Sareeraya Villas & Suites (Koh Samui, Thailand)

When we decided to go to Koh Samui in Thailand, we had a slew of resorts to choose from.  The newest one of MANY along the different white beaches of the island was Sareeraya.  The pictures on the website were impressive, but as a traveler I know better to take website pics with a grain of salt.  Many times I’ve been hoodwinked by resorts that looked great on the website, but looked crappier than a bowl of warm sh*t when you finally get there.  Sareeraya lived up to expectations.  For me, the crowning glory was the room:

It was spectacular.  You literally gasp a sharp intake of breath when you see it.  It was so luxurious, every nook and cranny was well-designed, well thought of, and invested with high quality materials.  We were deluged with complimentary bottled water, and other supplies.  I usually hate the soaps and shampoos in hotels and resorts that’s why I always bring my own even in 5-star hotels, but this resort had wonderful aromatherapy shampoos, conditioners and body washes that made me abandon the toiletries I had.  The bathroom was equally impressive:

The shower is separate from the tub, right next to it, with a rainshower-type shower head, and from the shower, you can look out into the bedroom because of a huge window that separates the 2 areas.  It’s sexy, but in a classy way, not in a sleazy motel way (not that I would know…).  And when you open the closet door from the bedroom, it empties out into the bathroom as well, so you can go from one to the other via the closet.  Those little design quirks make this room extra EXTRA special.  But the icing on the already bountiful cake is the veranda:

From the veranda, you can go straight into the swimming pool.  And right in front (you can’t see it from the photo), there are seats which act as the jacuzzi as well.  There is another shower in the veranda for a quick rinse.  The pool is accessible only by the 5 or 6 “pool access” villas.  Here’s how it looks like from another angle:

This is still separate from the main pool that everyone has access to. And speaking of the main pool, it is the first thing you see once you enter the resort:

Here’s the view from the opposite vantage point:

Can I just gush even more and say the pool is one of the best I’ve ever swam in?  Even if the water was chilly due to the cloudy weather that hounded our entire Thailand trip, I loved soaking in the pool because the water was so clean and fresh (with no trace of chlorine) and the tiles were so pretty and the design was so much fun with different levels inside the pool.  It brought out the kid in me.  If the frigid temperatures didn’t shrink my nuts to the size of jolens, I would’ve stayed much longer.  But I prefer my family jewels warm and toasty so I’d opt to get out while I could still thaw them gently with the blow dryer.  Right in front of the pool was the sunbathing area:

And right in front of the sunbathing area was Chaweng Beach:

It was nice, with its white powdery sand, but being from the Philippines, I’ve seen much more jaw-dropping beaches back home.  But to be fair, we caught Chaweng right after Koh Samui’s version of our Ondoy just days before we arrived.  Just like Ondoy for us, it was Koh Samui’s worst flood in 40 years.  Our resort was waist high sunk in floodwaters maybe less than 5 days before we got there.  So a lot of the water from the streets was still draining out into the ocean.  So the water along the beach was murky, silty, and not fit for swimming.  Maybe during better days, Chaweng would look much more impressive than it did when we were there.  But as far as Sareeraya was concerned, everything was top notch.  The price?  Exorbitant.  We were only able to afford it because we booked more than 2 months before we went, and we booked during November, which is monsoon season in Koh Samui.  Traditionally, it’s their lowest season, with hardly any tourists daring to go when rains some almost on a daily basis.  Honestly, I don’t think we can afford the regular rates if we went during regular season, even more during the peak season.  So I feel really lucky we were able to experience such a high-end resort without paying an arm and a leg.  We were living the life for 4 days like spoiled royals.  If given the chance, we’d also like to try out the high-end resorts of Koh Phangan or the dive resorts of Koh Tao.