Renaissance Koh Samui Resort and Spa

Again fabulous stay can’t rate this hotel highly enough…..true paradise Staff make this hotel even more amazing, they are always so friendly and welcoming 100% I will be back here again Just WOW amazing stay can't rate

The resort is amazing. Very vibrant view. The staffs here are amazing and very friendly. Specially the front desk lady Ms. Pizza. She was very helpful in planning tours around koh samui and answering our query. Overall, Renaissance is an amazing place to stay at Koh Samui.

This was our first time on the island of Samui. What a beautiful, welcoming island, with warm, gentle, kind, considerate people.

We chose the Renaissance Resort & Spa because we are Marriott Bonvoy members. It would appear to be one of the smaller hotels with just 78 guest rooms, some of which are set amongst gorgeous, lush tropical gardens, with large banana trees, frangipani and other fragrant flowering plants.

We stayed in a beachfront, ocean view, pool villa, number 107, which was about the most ideal for our needs, situated a short walk, midway between Banana Leaf and TawaNN restaurants, both of which we could use as we were half board, i.e. breakfast and either lunch or dinner daily.

Our villa had been very well prepared for our arrival. It was spotlessly clean, tidy with all expected amenities.

Daily breakfast, a buffet, was always very well presented and plenty of rotating choices of Asian & western food to suit all tastes.

The Orange juice and smoothies were particularly good, as was the fruit selection and hot buffet section.

There was always a chef on hand to cook eggs of your choice, waffles, crepes etc.

There is a noodle cart for a more authentic Asian meal.

There was usually a curry dish and always rice, as well as sausages, bacon, potatoes, mushrooms, cereals, breads, cakes etc.

What we could not know, however, was how hilly the island's terrain was, despite several email correspondence between us and the hotel, specifically about this issue, over the preceeding months.

There are many steps to and from the villas and to get up to the restaurants, reception etc. One of our party walks very poorly, with bad knee joints, and this presented some quite serious challenges at times, and actually meant we were unable to access certain areas of the grounds.

There was always an electric golf cart type buggy on hand to assist, but sadly this could only help on the flat surfaces and slopes, not in places where steps were the only option.

Therefore we were unable to access the main pool, beach and beachfront bar & restaurant. The number of steps needed to climb down, and then back up, made it impossible for us.

Housekeeping and patio and pool cleaning daily was very thorough and always very considerate, polite, respectful and with a genuine smile. Nothing was too much trouble and if we asked for them to attend at a specific time, to suit our plans on days when we went out on trips, they did.

There was a small mini bar fridge in our villa, which was not complimentary, containing a few beers, cans of Pepsi and Evian water.

There was a coffee pod machine in the room with sugars and milk creamer sachets. This was replenished daily as was the free, generic, local bottled drinking water in the room.

We both suffered quite badly from insect bites, despite taking necessary precautions - and despite the hotel 'fogging' the grounds regularly and supplying burning coils and an electric device in the room.

However, sitting on our patio, enjoying the cooling winds, emphasised just how tranquil this environment is and made us realise just what a beautiful island Koh Samui is, how stunning the Renaissance Hotel grounds are, and how caring and respectful the Thai people are.

It would seem wrong to single out individual staff members, as EVERYONE we interacted with was a credit to the hotel and to the management leadership and training. However the buggy drivers who ferried us around (Nut and Barry), did so brilliantly, always with a smile and always offering a helping hand and without judgement.

The reception staff we interacted with (Alice, Pizza, Bolsy and Maiya) were as good as any we have ever experienced anywhere on our travels. Infact when Alice knew we wanted to buy something, locally, she went out, on her motorcycle, in her own time, and bought it for us.

Peace, the breakfast hostess, Aod, the restaurant supervisor and Saii, the restaurant manager, were simply amazing,

Would we come back to Koh Samui ? Yes, unreservedly. 100%.

Would we stay at the Renaissance Resort & Spa ? Yes, for the staff, the grounds, the villa and the sea views, but probably No because of the difficulty for anyone with mobile issues, as described above.

Could management please review the accessibility to the restaurants, main pool, beach and pool bar / restaurant for disabled guests ? None of the literature we had read about the hotel, prior to booking, mentioned it being challenging / virtually impossible for guests with mobility issues.