Bandara Resort and Spa

We stayed in a ground-floor family room, which worked really well for a family of four. There’s a sliding partition separating the two sleeping areas, bunk beds (with the lower bunk being a double), and separate TVs and air-conditioning in both sections.

Our room was right beside the main pool, making it really convenient to jump in and out throughout the day. It isn’t quite a true “swim-up” room as there are bushes separating the terrace from the pool, but the location was still excellent. Having two showers was also surprisingly useful when four people were trying to get refreshed after the pool or beach and ready to go out.

There are additional pools towards the beach, including one labelled adults-only. One thing worth mentioning is that there are no lifeguards and rules such as “adults only” and “no diving” didn’t appear to be enforced at all. There were lots of families staying during the European/UK school holidays and plenty of children diving into the pools – including ours!

During our final couple of days we also struggled to get pool loungers, despite there being no problem finding them on the beach. There was clearly a fair amount of early-morning towel reserving going on and this didn’t seem to be managed by staff. We also saw people bringing their own food and drink to the pool and, on one occasion, guests smoking cigars. We mentioned the latter to staff and they dealt with it, but generally the pool rules felt fairly loosely managed. A couple of the pool bar staff could have been friendlier too.

Our daughter used the kids’ club once for mocktail making. This cost an additional 500 baht, which is worth knowing beforehand. She enjoyed it, although because she was the only child taking part it lasted around 15 minutes rather than the advertised hour.

Breakfast was decent rather than exceptional, with a mixture of European and Asian dishes and a good omelette station. It can get fairly chaotic at peak family breakfast time, so I’d strongly recommend going before 8am when it’s much more relaxed. The layout of the buffet is also slightly random – pancakes between vegetables and baked beans, dumplings next to bruschetta etc – so have a good wander around before filling your plate!

There’s a pool happy hour from 3–4pm and another at the beach bar from 5–6pm. Poolside food was the usual pizzas, wings etc., all perfectly nice and generally served quickly.

The beach was one of the highlights. We could always find loungers and there’s a sectioned-off, calm swimming area. The water was a little murky during our stay because it was rainy season, so I can’t really comment on snorkelling directly from the beach, but it was perfectly fine for swimming.

Definitely make use of the complimentary water-sports activity included with the stay – it wasn't particularly well advertised. We tried both paddleboarding and kayaking with the kids and had a brilliant time. The calm water makes it ideal for families.

You can also walk along the beach towards Fisherman’s Village and the neighbouring hotel bars and restaurants by heading right, although parts involve navigating stepping stones.

Location is another major plus. The hotel is on a busy main road, as other reviews mention, but once you get used to crossing it, it’s fine. There are loads of inexpensive local restaurants, massage places, convenience stores and cafés almost immediately outside the resort, so we never felt the need to eat dinner at the hotel.

You can walk to Fisherman’s Village along the road in around 10–15 minutes, but I’d highly recommend going via the beach instead. It takes less than 10 minutes to reach the start of Fisherman’s Village and is a much nicer walk. We spent several evenings there – the market is great, although it gets very busy later in the evening.

Two recommendations just outside the hotel: Mr Kim’s Kitchen for excellent food at very reasonable prices, and Izzy’s Coffee, which genuinely served some of the best coffee I’ve ever had. Both are reached by turning right out of the hotel.

The concierge team were excellent, particularly Steffen. He arranged a half-day private driver for us to visit temples, a beach and a rooftop restaurant, and also organised our Pig Island/snorkelling trip. Despite being described as a half-day excursion, the latter was closer to six hours door-to-door and included an excellent lunch. Superb value and one of the highlights of our time in Koh Samui.

The ethical elephant sanctuary is also only around 10 minutes away, which meant we were one of the last hotel pick-ups on the shared excursion. Another brilliant experience and well worth doing.

Housekeeping was a little sporadic. Sometimes the room was serviced in the morning; on other days we'd return after being out all day to find it still hadn't been done. The hotel app was useful though – whenever we messaged, someone responded quickly. You’re given four beach towels which are normally replenished with housekeeping, along with plenty of bottled water.

One final tip: there’s a laundry almost literally next door to the hotel which washes, irons and folds clothes for around 90 baht per kilo. We used it a couple of times, including just before leaving so we didn't return home with a suitcase full of washing. Incredible value and highly recommended.

Overall, Bandara is a very solid family option. There are areas where service and enforcement of the pool rules could be improved, and it doesn’t quite feel like a luxury resort throughout, but the positives are considerable: great family rooms, multiple pools, a lovely beach, free water sports, Fisherman’s Village within walking distance and plenty of inexpensive restaurants and amenities immediately outside.

Add in the proximity to the elephant sanctuary and easy access to excursions and it makes a very convenient base for a family holiday in Koh Samui.

Great Pilates and privtate Thai Boxing class with Parn! Highly recommend!