Banana Fan Sea Resort — Hotel in Ko Samui

I hesitated for a long time to write this review because I usually hold back on criticism and in this particular case I wanted to give the Banana Fan Sea Resort time to perhaps send some apology. But since this hasn't happened for over a month, here's the report of what we have experienced. Let me make it clear at the beginning that we have been to Koh Samui over 10 times and have therefore already seen a lot. But what we experienced at this resort was by far the worst. I'm also wondering where all these positive reviews come from. We stayed at the Banana Fan Sea Resort for 8 nights at the beginning of October and booked the beach bungalow with its own swimming pool. This should actually be the highlight of our vacation. But when we got up the morning after our arrival the previous night, we found a swimming pool that was completely dirty. The water was brown, stale and smelled worse than a duck pond. The walls were covered in green algae and we were really shocked. Let me also say right away that the bungalow costs almost $300 a night. We then informed the reception about this and they sent someone. This person saw the pool and said “not good” in complete disbelief. Water samples and photos were then taken. Afterwards the pool water was made somewhat presentable again with a lot of chlorine. They also tried to clean the walls a bit with brushes. But this wasn't really successful and we had slippery pool walls all week. Please see also some photos of the duck pond and after cleaning. The whole cleaning process also took the whole first day and we couldn't use the pool, even we paid for that. And if you saw and smelled the water on the first day, it wasn't such a good feeling to swim in it for the remaining days. However, it continued like this the whole week. There was probably not a day when we didn't have to call because towels were missing, beach towels were missing, water wasn't refilled, etc. One day we had to ask the houskeeping to change the new duvet cover again because the one she gave us had some brown stains. I don't even want to know what it was. Of course there was always a response and the staff is really friendly. But this simply shouldn't happen at such a price level. I am also aware that mistakes can happen. But it was the norm and not the exception. The final highlight came when we left the hotel in the morning one day and asked at reception if we could have 6 bottles of water instead of the usual 4. This was also confirmed and we were assured that everyone are actually obligated to have 6 bottles of water and that we should just call if we need them. When we called the same day at 9 in the evening to ask about the 2 additional bottles of water, a lovely woman told us we were too late for that and that we would have to tell housekeeping the next day. This was the first time ever that I did raise my voice in Thailand and I vented my anger. After everything that had already happened, they had the audacity to say this! This apparently worked and 10 minutes later we had an additional 2 bottles. Another highlight of the holiday should actually be the beach dinner with a fire show. But it quickly became clear to us that the hefty price was probably more for the good fire show and not for the food. We had never had such a bad meal in Thailand like on that evening. As I said, I don't understand all these good reviews and for us it was definitely the first and last time at this resort. I'm also not someone who is particularly critical or has to find fault with everything. But this was actually supposed to be a dream vacation. But this really ruined the Banana Fan Sea Resort for...

Usually when on vacation, I don’t really spend the time to write reviews but this hotel really made we want to stop everything and to to tell you all about it! Most of the times I travel at 5 stars hotels so I had the chance visit truly amazing places. Before our weekend in samui I spoke with SO many 5 stars hotels to try and find our best match. During the searches I ran into banana fan, saw their amazing reviews and decided to give them a call as well. From the very beginning when I spoke with their reservation lady - miss Aoy, I got the feeling that this is our hotel to stay. She was so nice and funny and she gave me the impression that this place have a character. I decided to book with here and canceled my other 5 stars hotel reservations. Something in this place just felt right from the very beginning. When we landed Samui, Mr Bill from the hotel came to pick us up - he was super nice and remembered our names instantly! Very funny guy and you could see in his eyes how happy he was to see us. We got into the hotel and they gave us such a warm welcome I didn’t got on the most luxurious 5 stars resorts. We simply felt at home at the minute we landed samui. They upgraded our room to deluxe room without any extra charges - we were 3 ppl so the room was a bit small but it was truly comfy for our short stay and we paid for a bit less anyway. We went to their amazing pool and the pool bar have happy hours most of the daytime - amazing prices and truly tasty drinks! Their restaurant is good as well with a reasonable prices. After a few minutes, Miss Moy, the hotel’s sales manager, came to check us up together with Aoy. They simply offered to upgrade us to much larger two bedrooms just because they saw that we are 3ppl and they wanted us to be comfortable. Second upgrade in our stay! This room was AMAZING, very big and with an beautiful sea view. It was huge and we truly loved it! We where overwhelmed! Not from the upgrade, but from the staff that just wanted us to enjoy our time in the best way they can offer us! My friend literally cried because she felt the love that the staff gave us! As mentioned they just want you to have the best time they can offer! The breakfast was awesome - bacons, eggs, fruits, pastries, drinks and everything you need! Especially during this difficult COVID times you should come and stay at banana fan! The staff are truly out of this world, the hotel itself very maintained and looks just amazing, the pool is gorgeous, and Chaweng beach is empty so you get to see it at it’s full glory without all of the crowds. I’ve been at whole lot of 5 stars hotel and this little 4 stars place kicking their a*ses! You will feel like a VIP guest from the moment you arrive up until the moment you leave. Thank you so much, Aoy, May, Bill and the rest of banana fan staff - our stay with you was something else. We appreciate you for everything you have done for us and even though the hotel itself is such a gem - you guys made our stay with you unforgettable! We will definitely come back and recommend it to anyone who thinking to travel...

We booked this hotel on a whim, after extending our stay on Koh Samui for two more days. It turned out to be a fantastic stay and we would've loved to stay for more than just two nights.

The location is great, both in terms of the proximity to the city, restaurants, bars, other hotels etc as well as in terms of the beach right on front of the hotel. While many areas on the island have had to deal with receding beaches, this hotel, as well as the neighboring properties still have a decently sized beach to offer.

The rooms were well sized – neither huge nor small – and well furnished and decorated. Comparing it to old pictures of the hotel, it's pretty clear that someone did an outstanding job at turning outdated huts into stylish, yet cozy bungalows. The bathroom and shower are quite large and all necessary toiletries are provided. We found the bed to be good but not great and the air-conditioning was in a good location, so it didn't blow straight into our faces at night.

For me, one of the two most outstanding parts of the hotel was the garden. The entire hotel premises is covered in carefully arranged greenery. It's a perfect mix of large trees, palm trees, smaller tropical shrubs and ground covering plants. Combined with the lighting, it really creates a feeling of tranquility.

The second outstanding part was the restaurant. It serves excellent Thai food and I would recommend trying the southern options they have on the menu. The betel leaf curry or the curry paste of the day were surprising variations to dishes I have eaten 100 times before. The drinks were excellent and the staff was exceptional, even for Thai standards.

The only slight criticism I can come up with is that the pool and the sunbathing area surrounding it is a bit too small to actually be of use. Anybody who wants to spend most of their time at the pool, instead of the beach, or is planning to swim a few laps, will be disappointed. I personally didn't mind it too much and, for anyone who wants to experience a bigger pool and sunbathing area on one of the days, there is a luxury resort just south of the hotel, where you can use all facilities for a fee of about 1500 Baht, which can be used as credit to purchase food and drinks.

I would certainly recommend this hotel to friends and family and would stay again in the future.

One last tip from me is to check the rates directly with the hotel (phone or email) before booking it online. In our case, the hotel's own rate was cheaper and included transfers to and...