Plymouth, England.
We have just returned from a delightful nine days at the Samui Amanda. If you're looking for somewhere with numerous bars and restaurants nearby then this is NOT the place for you - it's a world away from the loud and garish nightlife that has made Samui so popluar with the Brits. However if peace and quiet is your aim - then this place certainly fits the bill. The bungalows are simply furnished - but spotlessly clean and each has its own verandah. We stayed in one of the more expensive and slightly larger units overlooking the beach - worth every penny extra for the superb nightly sunsets. The pool area is really nice and the restaurant has a fantastic setting directly above the beach. We really enjoyed the food - but stuck to Thai dishes each night we ate there. The food and drink prices are pretty reasonable and compared favourably with the meals we paid for in Chaweng and Fisherman's Village. Other reviewers have talked about the beach - yes the water here is very shallow and a quite rocky in places. But at high tide the water is beautifully warm and there are plenty of sandy places to swim if you wade out far enough. At low tide the rocks are fully exposed and the beach doesn't look its best - but most people seemed to really enjoy pottering about in the shallows and investigating the rock pools. And it looks quite fantastic as the sun sets below the distant islands on the horizon. The staff always had welcoming smiles and couldn't do enough to help - although most had limited English. The massage sala on the edge of the beach offers various good value Thai massages - but be prepared for some fairly painful prodding and pulling. Each evening the hotel bus offers a free ride into Chaweng at 7pm which takes around 30 minutes. The return trip at 10.30pm costs 200 Baht per person (around 100 Baht cheaper than the taxi fare depending on your negotiating skills). The bus will also drop off and pick up at Fisherman's Village where there are several nice restaurants. All in all, a good value place to stay if you want to be away from the hustle and bustle of the main tourist centres.

We were going to stay at the Amanda Resort but in the last minute changed to somewhere else in Samui because of some reviews around the shallowness of the beach at Amanda's.

Out of curiosity we went to check the resort out and even had a chance to look at the bungalows.

There is no doubt that Amanda is a great value for money (booking long stays particularly). For 1200B one gets bungalows one would expect from resorts twice or three times that price, with all the amenities. The garden is very relaxing, there is a wonderful swimming pool, and it is close to Nathon where one can find very good cheap restaurants and good shopping (free shuttle provided).

However the big letdown is the beach- we tried swimming there and on top of being somewhat rocky, it is completely shallow - we tried walking dozens of metres out and the water was still knee-high!

This is a perfect resort for older travellers and families with children who may not care much for beach swimming. Otherwise you may want to look somewhere else as there is no beach nearby you can walk to.

just stayed a week at the Samui Amanda Resort, what a lovely stay, the situation of the hotel is idyllic, if peace and quiet is what you want, friendly and helpful staff, spotless accommodaton and nothing too much trouble then this is the place.
the views accross to other islands and the sunsets were truly spectacular, the gardens troughout the property are wonderful with so much colour and variety, and the bungalows are so placed that no,one looks on to anyone else
spotlessly clean and fresh linen every day, i would recommend that you hire a car whilst there just for a few days to get to see samui itself , there are some great temples to see and some wonderful beaches to visit with great restaurants to try
all in all the weather was good the hotel great and most of all the people were fantastic
by the way the hotel will take you to chaweng for the evening at no cost to you, so you can visit the busy spots but return to the peace as well!

Mid May 2006 was our first trip to the Far East and Thailand and if most of the people are like the Thai's then we want to explore more before we get too old to enjoy it.
Flew to Bangkok with Etihad Airways , fantastic service and stayed for 5 nights at the Indra Regent Hotel. That was interesting to say the least. Hotel super and comfortable.
Flew out to Kho Samui by Bongkok Airways. What a lovely way to run an airline , a complementry corner for drinks and pickie bits at both the airports. It runs like a taxi service. Arrived in Samui at the tail end of a Typhoon. Interesting landing and when it rains ,it rains! Stayed at Amanda Samui Resort , our own bungalow, surrounded by coconut trees , Mangos and orcids. Although this resort is on the "wrong" side of the island it was ideal for us, away from the hussle and bussel of Chewang Beach!
The staff and management were wonderful and went out of their way to make our stay "special". Nice pool, massage sala and resturant although the chef could use his imagination a little more the food was still good.
Certianly we will be going back next year.