Varinda Garden Resort Samui

Let’s start with the positives. The view from our spacious family room was gorgeous. From the very spacious wrap-around veranda you could see almost all of Lamai beach. Sadly those are the only positives we found during our stay.

Our family room, while spacious, was also very very dark. None of the windows facing the fabulous view had clear glass. Instead all windows were either dark yellow, dark blue or green glass. Impossible to see out of and not letting any light through during daytime. Airconditioning was only available in the bedrooms, but two big fans in the living area meant the whole accommodation was able to be cooled. Our family room also had a kitchen with a big fridge and microwave provided. We only got two small bottles (500ml) of water for four people, and we experienced a lot of resistance from the owner when asking for 2 more. Sadly the fan at the veranda was removed, otherwise being outdoors would have been a lot nicer.

Sadly this is where things go downhill. While the accommodation itself was very dark one of the only clear glass windows was in the bedroom. This window was only inches away from the balcony of our neighbors. Not a huge problem if it would have had a curtain that fit the window. We needed to improvise with towels to make sure the whole window was covered. The other bedrooms' flooring consisted of loose laminate floor planks. Beds were very hard and uncomfortable, as were most seating opportunities in and around the room.

Our bathroom had a bath, but if you wanted to shower you would have to hold the showerhead yourself as only a very low attachment point was provided. Not even our children could fit under it. No shower curtain or other barrier to the rest of the bathroom. Shampoo is provided but be aware that these are small pouches, and not enough for the number of people in the room. Right next to the tub was an outlet, not close to the sink at all which would have been more practical and safe. The mirror above the sink was also mounted very very low. I am not a tall person at 1m67, but I could not see my face without bending over.

Onto the communal areas. Breakfast was alright. Both western and Thai options were present. Be aware that the same yoga chant is on repeat during all breakfast hours. Again the view is the main selling point.

Our children liked the slide, but the pool it ended in was very shallow. There are not a lot of sitting opportunities right by the pool if you want to watch your kids swimming. In the pool area the lack of maintenance was even more obvious than in the rest of the resort. A lot of tile missing, sharp edges caused by broken tile and fences which were completely rotten. While the view from the infinity pool was very nice, everything about this area just felt unsafe.

All of this meant we could not stay here for more than one night, when initially we had booked four.

We stayed at Varinda Resort for 6 nights having booked a 'family house' for my wife and I, plus our 2 boys aged 7 and 10.

When we were shown to our room, we were surprised to find the family house consisted of 2 completely seperate apartments, one on the ground floor, the other on the first floor, accessed by a large external staircase.

The 1st floor apartment looked ok with a stunning view over the bay from the balcony. The ground floor room was very dark and dingy, not a nice place to stay. It quickly dawned on us that we were not comfortable with our children sleeping in a seperate apartment, well out of ear and eye shot. We wondered if there had been mix up with the room as we expected to be all together in a 2 bedroom 'family house'. The rooms we were given had seperate room numbers and keys.

We enquired with the manager and she advised that all the family houses are like this. She did then offer 2 other room on the ground floor with a shared veranda. This was more suitable as we were a bit closer to the kids, but they were still out of earshot so it was hard to relax not knowing what they were up to. The other option would have been for us to seperate and have a child in each room - not ideal for a family holiday.

We then realised that the rooms appeared to be inferior and we had also lost the sea view.

Issues with the rooms:

• very dated and depressing bathroom areas
• only a bath with loose shower head, hose not long enough to easily wash hair, and bracket to attach head to wall was at sitting height. No curtain or shower screen = water everywhere.
• although the rooms had a unique style, very little care has been taken to decorate the rooms. Paint looked to have been slapped on the wall in a single patchy coat, and things roughly painted around rather than removing things from the walls and doing it properly.
• The safe keypad does not work so you have to unlock the safe with the fiddly key that is attached to the main key fob. Therefore everytime you access the safe it's a race against time before the lights go out and you can't see what you're doing.
• The security is very poor - the main double door is made of thin wood with no lock. You have to lock it with the padlock provided. There are no locating bolts at the bottom of the door, so when you lock it there is still a lot of movement. As part of a display, there was also a selection of various hammers and tools (and a couple of old jump leads??) attached to the external wall next to the door to assist any would be burglars....
• The doors don't fit the frame. Our door had a gap of about an inch at the bottom. Not good in a tropical climate - we had a pet gecko for the week but surprised we were not joined by something more sinister
• The door on the kids room would not close without a good firm kick / push on the bottom of the door.
• The curtains do not fit the windows giving very little privacy.
• There was some damage to the walls in the room.
• Both lamps next to the bed had bulbs missing so it is impossible to read unless using the main bright light. Not very cosy.

At the end of the first day, we both had that sinking feeling knowing that we had made a mistake. We began to research other accommodation but then decided to try and make the best of things due to the money we would lose.

We had a good look around the resort the next day. It's certainly an interesting place, some stunning gardens and unique decor throughout. I think it's a love / hate type of place. There are motivational slogans everywhere you look, which I don't mind, but it was over the top - literally plastered everywhere.

Due to the layout of the site and some of the haphazard paving, there are trip hazards everywhere.

The pools look tired and has damaged and missing tiles. The manager said that this is due to be repaired at the end of August. The pool area in general was nice and relaxing. This area and the restaurant were probably the most pleasant parts of the resort. The kids certainly enjoyed the pool which meant we could relax.

It was a bit frustrating on the first pool visit when we decided to order some cocktails. I found the lad who looks after the pool / restaurant and having looked at the menu, attempted to order the cocktails, only to be told 'no cocktails'. I'm not sure why, no explanation. The other drinks (beers, juice drinks / coffee) were all fine.

The breakfast offered is ok, quite basic. The hot food was not good - no eggs were cooked fresh, they were just left sitting in a warm pan. Other meat didn't look very nice so we avoided that. Pancakes were thick and stodgy. Cereals and fruit were ok. The toast was good but it was frustrating that the waiter would immediately turn off the toaster everytime someone uses it, so you have to wait for it to warm up again each time probably wasting more energy. The same yoga chant is played each and every day in a loop over breakfast. This was really irritating by the end of the week, I couldn't get it out of my head. I don't know how the staff put up with it!

One day we ordered a pizza for lunch. It was quite expensive and very poor quality when it arrived - what looked like a kids style basic frozen pizza. We didn't order anything else after this.

As the week went on we relaxed into it as fortunately our kids settled really well each night and didn't seem to mind being on their own. However, we had to leave both rooms unlocked overnight so that the children could get to us ok if there was any problem. It was always in the back of mind - what if something happens to them? It's bizarre to expect this set up to work for families.

It's difficult to summarise this place. Clearly a lot of time and effort has been put into the site, but it seems that too much time is being spent on the eye candy, without actually dealing with essential maintenance, repairs, and improvements. With the reviews generally positive online, I wonder what has changed here?

I'm not just being fussy in the points I've raised- I don't usually write reviews online, but in this instance I felt that I should to warn others. It's not quite as pretty as it appears in the pictures. Be sure to check on the room details if booking a 'family house'