Banyan Tree Samui — Hotel in Ko Samui

Nothing could stop us from returning to Banyan Tree Samui once again for our long vacation from 11 to 20 July 2025. This was already our fifth stay at the resort, and once again we found the perfect place to relax. It was also a trip to celebrate my friend’s birthday in July. We stayed in a villa in the G Area with a wonderful sea view. ||||Our Villa Host, Dada, was very helpful in arranging our dinner reservations, spa appointments, and housekeeping schedule, ensuring our comfort throughout the stay. ||||We had our breakfast buffet at The Edge restaurant every morning. I especially enjoyed the Eggs Benedict, green juice, pancakes, Thai milk tea, yogurt with coconut juice and the daily fresh fruits. As before, Chef John offered us fresh vegetable rolls — our all-time favourite. It was our great pleasure to meet Golf again, who had been our Villa Host during previous visits. He was so kind to help us with some arrangements when Dada was on leave for a day. We were also happy to see Am again, who we met during a past stay when she was expecting a baby — and when we came back in this year, she has welcomed a lovely baby girl. Congratulations to her! ||||We had several dinners at The Saffron, which is the best place to enjoy both Thai cuisine and the scenery of the resort. We were introduced to two new signature drinks with charming names, “Blossom on the Hill” and “When I Kiss the Sun” — both were excellent. On my friend’s birthday, she was surprised with a special sticky rice with mango birthday cake. Besides, we enjoyed the Thai dance performance in that evening. ||||Another dining experience was at The Sand, located right by the resort’s private beach. There, we enjoyed a 10 oz. Wagyu beef rib-eye steak and the International BBQ buffet in two evenings. The buffet featured lobster and a wide range of desserts, and we also ordered milkshakes. The fire show performance during the buffet was spectacular as well.||||In-villa dining was another option when we chose to stay in the villa. We ordered twice during this trip. We highly appreciated the food was quickly delivered, even during a sudden heavy rainstorm one evening. ||||Visiting the Spa was a “must-do” part of our stay, and this time was no exception. My special thanks go to Bumbim for her patience and efforts in arranging the treatment schedule with our therapists. Although my friend’s longtime therapist May had transferred to another role, we were happy to see she is still working at the Spa. My friend was treated by Dao, while I was fortunate that Massy was still available for me — lucky me! We also tried the refreshing Rainforest experience for the first time. ||||Last but not the least, we would like to express our gratitude to the villa attendants. Though we did not catch their names, their efforts in keeping our villa clean and tidy during our stay deserve our special thanks. ||||On our departure date, Typhoon Wipha caused our flight to be cancelled. Thanks to Golf’s support, we were able to extend our stay for an extra night in a villa in I Area, located on top of the hill. Honestly, the cancellation turned out to be a “happy problem” — it gave us one more night at the resort (even though we had to get up early for the rescheduled flight)! ||||To conclude, we would like to thank all the resort staff for making our 11-day vacation great. We apologize for not being able to mention everyone’s name, but here is a special acknowledgement: ||||- Villa Hosts: Dada, Golf ||- The Edge: Chef John, Dew, Am, Ocha (also at The Saffron), Ram, Sky, Ann, Rain, Nisa, Rainer||- The Saffron: Chef John, Am, Ocha, Seven, Khwan, Animesh ||- The Sand: Paris, AFK ||- Spa: Bumbim, May, Massy, Dao, Nee ||- Villa Attendants (Housekeeping)||||No doubt Banyan Tree Samui continues to be our favorite destination. The best part is that as I am writing this TripAdvisor review, we are once again at Banyan Tree Samui, enjoying another 10-day vacation that began last Friday. This marks our sixth visit to this wonderful resort. And once again, thanks to our Villa Host this time, Golf, everything has been...

I think there really is one word to describe this hotel: heaven. It truly felt like heaven on earth. But now in some more details… We stayed there in May 24’ for 8 nights - with our 1 year old baby girl. From the moment we arrived to the lobby, the service was incredible. We were greeted by our hostess (Dada - you’re amazing!) and given welcome drinks and refreshments. We arrived earlier than we were supposed to but the hotel still managed to arrange our room quickly. When we were taken to our room (they have these little buggies - electric go carts that drive you around the compound) we were in awe of the room. Well, if you can even call it a room. It’s a whole cabin - with its own pool - that’s isn’t even that small (for a private pool). The cabin is make up of a living room, a bedroom, and a bathroom. Each section can be private as the ere are double doors between them - which was incredible for us because we put our baby to sleep in the living room and had our own private room. Aside from how gorgeous and comfortable the room is - we felt complete privacy. No one can see you from outside the cabin and it is so quiet and peaceful there! Oh, and the view - breathtaking. We booked the partial sea view - which was perfect for us, because we saw the beautiful trees and greenery as well as some of the beach/sea. Ok and now to the most amazing part - the breakfast. I swear, I could simply eat there all day. The breakfast room is gorgeous, sitting on top of the hill, overlooking the whole compound and sea, and the food is just so versatile, fresh and yummy! The staff is incredible, very attentive and professional (they were so helpful with our little baby, providing a baby chair and baby food and even playing with her). There was so much to choose from during breakfast, from your typical European and American style breakfasts to more eastern type food, Thai/Japanese and more. We absolutely waited to wake up just to head to the breakfast 😂. What’s else? There is a cute kids club, that is AC’d and had the sweetest woman there (we love you Chompo!) who cared for our baby (while we were there too - we didn’t live her alone at the kids club, but she helped us a lot!). The beach is absolutely gorgeous, clear waters, clean white sands, and very comfortable beds. Try the pina colada on Tuesday’s two for one cocktails - it was the best I’ve ever had! I mean, the grounds are gorgeous and the main pool is beautiful, though we didn’t actually use it. We were mostly at our own private pool. Aside from all of this, I would say the only little part that was somewhat disappointing was the food options aside from breakfast. The restaurants for lunch/dinner are way way overpriced (much more expensive than fancy restaurants where we come from - one of the most expensive cities in the world). We actually opted out of eating at restaurants for dinner, partly because of the pricing but mostly because of our baby, who would go to bed early. We actually rented a car and would drive to Lamai beach or Chaweng for lunch and dinners, or we would order in room dinning, which was expensive but not that much (and very tasty). All in all, I would say, it’s the perfect hotel. Especially if you don’t mind splurging… we will definitely be going back there again in a couple of years! Thank you Dada and to everyone who helped us with our baby, who were kind enough to let us stay until 4pm and have a late checkout and thank you to everyone there who took care of me when I got an allergic reaction and had to go the hospital (BTW - Bangkok hospital is surprisingly nice and very western). Looking forward to staying at...

I had never been so prompted by my disappointment with the resort to compel myself to write this review. Still, if you want to stay at a resort with a nice view and all the necessary amenities, then banyan tree is one of the places you can try, but if you are looking for a resort that provides the service worth its price, I suggest you look elsewhere.

Service is the main thing about the banyan tree, or lack thereof, making the whole experience a colossal disappointment. Right from the entrance, checking in was a hassle when the staff couldn't match the rooms, which we helped sort through, grouping our passports upon their request, yet they cant match their data themselves and asked us to check their information sheet together again ourselves.

Upon entering the room, I wanted to call the front desk to upgrade my room, but the phone didn't work. So the staff had to send someone to fix the landline, which took forever. For an hour and a half, we had no privacy to get ready to do anything as we had to sit and wait for the electrician to fix the landline.

Calling for transportation speaks to the underlying issue of how understaffed the resort is compared to other alternatives. It seems to take 5-10 minutes, a grace period the front desk has repeatedly told us, but they had always seemed to be pushing the limit. This is fine but ultimately sub-par when you're paying so much for a five-star resort compared to similar alternatives, four seasons, Conrad, etc. It's the little things that make a huge difference, and that is something this resort and the management need to work on.

The Saffron dinner place was so disappointing for its poor service and the quality. Some of the food was admittedly good, but the dessert was terrible; shamefully, the sticky mango rice, which is a cultural representation of Thailand, and served the rice uncooked and the mango super sour, cries for how the restaurant is well recognized and highly praised.

Lastly, the front desk service was the fuel to my fire. I ordered an afternoon tea set that day, and after we finished, I called to have someone cleaned up. No one showed, and I called again and again. I called four times and asked staff in person when we had dinner, and it was not cleaned until the next day. It was until I asked to speak to the manager but was told busy and will pass the message along promptly. I had to get angry to get things done here, which took away the relaxed experience I was looking for after flying for so long to the island.

On the first day, I walked into my room unsatisfied with the view I had booked, and I was already prepared to upgrade to their royal beach view the next day. However, the service I received from the beginning (starting with the broken landline to the poor attentiveness of the staff team) discouraged me from doing that upgrade as it seemed not to be worth the money if I was going to get the same service anyways.

Overall, a disappointing experience, and I will not be returning any time soon unless the management team decides to make...