W Samui is very funky and cool. The villas are well designed and although there is little pool privacy when staying up on the hill, the beach side villas are extremely private. It is nice to stay somewhere where the private pool is actually swimmable rather than just a plunge pool, which seems the norm these days. Breakfast at the Kitchen Table is phenomenal as well as Namu serving excellent Japanese food. The twice cook pork melts in your mouth and the salmon is sea fresh. Its fantastic to see a Japanese restaurant of this caliber on Koh Samui. Naturally the W brand is a bit cutting edge and maybe a bit too funky and modern for an older crowd although the service is excellent. Price wise a bit on the expensive side, but that what you expect to pay for the W standard.

They have done exceptionally well with the setting of this hotel, when you initially walk in and look out across the pool sitting area, it's breathtaking. So lovely, so romantic so perfect (apart from a tropical storm that decided to hang over us for 10 days).

We had an ocean view room with a private pool. With this room there wasn't really a good view of the ocean and it wasn’t very private either - don't take this room if you would like to tan topless or naked :-) These rooms have a pathway in the back of them which leads to all of the other rooms which are also ocean front ... the "private property" you are on, isn't really private as there were always locals fishing right outside our "private plunge pool area". Not ideal for using the open plan bathroom / bathtub which looks out to the ocean and on to the fishermen and the other hotel guests walking by. However, the idea was great ... they just need to add some privacy bush or something. I did use the bath once, it was lovely lying in the bath looking over the ocean ... but I had to wear my bikini as there was a local fisherman standing on the rock wall about 5 meters away. Overall the rooms were lovely, I think I can say the room ties for 1st with The One and Only in Maldives for the best room I've ever stayed in.

The staff, they were overly polite. Very kind very lovely and they would do almost anything for you .. Providing they can understand you and you can understand them. I know you need to talk slow for them to understand what you are saying but my boyfriend massively struggled communicating. There were a few of them who could speak English well ... especially the main Thai girl in the reception area, she was sooo damn good! Exceptional! I wish I could remember her name. Anyway, we failed to understand why they would put someone answering the "whatever whenever" phone calls who can't speak or understand English. That was extremely frustrating. The majority of the staff spoke such bad English that we actually questioned if this was due to this hotel being so new they could only get the leftover English speaking staff. They can only improve and they did try very very hard.

Gym, Fantastic! Great equipment ... lots of room ... nothing to complain about. Excellent view as well.

Restaurants: They were great as well ... can't complain there ... apart from 1 thing (I think this was due to us being there at a peak time of the year, xmas and New years ... but for some reason the staff always told us we needed to book the Japanese restaurant and for some reason it was always booked up from 8:30pm ... so we'd get the 7pm sitting ... staying there until 9:30 or 10 ... and the place was never full. I have to say that was a bit frustrating having to go for dinner at such an early time when it was never full. It’s almost as if they wanted to keep the later time open in case people from outside wanted to come and dine there. The food there was fantastic, be sure to get the bonito sashimi.

Service at the beach, fantastic ... really really good.

Over all, this was a fantastic hotel and we had a great time. The staff really put in a lot of effort and went out of their way to make sure our stay was great.

I would highly recommend this hotel and I would also go back.

Have stayed at many Starwood properties this one is as good as the best. I am a platinum starwood and was treated well. The service, the pool, the people and the design are great and the stay was very good. Food at the restaurants great and the pool rocks!! Highly recommended. Thomas T

You know from the moment you arrive at the Entrance Lobby that "The W Retreat", Koh Samui is very, very special!!!The Lobby Bar is one of the best we have seen anywhere in the world and it is a must visit even if you are not staying at The W Retreat. On an island that features some great branded hotels (such as:"Four Seasons", "Banyan Tree", "Conrad", "The Library" and "Napasai by Orient Express"), there is something about "The W Retreat" that makes it stand out from the crowd!!!The staff are very vibrant and seem to be having fun...they are a credit to the General Manager, Nick Downing who has a great eye for detail...when we arrived, Nick was in the pool at the Lobby Bar making sure the floating lights&ornaments were "just right"...not often you see the GM of a 5-star hotel willing to get his "hands dirty" and lead by example!!!Make no mistake, this is a world-class hotel experience on an island paradise!!!