The Ritz-Carlton, Koh Samui

We exclusively stay in Marriott properties having Marriott status and we have to say, this is really not one of the best Marriott beach resorts.

Positives:
Location very near the airport
Huge property and great views.
Pool villas are nice.
Even peak season with almost full occupancy doesn’t seem crowded.

Negatives:
Welcome staff attitude (doesn’t seem welcoming at all. Quite brusque and dismissive)
Even with our late checkout privileges, we’re made to checkout early and sit in the lobby. Not even offered water or cold towels.
Limited options in the restaurants if you’re vegetarian. This I compare to other Marriott resorts who would go out of the way to accommodate dietary restrictions. Whereas here, you’re made to feel like the staff is doing you a favor.
Not very well maintained. The bathrooms in the lobby or restaurant area and even room housekeeping leaves a lot to be desired.
We ordered in dinner one night and called housekeeping to clear the dishes. They never came and we left the plates outside the door on the verandah. The plates were still there the next morning.
The beach is just pebbles so get a pool villa so you can chill by your own private pool and look at ten ocean.

Room: well designed, good construction and material, functional, the soap smells really good.love it all!

Hotel atmosphere: on the hill, by the beach, good atmosphere, good facilities, it’s totally a lovely stay.

Restaurant: PakTai southern Thai food restaurant’s everything is delicious! I’ve cream is exceptional! It is chief’s made. Another restaurant is steakhouse.very very yummy! The breakfast buffet line is grand and have many kind of food and juice.

Staffs: very kind, supportive and have great hospitality.

Kids club: many fun activities and our kids love here.

Overall.would give 10 stars and definitely will return!

We stayed the room with the pool. The room was wonderful and was kept very clean. We could enjoy the nice ocean view and the sunrise. The hotel prepared the daily event. We enjoyed a lot and were particularly surprised with the taste of sashimi & sushi at the event of Mookata as the taste was so good!
The hotel staffs were so kind and showed the excellent hospitality.
We would like to come back again. Thanks

Words cannot express the level of service and hospitality we have experience here. Everything was curated to perfection.

Here are a few examples:
+ Service staff giving us complimentary dishes/drinks at the restaurants we had a chance to visit
+ All toilets (even those in shared facilities) were air-conditioned, clean, with lots of clean towels to dry off
+ Welcome drinks and towels upon check in
+ Extra tidbits at request
+ Service staff constantly checked in on us, bookings were easy to make, and room was kept neat and tidy
+ Turn down service (with a nightly gift) was absolutely wonderful
+ Bubble bath at request
+ Excellent facilities and infrastructure (neatly mowed grass, complimentary sunscreen, chefs going the extra mile to chat with guests post meal)
+ Diptyque shower amenities
+ State of the art gym facilities (not just tired old cardio stuff, but decent weightlifting equipment for buff chads)
+ Overall pictuesque vibe
+ Spa was absolutely gorgeous and wonderful
+ Understanding staff who let us use certain facilities even when it was technically not allowed

Most people visit Koh Samui on vacation, so writing this from that perspective.

TLDR; if you have ever visited a Ritz (or any other 5-star in Asia or honestly, anywhere), skip this place, unless you want to burn a day of your vacation giving it a chance and ultimately moving on.

I’ll start by saying, the staff was awesome. The resort itself…lacks any maintenance and feels like it was built 20 years ago…turns out the place was built in 2018.

The landscaping has basically never been kept up with. Even the lobby is all dead vegetation and difficult to navigate. I’m not even sure why they show the “mini golf” course as you check in (or any of the other amenities for that matter), it’s embarrassing to look at.

Again - staff is 100% awesome. However, I’ve never left a hotel early in my life. If you are traveling from abroad and think “hey, it’s a Ritz Carlton, how bad can it be? “

Think again - don’t stay here…this should at best be an off brand boutique hotel. We paid and were given a villa - view is awesome but really…you have to take a buggy everywhere, look at a dead landscape, deal with rotting wood and peeling door panels, along with mildew/mold in the bathroom. Oh, and the AC doesn’t even cool the whole place (again, view is fantastic and staff were very helpful).

Place has potential, hotel just clearly don’t need to bear the Ritz Carlton name here. Left the Ritz Carlton Koh Samui for the Kimpton up the road and wish we did it the day of checking in. Way more walkable and much more relaxing.

Explanation below:

Rooms 1*: Explained above. Images attached. I’ve never seen an RC hotel in such bad shape. View is top notch though, so if the price is right and you are expecting just a view, they got you here.

Service 3*: from the moment we arrived, everyone was awesome! Loved the staff we interacted with. However, we prepaid, which I usually understand going into the hotel booking - have status with Marriott, which I guess comes with an expectation that I know what I am getting…but that doesn’t check out at the ritz Carlton Koh Samui.

Ended up leaving after our first night here on the prepaid rate. I get it, rate rules are rate rules. BUT - this, in my opinion, was a bait and switch. No way I would leave here with just giving up thousands in room spend after traveling 28 hours to basically sit at a best western plus.

Anyways, took several rounds of convo with the team at the front lobby to actually get refunded for two nights…which I’m thankful they did, but really should not have been an issue based on the (lack of) hard product.

Location 2*: it’s close to everything and all the other resorts, but it’s really not. Use Grab, you can get to other places in KS. However, after moving 2 resorts down the road to a beach villa, you can literally walk to so much else that KS has to offer (especially for people who just like to resort chill). Also, waiting on a buggy to take you anywhere in the resort is very annoying.

Overall - skip. Listen to the nay sayers, this place needs to shut down for a couple years and remodel/revamp. I’m more irritated that Marriott has just let this place be called a Ritz Carlton in Koh Samui of all places for so long…. Go literally anywhere else. You won’t regret it. Props to the staff for eventually paying us back for 2 nights - appreciate you! You are the saving grace!

My wife and I stay here for our honeymoon. Extremely good services. Best breakfast in my life. I can't wait to go back. (2021)

Don’t come here for sure, it’s badly kept and repaired in a even worse way, the only saving grace is the good food and service, special call out to Henry and Omar the F&B manager, who went out of their way to make me stay longer. The resort manager seemed already defeated when she came to meet me, like she knew that her hotel is in absolute shambles. So unless these guys put in some serious money and dedicated supervision to improve their interiors do save your money

Terrible experience. The AC does not work properly and could not lower the temp below 26. The villa is only half cool as there is no circulation. There is a long wait for carts which is the only way to travel as it’s a hot long walk to everywhere. The beach is one of the worst. The sand is comprised of large rocks and is unwalkable bare feet and almost unwalkable with flip flops as it gets stuck under the feet. The water looks dirty so did not swim. The breakfast was average. Pak Thai was good but expensive. They overcharge for drinks and minibar. Although built in 2018, rooms look old and seems breaking apart. The room build is also of low quality like that of a 3 star hotel. The food outside of the hotel is better and much cheaper but it’s very difficult to travel outside of the hotel. Food for in room dining is not good and expensive.

I have nothing to say about the hotel but good things.
The rooms are wonderful, the pool villa was absolutely a dream!
I want to send a special thank you to all the staff members, they made are stay so much better and the added value is definitely with them.

The hotel is beautiful and calm, the central pool and the beach are stunning.
The girls at the kids club were amazing!
And the shuttle bus service to central Samui is very helpful.
Breakfast is the best I had in Thailand.

The only reason I gave a 4 star review is the prices of the restaurant, they are outrageous.
Almost 700 THB to pad-Thai? 1300 THB for a burger? This is not right.
I’m used to overpriced food on resorts, but this is something else.

I really recommend to stay in this amazing hotel, just use food panda app.

2nd stay here, perfect both of time.
Huge breakfast

Point of improvement: depending on the time there might be not enough sun beds at the pool

A bit far but just amazing rooms and amazing hotel. Pool was simply the best ever and right on beach, breakfast was totally worth it

Beautiful views
Amazing staff
Expensive but exclusive
Well worth visiting
Thanks for the outstanding experience

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There's no General Manager IN THE RESORT. He Operates Remotely sitting at a different city (As per the Information given to us by the staff of Ritz Carlton, Koh Samui)
Very Poor Guest Services. They sent me a Bill for One Banana and One Apple which we asked for the room. I sent it back. With in few minutes, a manager called and apologised.
They have no courtesy to serve Vegetarian Food. We were promised officially through email that there is a dedicated Indian Chef who can prepare Vegetarian food. When we checked in, He was on leave for 1 day. After one day, The Indian Chef says, There are NO GROCERIES / INGREDIENTS to prepare Vegetarian food. THE HOTEL HAS ORDERED FOR THE SAME AND YET TO RECEIVE THEM!
Could see Flies on the Bread, Bun and Cut fruits.
Executive Chef IVO RODZIUS and Resort Manager Ms. Tanzie Wong have failed in their duties to deliver the Hospitality.
THIS IS NOT A PLACE FOR VEGETARIANS AND INDIANS!
PLEASE AVOID VISITING THIS PROPERTY TILL THEY RECTIFY THEIR ERRORS.

The romos are pretty and the hotel is clean.
The hotel LACKS ambiance and service. It seemed as everyone working was an intern, it was impossible to get answers to simple questions. The hotel was kind of desertic. The beach does not invite you to get in the pool gets VERY WARM. Spa is ok but lacks the whole 5 star resorts spa service expected.
We were here for 3 nights and then moved 3 nights to Banyan Tree- would recommend this second ONE WAY MORE! It was like being in a completely different country but only 20 minutes away.

You never know how much beauty view and amazing place in the Samui island, and the resort has been many events can join, stay at pool, chill in the beach, drink at the bar, anything it’s very relaxing there

Great experience!
Staff was very friendly and helpful. The suite had an amazing view and is very well equipped. Best breakfast on the island
Would definitely come back

WOW! Absolutely stunning hotel! My husband is a Marriott Bonvoy Ambassador so we were fortunate to get upgraded to an ocean view villa with our own pool. The room was perfect! The staff helped us coordinate a boat to take us to and from Koh Pha Ngan for the Full Moon Party which we are so glad we did! We would enjoy our private pool after dinner but each morning we hung out at the hotel pool. That pool was amazing and so relaxing with the beach, the ocean views and just hanging out and sipping cocktails. Every employee we encountered during our stay was kind, helpful & professional. The gym was a nice size with good equipment and the once a week street food event was a good time. We really enjoyed our time at the Ritz Carlton Koh Samui. We hope to get back there someday soon! -Traci & Jeff Miles

Literally top of the hill, around 15 mins walk to choengmon bars and restaurants. Area all way up poorly lit, worst place being outside Ritz Carlton.
Rooms are clean and really, really nice and cleaners do a really good job.
Pool area and infinity pool looks really nice but the boards are loose and screws up in places - it needs updating. Pool tiles are missing in places and edges loose which is dangerous and grout missing in a lot of tiles. Pool staff are really nice and helpful.
Beach isn't sandy but broken shell. Other beaches are much better.
Hotel only has one paddle board which was broken for the entire 10 days I was there, which is pretty poor another couldn't be bought.
Beach BBQ was very good and the view was a nice evening meal.
Issues first four days with breakfast as I needed gluten free which hotel knew well in advance and didn't provide any. It took a number of complaints to be resolved so if gluten free, be careful what you expect.
Buggies are generally quick to pick you up and transfer from one area to another.
Some really good views of sunset from hotel.
SPA is nice but quite expensive.

We are currently on our last day after nearly 2 weeks here. The hotel is beautiful and the pool villa perfect for cooling off early morning and late evening with spectacular views. The buggy’s to get around the resort are brilliant and no more than 5 minutes away. What really makes the hotel are the staff. What an amazing attention to detail, nothing is ever too much trouble and always a smiling face. Our holiday in Koh Samui has been incredible and I couldn’t imagine having stayed anywhere other than the Ritz Carlton!