas over 1.6m, plus some shallows to sit and chill in. Only disappointment was the pool bar (in the main section) was never open while we were there.

Breakfast was an exercise in choice - massive choice of fruits (inc. strawberries every day), cereals, breads, rolls and cakes, pancakes, a variety of cooked items from Europe and Asia, yoghurts...it went on! Lunches weren't cheap for Thailand, but were good...you could have anything from a club sandwich or a burger (rather good) to Pad Thai or Green Curry Soup (VERY good).

Dinner was either in the hotel restaurant on the main site, which served Thai and international cuisine to a high standard, or the Italian just across the road, by the bungalows, which was fantastic. We ate at the hotel all but one night, and that night we wished we'd eaten at the hotel...not a bad meal, just disappointing after the hotel, even though it was cheaper...but maybe we were unlucky.

Location is on the whole good - on the beach front and at the quiter top-end of Chaweng. The beach itself is very narrow and the water is opaque - not because it is dirty but because the tide churns the sand up. The beach also shelves fairly quickly, and the waves seemed to average over a foot, making swimming more difficult. But as scenery from the poolside, it's great!

Downsides...the main road gets vans cruising up and down advertising Thai boxing at full volume until quite late, so make sure your bungalow is set away from the road...we were 3 back and it wasn't particularly audible. And having to cross the road back-and-forth was a bit of a pain, but two permanent crossing guards to stop the traffic made it a lot easier than it could have been.

Staff were almost all friendly and helpful, although bar service was a little slow on occasion. Entertainment is limited to a barbeque once a week, but that wasn't important for us.

Chaweng itself is the busiest resort on the island, and is getting rather commercialised in the centre. The beach is good, however, and there is a wide choice of restaurants, bars etc...everything from smaller and more authentic Thai places to westernised take-aways and bars showing football. Taxis are easily available, but agree a price before you get in - they don't use the meter. And use the ones on the street - the ";hotel"; taxis are more expensive. Having said that, we booked an external taxi through the hotel reception for most of one day - we said where we wanted to go on the island and how long we expected to be there and he took us to the places and waited...much better than either car-hire or group-tour (minibuses here).

From Koh-Samui you can also get boats across to Koh Tao and other small islands to the north. These are much quieter and more suited to snorkel/scuba and to surfing. Koh Tao in particular is supposed to have a coral-reef filled bay which is both shallow and part-sheltered, making it ideal for those just starting to snorkel (or even scuba).