well you've chosen the right place for lively nighlife! Heaps of bars of all types( and we are talking Thailand!). Great restaurants. One bar which would def be showing the match is The Islander which has a good atmosphere. Tropical Murphys is another good spot for sport and atmosphere. If it all gets a little too lively for you jump into a songthaew and head off to Bophut(cheap to get there!) - Fishermans Village there is wonderful and can be as lively or quiet as you want it.
Have a look at the Samui online magazine
Have a look at the Samui online magazine
Hi,
This is my first post on this forum, although I have been following this section and others for some time - unfortunately this may not be too upbeat.
I am posting a (slightly edited) report that I originally posted on another forum in April 2005, following our return from Thailand last year. Despite our comments, we will be returning to Thailand - Bangkok (Landmark) and Hua Hin (Anantara) - next week!
----------------------
As a long time visitor (though not necessarily frequent) to SE Asia and Thailand - first visit 1966, I have noted many changes. As usual we stayed in the Landmark in Bangkok - as usual it was first class! We met up with some friends from Hua Hin and had a great three days.
I am sure that I will get shot down in flames over the rest of this post, but I will go ahead nonetheless.
SAMUI and CHABA CABANA
It is many years since my wife and I have encountered such poor service, not confined to our hotel, but which seemed general in the Chaweng area.
I should also state that we aware of the reputation of Chaweng, certainly not expecting it to be as laid back as Hua Hin, and travelled there with our eyes open
To be brutally honest, we were not at all impressed with Samui (no we had never been there before!) and Chaweng in particular. Samui has some lovely beaches and views but, perhaps, it is now over commercialised.
We also found that the whole island was overcrowded and, for the first time in Thailand, we felt that almost everyone was 'on the make' - if you come from Europe and like Ibiza or Grand Canaria - you will just love Koh Samui!
"Koh Samui (and Chaweng in particular) was not to our taste at all. We were fortunate in the location of our hotel (Chaba Cabana). Our research proved correct and we were on a very picturesque part of the beach, away from the noise of the main town (and the aircraft noise - only slightly further South!).
Even this was spoiled somewhat as they had closed one entrance to the hotel and were developing on the South side (not mentioned when booking). A consequence of this was that they were using the minor entrance for all traffic and this caused rubbish trucks, at 3am, to park behind our "deluxe villa" to pick up the garbage, awaking us every night. We complained bitterly but there was another problem in that the hotel was seriously overbooked. This meant that they were lodging people in the hotel next door and other places, so we were unable to exchange the room for 6 nights!
They eventually gave us a very nice junior suite and provided a Spa foot massage and their Spa Thai massage (so different from the ordinary Thai massage) and a free dinner each. The Spa was (in my wife's opinion) one of the better ones and compared favourably, at much lower cost, even to those found in Bali.
Unfortunately the overbooking meant that all facilities at our Hotel were overcrowded, as the people lodged elsewhere had to use the pool and other facilities in our hotel. This meant insufficient tables for breakfast and no sun-lounger availability around the far-too-cramped pool area.
This overcrowding problem was common to many other hotels, even Poppies (which we had considered booking). We had dinner one night at Poppies restaurant and, although the food was extremely good we were pleased that we didn't stay there. The service was not particularly good and everything seemed 'cosy' and squashed in (perhaps because on the number of people) - worse even than where we stayed. Chaweng main drag also seems to run all the way down to the front of Poppies now. I guess Samui is way past its best.
Another problem is that the Samui Thai local workforce seem to have got very greedy (possibly because of the extra tourists) and very grasping. Samui is expensive, by Thai standards, for poor service - if the locals continue like this they will lose any support and sympathy they may have had.
Many of the tourists didn't help - "Tip generously" seemed to be the motto (misplaced generosity following the tsunami perhaps). The locals knew this and, of course, the customer facing staff were grabbing what they could. The majority of the poor back of house and 'ordinary' Thais were not getting any of the action - and certainly none of their families or the ones affected by the disaster were actually benefiting.
On one particular occasion we were in a beach bar that we had used for several evenings. The person behind the bar was not the owner (possibly his son). We bought two drinks at 80 Baht each, but were charged 120 Baht each. As if this were not enough we had trouble getting our change from a 500 Baht note "Oh, you want change - I thought that was a tip!" -
For those who wish to know, the bar was called the Shadow Bar, between the Amari and the Chaba Cabana. Strangely enough, we never returned.
My wife says that she will not go back to Samui and now fancies a change from Thailand altogether. Naturally there were some great local people - but there was the constant feeling that everyone was out to get as much money as quickly as possible."
------------------------------------------------
Final comment:
This is a personal view and opinion. We looked at other areas and hotels, Anantara, Tongsai Bay, Sala Samui, Santiburi etc. and believe that good hotels are available and good service is possible. Would suggest that Chaweng area is avoided as a place to stay, unless you are a young person looking for 'the action'.
Regards
Peter
This is my first post on this forum, although I have been following this section and others for some time - unfortunately this may not be too upbeat.
I am posting a (slightly edited) report that I originally posted on another forum in April 2005, following our return from Thailand last year. Despite our comments, we will be returning to Thailand - Bangkok (Landmark) and Hua Hin (Anantara) - next week!
----------------------
As a long time visitor (though not necessarily frequent) to SE Asia and Thailand - first visit 1966, I have noted many changes. As usual we stayed in the Landmark in Bangkok - as usual it was first class! We met up with some friends from Hua Hin and had a great three days.
I am sure that I will get shot down in flames over the rest of this post, but I will go ahead nonetheless.
SAMUI and CHABA CABANA
It is many years since my wife and I have encountered such poor service, not confined to our hotel, but which seemed general in the Chaweng area.
I should also state that we aware of the reputation of Chaweng, certainly not expecting it to be as laid back as Hua Hin, and travelled there with our eyes open
To be brutally honest, we were not at all impressed with Samui (no we had never been there before!) and Chaweng in particular. Samui has some lovely beaches and views but, perhaps, it is now over commercialised.
We also found that the whole island was overcrowded and, for the first time in Thailand, we felt that almost everyone was 'on the make' - if you come from Europe and like Ibiza or Grand Canaria - you will just love Koh Samui!
"Koh Samui (and Chaweng in particular) was not to our taste at all. We were fortunate in the location of our hotel (Chaba Cabana). Our research proved correct and we were on a very picturesque part of the beach, away from the noise of the main town (and the aircraft noise - only slightly further South!).
Even this was spoiled somewhat as they had closed one entrance to the hotel and were developing on the South side (not mentioned when booking). A consequence of this was that they were using the minor entrance for all traffic and this caused rubbish trucks, at 3am, to park behind our "deluxe villa" to pick up the garbage, awaking us every night. We complained bitterly but there was another problem in that the hotel was seriously overbooked. This meant that they were lodging people in the hotel next door and other places, so we were unable to exchange the room for 6 nights!
They eventually gave us a very nice junior suite and provided a Spa foot massage and their Spa Thai massage (so different from the ordinary Thai massage) and a free dinner each. The Spa was (in my wife's opinion) one of the better ones and compared favourably, at much lower cost, even to those found in Bali.
Unfortunately the overbooking meant that all facilities at our Hotel were overcrowded, as the people lodged elsewhere had to use the pool and other facilities in our hotel. This meant insufficient tables for breakfast and no sun-lounger availability around the far-too-cramped pool area.
This overcrowding problem was common to many other hotels, even Poppies (which we had considered booking). We had dinner one night at Poppies restaurant and, although the food was extremely good we were pleased that we didn't stay there. The service was not particularly good and everything seemed 'cosy' and squashed in (perhaps because on the number of people) - worse even than where we stayed. Chaweng main drag also seems to run all the way down to the front of Poppies now. I guess Samui is way past its best.
Another problem is that the Samui Thai local workforce seem to have got very greedy (possibly because of the extra tourists) and very grasping. Samui is expensive, by Thai standards, for poor service - if the locals continue like this they will lose any support and sympathy they may have had.
Many of the tourists didn't help - "Tip generously" seemed to be the motto (misplaced generosity following the tsunami perhaps). The locals knew this and, of course, the customer facing staff were grabbing what they could. The majority of the poor back of house and 'ordinary' Thais were not getting any of the action - and certainly none of their families or the ones affected by the disaster were actually benefiting.
On one particular occasion we were in a beach bar that we had used for several evenings. The person behind the bar was not the owner (possibly his son). We bought two drinks at 80 Baht each, but were charged 120 Baht each. As if this were not enough we had trouble getting our change from a 500 Baht note "Oh, you want change - I thought that was a tip!" -
For those who wish to know, the bar was called the Shadow Bar, between the Amari and the Chaba Cabana. Strangely enough, we never returned.
My wife says that she will not go back to Samui and now fancies a change from Thailand altogether. Naturally there were some great local people - but there was the constant feeling that everyone was out to get as much money as quickly as possible."
------------------------------------------------
Final comment:
This is a personal view and opinion. We looked at other areas and hotels, Anantara, Tongsai Bay, Sala Samui, Santiburi etc. and believe that good hotels are available and good service is possible. Would suggest that Chaweng area is avoided as a place to stay, unless you are a young person looking for 'the action'.
Regards
Peter
Peter
believe it or not I do agree with a lot of what you've said. We went to Chaweng first- I was disappointed as it was not what I imagined. Saying that we had a great time anyway. We realised the island was lovely but Chaweng wasn't and so went to Bophut the next time. I love the place!
Would you be happy to review the Chaba Cabana for us? The review is here
There are many great restaurants in Chaweng and we still came into Chaweng a couple of times when we fancied something livlier.
believe it or not I do agree with a lot of what you've said. We went to Chaweng first- I was disappointed as it was not what I imagined. Saying that we had a great time anyway. We realised the island was lovely but Chaweng wasn't and so went to Bophut the next time. I love the place!
Would you be happy to review the Chaba Cabana for us? The review is here
There are many great restaurants in Chaweng and we still came into Chaweng a couple of times when we fancied something livlier.
Meant to add- welcome to HT peter- hope we see more of your posts!
Fiona - Hi,
Done
http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/reviews/thailand/koh-samui/chaweng/chaba-cabana-beach-hotel/
I've also posted a review of the Anantara, Hua Hin.
http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/reviews/thailand/prachuap-khiri-khan-province/hua-hin/anantara-resort-and-spa/
Peter
Done
http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/reviews/thailand/koh-samui/chaweng/chaba-cabana-beach-hotel/
I've also posted a review of the Anantara, Hua Hin.
http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/reviews/thailand/prachuap-khiri-khan-province/hua-hin/anantara-resort-and-spa/
Peter
hi, thanks very much for your info. I like to here the bad as well as good points about where I am going there are less surprises that way! Having stayed 2* in Turkey last year Iam sure the Chaba Cabana will seem superior (i hope so anyway!) thanks again, if anyone has any more info/reviews or tips on Chaweng or the Chaba Cabana that would be great! xx 
do you know your hotel name in BKK yet Stace?
no but I know its near the sky train. I will ask my boyfriends mum when I see her tomorrow. Any ideas on the weather in Koh Samui in June and Bangkok. I dont mind a bit of rain as long as it clears up quick.
sorry! forgot. Also I cant find any resort reports anywhere on Chaweng and have read a lot of mixed reviews any ideas where I can find any more info? cheers 
we have a couple of resort reports here
For weather click on your destination here. Look at the trip planner on the destination page- it is a great tool!
For weather click on your destination here. Look at the trip planner on the destination page- it is a great tool!
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