The Tongsai Bay Reviews

We spent a week deciding on a place to stay in Thailand. We learnt to heed, but largely ignore, the occasional tourists' hissy-fits, which usually displayed ignorance, and concentrated on the constructive reviews. We decided on Tongsai Bay on Koh Samui. We booked through Hotels.com and got the sixth night free, which made it a more reasonable overall price. Still not cheap (approx AUD250 for 2 per night with breakfast) but we are happy with our choice. Koh Samui - for better or for worse, we saw little of it. Most was in stark contrast to the numerous resorts and took me back to my 'back-packing' days. We had lunch and drinks at the beach in Chaweng. All cheaper than resorts but you get the people, noise, and usual Knickknacks which we can do without. We also dropped in to Poppies, having considered it on TripAdvisor - attractive but condensed compared to our sanctuary at Tongsai. That said, Poppies and the multitude of other nearby resorts gives you more variety of eating, etc within easy walking. From Tongsai you would need a taxi, which costs little, around AUD$10 (300 to 400 Baht) but one tends not to bother. Eating - we ended up eating each night at Tongsai Bay. They have theme nights to offer variety. Eg, last night followed by a movie on the beach (Death at a funeral). All very surreal. Food was good and naturally more expensive than high street offerings but it felt safe and you could have local or be boring and eat your usual. Haha, we could have had Australian Angus Beef which looked great but while in Rome.. The included breakfast was consistently good. Whilst recovering from jet lag we made it at the 7am start with ease, but at the end of the trip we were struggling to make the 11 am cutoff ;) Service - we were very happy. The friendliness of the locals with benefits of an Aussie to get advice on things such as tips. Our waiter and friend "Tang" was a highlight but all were lovely with some real 'quiet achievers' such as "Wai" who cleaned our room each day and one of the women who spent her day cleaning the poolside toilet. They were spotless and left some of our Aussie restaurant toilets for dead. Oh, and you were constantly topped up with free cool water drinks which was very appreciated as its hot, but very manageable. Wi-Fi. So important these days, for better and for worse. Many had iPads whilst sunning and kids were using them! Reception was free and generally good with the aid of a personal password. I am writing this now as I relax at the Half-Moon pool, an infinity pool that is kid free. Hooray. But kids seem to be hardly a distraction at the large pool. Clientele are largely couth, all nationalities and here to relax. Activities - we managed a sail on the Hoby-Cat and a canoe (all included) and a nice Thai massage. And I, hubby, had a bubble bath in our outside bath on the verandah, beer in hand. Oh, and NO noisy Jet-Skis supplied at this resort, but they still buzz around in the distance coming from other resorts. Also we used the excellent complimentary selection of DVDs, for all tastes, to but had cable TV if needed to keep up with the devastation of the outside world. Oh, and lastly mozzies were not a problem at all. Likely seasonal but they supply all deterrents, even fully netted beds which we left open in our lovely air conditioned room. A great choice!