Hi everyone,

This is the first of what will be a few postings between now and next August, which is when I leave for three (hopefully) glorious weeks in Thailand. So I?ll get the ball rolling with the first question:

My last 10 days will be spent on Koh Samui. I, like most people, am looking for a quiet, idyllic beach. I?ve narrowed it down to Bophut, Maenam, and Chaweng Noi. I?m 41, traveling solo, and am looking for a place to do a lot of sunning, reading, snorkeling, and also having the option of experiencing some semblance of nightlife should the solitude prove to be too quiet. I want to stay in a beach front bungalow, and am looking for the best possible accommodation for under 3800 baht. Can that price get me a beautiful bungalow??

I?ll be staying in more basic accommodation for the first half of my trip, in Northern Thailand, so as to afford these last 10 days?so I?m looking for something really special in terms of accommodation and the beach itself.

Any recommendations as to which beach I should stay at and at which resorts? I?d totally appreciate any input.

Thanks so much,
Tania

We stayed in Bophut. It has a lovely,peaceful beach. For bars and restaurants head for Fishermans Village in the evening. That was about 15 mins walk from where we were(Peace Resort) but it is easier to hop on to a songthaew( a sort of jeep)- at least the first time to help you get your bearings.It is also only about 10-15 min journey into busy Chaweng.
Peace was beautiful and we are returning next year. The bungalows are in a lovely setting. If you do a search ( type in Peace) you will find my review and several others). A useful site for Peace and other Samui accomodations is
www.samui-hotels.com
We booked through them and had no problems.

PS
was also going to recommend Thailand Travel Forum but I see you have found that already!

I would add my vote for the Peace resort, very nice indeed. Rates vary so I would search out cheap hotel rates for Koh Samui and see what is on offer, try to use a Koh Samui or as least Thailand based operator as you get local back up if needed.

Thanks for your replies, Fiona and James! As it turns out, I was VERY interested in Peace resort before even posting, but I didn't want to finalize my decision till seeing if there were equally good options in Maenam or Chaweng Noi. So given that there are already two votes for Peace, here are some questions:

1) There's a pretty big gap in price between seaVIEW and seaFRONT. Is the difference due only to location,(and is it worth upgrading) or are the interiors of the bungalows different as well? I ask this because at some websites, the photo's they label as the inside of the seaview are labeled as interiors of seaFRONT on other sites, and the interiors look different, so I don't know which is which!?

2) Breakfast is included in the price, right?

3) Can you actually see the sea from the seaview without breaking your neck?

4) How close to the seafront is the seafront bungalow? Is it right on the beach?

5) Would I get a lower rate for the room if I called the Peace Resort directly?

6) Can I walk to fisherman's village along the beach?

Hope either of you can answer the full plate of questions!

tania

seaview and beachfront are the same size.
Beachfront is actually on the beachfront. All are very close to the beach- the furthest away bungalows are the standard ones. Even they are reasonably close!It is definitely worth going for seaview or beachfront- we went for Garden view= very good but lacking in space,
Breakfast is included.
You can walk to Fishermans Village along the beach= it is an easy walk and we did that several times during the day. The reason we took a songthaew in the evening was mainly because that was when it was raining. ( usually only for an hour or so)
Try Sirenes restaurant- brilliant food- but there were quite a few great restaurants there.

Go for beachfront, worth the extra. I doubt you would get very far calling the hotel, I would try a local Thai site like this one, decent rates and they are local.

www.freewebs.com/koh_samui_hotels/