Santhiya Koh Phangan Resort & Spa — Hotel in Ko Pha Ngan

We like the place very much and are returning customers since years (4 stays of between 1 and 2 weeks within 10 years).

Still, it may be a little bit a matter of taste. Eg. we REALLY like the open (partially no ceiling) bathroom design of the Villas. But we know some other guests were annoyed by an occasional ant on the stone floor or a little gecko at the wall.

Breakfast buffet is among the best we ever had in Thailand (about on par only with the Angsana Lawana in Phuket), and the pool is very nicely integrated with a waterfall, maybe an artificial one but it looks "like natural".

Also there are plenty of sunbeds around the pool and at the resort's private, perfectly clean beach. Even more, as far as we observed, very few guests throw a towel on one of the sunbeds immediately after sunrise, on their way to breakfast, to keep the place blocked for their own use all day long. (But note that we were typically in the Koh Pha Ngan Santhiya in low season, ie. November and February/March.)

One point that might also cause mixed feelings is the accessibility of the public beach and from there the little village about 10 minutes walking distance away. From the resort's aspect it is clear they don't want to loose business to competitors offering services and goods at "more local' prices.

But from the guests perspective it is understandable you want to enjoy the nice setting in the Villas, the huge natural garden etc. but not dine every evening in the resort or call room service or check the minibar for every coke or beer you want to drink. Or a glas of wine you want to sip in the evening, your feet in the sand, listening the waves ...

Of course, spending the evening on the porch when dusk sets in is also a nice option, especially if you booked a Villa with a private pool. So, if you need a bit more "cooling down" from the heat of the day the place for a "refreshment" is only steps away. And the pool villas are all so cleverly placed in the landscape on the slope of a hill that your privacy is guaranteed.

Speaking of prices: even if you don't want to leave the resort let's say this: the various items in the room's minibar not exactly aim to offer the lowest price within around five kilometers, but otherwise are VERY reasonably priced. I've seen resorts where this wasn't the case, but the Santhiya definitely doesn't "chase you away, outside" with their price level. And as a hint: look for the "Wok Menu" every Tuesday evening, also very good value for the money.

Of course outside there are plenty of authentic Thai dining options in the nearby village. Some even include free transfer back to the Santhiya. But why should you use it if it's only a 10 minutes walk along the beach away?

Here's why you MIGHT but not MUST. The private Santhiya beach and the public beach are separated by a large rock. You can walk around it on a rocky path, less than 50 Meter long, mostly even.

BUT: now it became obvious that path had been maintained by the Restaurant outside the Santhiya, even equiped with some electric lighting. And now the outside oresort to which that restaurant belongs has closed. While the path is still there, when coming from the village the first challenge is to find the right entry, because it appears there is a barb wire fence right where the sandy upward slope at the end of the public beach begins. But you can enter without even touching the fence, if you know where.

Best is to check that path at daylight time, entering from the Santhiya. The entry is left of the stairs leading to Santhiya's "Titan" bar, over some rocks that serve well as stepping stones. Ie. no "official" stair there. You might also use a sunbed of the private beach close to that point and watch other guests come and go.

Then, when you try the path yourself the first time, reaching the public beach look back and REMEMBER exactly where you turned away from the barb wire fence, which - coming from Santhiya - was all the time on your right hand side. And have a torch light ready when returning in the dark (most any modern smartphone has...

Short version: Santhia Koh Phangan is a 3 star resort at best. The villa cabin style room with private pool is the hilight. Everything else about this "resort" is an inconvenience. False marketing of tours that do not exist. Stairs, stairs and more stairs. Trucks that twill try to run you over.

Long Version: we came to Santhiya Koh Phangan for 4 nights after stating in Santhiya Koh Yao Yai for 5 nights before.

Lets start with the good. Santhiya Koh Phangan did provide a better initial experience than Koh Yao Yai. From pickup we had private transport to marina. We had to wait 1.5 hours for a potential another guests. During this time we were able to ealk across the street to 7-11 to stock up on beverages and snacks. We also did a load of laundry at the laundry mat across the street. Very convienet! Once we arrived to the resort. We were greeted by a friendly staff member, excorted to our room, shown the amenities, and answered any questions we had. The villa we stayed in was very spacious,  peivate pool, a lounging room, outside themed bathroom. I honeslty enjoyed the room the most of our stay. This Santhiya offered room ice service with no charge and had a mostly friendly staff. We were told from the staff Koh Phangan eas the first Santhiya location. The resort was not very busy and only at breakfast did yhe place feel full/busy... which was a plus.

Now lets move to the not good: I mentiond above we went to 7-11 and did laundry while waiting for transport from Koh Samui to Koh Phangan at the Marina... the reason we did this is because Santhia prices for even a small tea is 120 baht ($3.00), a coke is 80 baht (2.25), etc. Its crazy. You can pick up beverages for your room for 20 baht (.50 cents) at 7-11. Washing clothes at the laundry was only 150 baht. At Santhiha they will charge you 220 baht ($6.00) to wash 1 shirt!!! That is just not practical. Once we were at the marina we learned the dock that Santhiya uses is broken and we would have to go to another dock and then be driven 30 minutes across the island to the resort. Not a great first sign of a luxury resort. Once we arrived to this pier or dock... it was not the correct hight for the boat... it looked like an old fishing pier not made for this type of use. We had to climb on top of the boat to get onto the very poor dock/pier.... a poor expierence that I think a guest staying at a "luxury resort" would be pleased with..not to mention no way an elderly/older person could even do that!

After dinner the first night we go to inquire on tours at reception.  We were asked "what tours, we do notnhave any". I pulled up thr website to show the tours listed. The Aho Nang national Park is the one my wife wanted to go to and a reason we came here. The reception lady went back to ask someone a question and returnef stating that currently they are not offering any tours, sorry. I asked how long she worked here and if there have been any tours she hsd seen in her time here... answer was no. So Santhiya just falsy shows tours on their website that they do not offer! False marketing!. (We were able to find a private tour using an application called Get Your Guide that picked us up at hotel.)

The resturants at Santhiya Koh Phangan offer little variety.  This is likely because we also came from a diffent Santhiya days before... but the food was mostly the same with minor variation. There are supposedly 3 resturants in Santhia Koh Phangan.... but they all have the same exact menu. People only use the sea side resturant while others remain mostly empty. Breakfast is the same every day. Their menus are the same every daym it gets old real fast. I had a softshell crab with spaghetti one night that was delicious. Another night I ordered a pork neck the took 45 minutes for them to bring, it was as dry and hard as rubber/tire. See photos. I escalated that meal to managent as the staff did not offer a solution. Menus are also inconsistent.  Sometimes they have a paper copy. Other times no. The paper copy and the digital copy show differnt dishes or ommitted...

We stayed in a Sea View Pool Villa Plus and I cannot recommend it enough. The “villa property” (if one can call it that) is ample and provides a range of seating and lounging, both inside and out. There is an outdoor bathtub (either on the patio or in an open-air bathroom), a table and chairs for seating and lounging chairs on a deck near the pool. The pool sizes are large, considering they are private rooms. They are much larger than your typical plunge pools. The outdoor patio and deck area is where we spent most of our time. If you are someone who appreciates being outside more than inside, I would encourage you to look into their pool villas.

The room itself is wonderful—with everything being adorned and build out of wood. The bed is very comfortable and there is a separate room with a couch and table for laying around, reading or playing games. The outdoor bathroom is massive and you can take a shower while looking up at the stars. It’s a massive space to live in—way larger than what is needed, but provides a level of space and comfort where you can spread your things out without stress or clutter.

I cannot say enough good things about the room and our comfort within it. It’s 100%

There is an enormous pool on the hotel site, but we tended to stay in our private pool. You’ll also find a yoga studio, shop, spa, etc. The beach—which ended up being our favorite beach in all of Samui, Phang-an and Ko Tao—is a wide and soft stretch of sand with only a few other resorts on it. The corner of the beach where Santhiya is located is quiet and away from the road that leads to the village, thereby giving it even more privacy and calm. The sea water is warm, yet refreshing, and you can wade and swim out without fear of rocks beneath your feet. The private beach on the Santhiya resort site is private, but not worth spending much time at. It’s rocky and small. Just a 5 minute walk away from the resort, you will find yourself on a much better beach for swimming, lounging, walking or running.

The service at Santhiya was excellent. Everyone was always kind, smiling and asking how things were going. We’d like to especially thank Akash, Johnny, Pong, Jane, Andy, Karl, Joshua, JR, Win, Kram and Pa (among many others) for all their kindness throughout our 5-day stay. They were all wonderful.

We are vegans and they accommodated breakfast for us, which was very kind of them.

The only things I would mention to potential guests are two things I had issues with that the resort was quick to remedy. I spoke to them personally about these and they said they would work on them.

First, I would book rooms on the hotel site rather than through Agoda. The prices were much cheaper going through the hotel and the rooms offered on the hotel website were more accurately reflected in what rooms they had on site. The same cannot be said for Agoda.

Second, the rooms that the resort is marketing as “sea-view” rooms are not always sea view rooms. The photos that are found on their website and on Agoda are not fully accurate as to what one might find in real life. In many of the “sea-view” rooms, the trees and bushes have grown too high and have not been trimmed at the top to allow for a proper sea view from the pool or the deck chairs outside—where one will most often want to enjoy the view of a sea.

When we were there, the managers moved us to a room that had a wonderful view of the bay and beach below after our first room had trees overgrowing and the view was spoiled. Walking around the hotel grounds and looking at many other “sea view” rooms, this was the case more often than not—stunning rooms with beautiful private pools that are marketed as having a sea view—but unfortunately do not any more. The exceptions being rooms 1304 (down below) and 1606 (way up on the hillside).

All in all, I cannot say enough good things about our experience here. We hope to come back again and will be telling all our friends about it. It’s a top-notch resort, with...