I am planning my honeymoon for mid-september in Thailand and Laos and want to start with a few days at an idyllic beachfront resort. We have focused on Ko Samui because it seems to have less rain that time of year, and is relatively easy to get to (we have only 11 days). We don't need a fancy spa or elegant restaurant, but have this image of a beachfront villa where we can walk right onto the beach. I've looked at the websites with multiple listings, etc., and the places that seem to advertise beachfront villas (Tsongai bay among others) seem to be more like rooms in small hotels which face the ocean. This idyllic vision of a little cottage on the beach may be unrealistic, but does anyone know of such a place on Ko Samui? Willing to spend the money on the right place.
Thanks for your comments!

there are many...look at the pansea....look at liam set inn...look at the meredien...plus many of the newer ones....we had a great beach front bungalow at the peace resort, but i am not sure it is honeymoon fare, although it was moderately inexpensive...

jamesA will undoubtably have good suggestions for you...

koh chang is another place you might look...the barali has great beach front places...

most places only have 2-6 actual beachfront....and that is what you want...

look at www.huahin.20m.com and click on samui and look at the offerings...

Hi jackster - we found the same problem. Many resorts put their restaurants or pools next to the beach so reduce their beachfront accommodation. The resorts that are v popular with honeymooners (Sala Samui, Muang Samui, Bophut Resort & Spa) have private pools in their more deluxe rooms and that seems to be v popular as an alternative.

Here are a few for you to take a look at - we opted for Rocky Resort for our wedding and honeymoon in August:

Rocky Resort www.rockyresort.com
Banana Fan Sea Resort http://www.bananafansea.com/
Big John Resort www.bigjohnsamui.com
The Waterfront http://www.thewaterfrontbophut.com/
First Bungalow http://www.firstbungalowsamui.com/

All of these are listed on sawadee.com and you can read reviews on that website of them. Rocky Resort has a lot of guest comments on their website too. Some of them have reviews on tripadvisor also but not all.
BB

Bella did a lot of research on this ! We all eagerly await the photos!

Kackster, you need to give us a ballpark idea of budget, quality and prices range from real low to mega prices, I know it's not easy to be precise but a rough idea is you are looking at USD 70 / 120 / 200 / 500 just so we can give ideas.

There are a great many places and the beach areas range from crowded and very busy to very quiet, so an idea of beach also helps.

If you try this list you can click the little arrows, firstly everyhting sorted by beach and sorted price 'within' that beach area,

www.r24.org/beachsiam.com/samui/hotels/

you can also click to sort price in any currency and check reviews, I think it's like 150 places, but again type of beach and rough budget to help give tips.

Mid september still busy time, tip though, as August and early september are prime busy season rates do often drop from around sept 15th or 17th so worth noting.

I really should get my brain together before clicking 'post'!

Look for free night offers after mid September, a lot do them, sometime like stay 7 nights pay 6, stay 11 nights pay 9, not only cheaper but sometimes those free nights give you more opportunities of perhaps paying for a more expensive place but ending up paying about the same as a slightly cheaper place becuase of the 'free nights' offers.

Thanks for all the responses, especially Bella! The problem is that there is almost too much info on the internet, and it becomes hard to differentiate places.
Bella - what did you think of Rocky Resort. That seems like a place with real beachfront rooms (though some comment that the porches face inland?). There are some comments that the beach is not too swimmable, also. The banana fan looks nice, but the others on your list (excluding this one and the rocky) are a little less than what we're looking for - we usually stay at places like those, but we figure it's our honeymoon and time to splurge.
One thing I find odd in looking at all these places is what a big deal they make of the pool - aren't they on the beach?! I'd always rather swim in the ocean! The villas with private pool such as sala samui do seem really nice, though.

jamesA - thanks for your suggestions. To be a bit more specific, we are looking for a quiet beach area, and are willing to spend 150-250 USD/night. We are looking for a fairly quiet beach area, preferably someplace good for sea kayaking and snorkeling and other water activities (I assume that's really all the beaches, at least on the kayaking front). Unfortunately, we are only staying on Samui for 4 days, so won't stay long enough for the deals (only 4 days because we only have a certain amount of time in Asia and don't want to spend it all sitting on a beach!).
Any further suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

we are beach people and never once went into the ocean to swim in samui...it just was not all that inviting and the pool are very inviting...in fact i hate pools...

Hi jackster - all these places are on the beach. Most of Samui's hotels are beachfront, which differentiates it to say Phuket where some aren't.

I think the best beaches for swimming are Chaweng (where Banana Fan Sea is located), Lamai and Choeng Mon - although each in certain places have coral so you have to be careful of. I have read that Lamai is the best beach for swimming in Aug-Sept.

We haven't been to Rocky yet - going in August for our wedding but I know three families who have been and who loved the atmosphere and the resort. I saw the comment about the porches facing inland but I know ours doesn't (we have the 'honeymoon suite' - the deluxe beachfront that has ocean on two sides).

I love swimming in the sea but in Thailand the sea tends to be v shallow for quite sometime as you go into the ocean. Great for kids and for sitting in but not for swimming. We tend to get a longtail boat to take us out morning and/or afternoon to a snorkel site for some great sea swimming.

The best beachfront places in that area of Thailand are on a nearby island called Ko Pha Ngan on an idyllic beach called Thong Nai Pan Noi, but very much less luxurious than what you are looking for I think and no pool, although there is air con. The beauty of that beach however is that it hasn't been overdeveloped and is still pristine and beautiful with beachfront accommodation rather than larger resorts. V difficult to find a balance! But Ko Pha Ngan might be somewhere you want to take a snorkelling trip too. Am trying to remember if I have seen any other places on Samui with beachfront accommodation! Will have a think a bit more.

You might want to post this question on tripadvisor.com samui board also - there are probably more people posting on that board who visit samui or live there who might be able to think of somewhere.

Sala Samui, with private pool villas has gotten rave reviews here from several honeymooners.

Hi jackster~

This may be exactly what you're looking for. I reviewed this resort back in 2002

www.samuipalmbeach.com

Samui Palm Beach. Bhoput Beach. About 10-15 minutes from Chewang Beach. More quiet area. Small lobby but don’t let that influence you. This is a small treasure. Eight Beachfront Bungalows are what you think about and want when you want something directly on the beach. Other resorts are deep whereas this resort is wide. 36 Villas available.

My cousins stayed in Sala Samui and loved it - that is definitely where I would stay this summer if I didn't have a toddler with me. But it doesn't have the beachfront bugnalows that you are looking for jackster! Such a pity!

Hi

My wife and I went to Samui a few years back and we stayed ina bungalow on the beach...the places was called Fair house. I have posted a bit of info in the trip report on my homepage http://gardkarlsen.com/thailand.htm .

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com - trip reports and pictures

Thanks, bjorkchop - the samui palm beach looks like it might be a winner - waiting to hear if their beach front villa is available. For some reason they're not on the Sawadee system. Poor business move on their part. Also going to see if Sala Samui has a villa (it does look really nice).
Thanks for the advice, Bella. I also saw Kho Pha Ngan, but sadly we are already pushing the envelope of travelling to too many places in too short of a time to add much more travel time to our trip. If only we had another week (or month).

We spent 6 nights at Sala Samui in late April. It does have lovely private villas-a good choice is a Deluxe Pool Villa $350 w/o breakfast through sawadee.com.The room and pool (was not just a bath tub size)was lovely but the bathroom is outside the A/C as is the toilet and in 90+ degree temperature it is not a pleasant experience at all unless you are under the shoer. The pool area is first rate and the staff was very accomodating if you found someone who really understood your request. It was a semi-major problem at times.We hear the Evisan staff is even worse in this respect and that resort, we visited, did not appear as nice and is 20% more. We have no others to compare it to on the Island.

Thanks for all the comments. Initially thought Laem Set Honeymoon Suite was perfect, but then found a number of reviews saying that the resort has become somewhat run down and is not terribly nice (for the money) anymore. Has anyone been there lately to corroborate these reports?
Sadly, Sala Samui was fully booked (no surprise there) as was Poppies, and we are now waiting to hear from Rocky Resort and Tsongai Bay.

We used to go to Laem Set before it was sold. We haven't been back since it was sold, but some friends that we made there have been back...once...and won't go back again. The place was not the same, the philosophy had changed, the rooms and gardens were not kept as before, the spa existed but the treatment quality had become poor.

It's a shame, because Laem Set Inn was a favorite of ours. Soon after the sale we inquired about the change of ownership and the new owners were less than forthcoming about it...it took several e-mails to actually get them to confirm that the ownership had changed.

I would choose somewhere else. Rocky Resort looks very nice to me.

We were told the Sala was fully booked but on further enquiry, were told that there were rooms available but not for shorter bookings than five nights. I think they keep this as a minimum - so if you particularly want to stay there and can squeeze in an extra day you may find a room is available after all.

Ended up following in Bella's footsteps and we're going to stay at the Rocky Resort. The beachfront spot looks too good to pass up, even better than Tsongai.
Let us know how you liked it, BB.
Thanks to everyone for all the advice.