Panacea Retreat — Local services in Ko Samui

We are a family with three kids (9,11 & 17) and spent 7 nights at the Kalya Residence in March 2018. ||We were picked up at the airport and having travelled on a long-distance flight arriving early in the morning it was very convenient with an early check-in (we also took advantage of the late check out option when we left) ||||As there were 4 bedrooms, the kids had their own bedroom with TV, Wifi and complimentary minibar with a daily ration of sodas and chocolate (this how you win the kids over..). It was nice for them to have a place of their own when they got tired of their siblings.||||Daily complimentary laundry service (very convenient for families)||||The kitchen and living room area is elegant and spacious. TV with an excellent surround system made for a couple of good movie nights for the whole family.||Sonos loudspeakers inside the house and outside by the pool and the outside dining area.||Huge infinity pool with a great view of Koh Samui and the ocean. The pictures do not lie.||||The service is magnificent and the staff and House Manager were always present if we needed something. Always friendly and with a big smile. You get the feeling that you are living in house that is also a 5 star-hotel and your family are the only guests. ||The breakfast is spectacular and you may choose from a wide range of breakfast options. The lunch and dinner options are also great and not very pricey compared to the better/mid range + restaurants in Koh Samui. We chose to dine by the pool at the house most nights. The Wine selection at the house is ok but not like you are used to from Europe. The House Manager recommended a decent wineshop at Chaweng, so we could stock up a few bottles and store in the wine cabinet at the house. ||||Make sure to take advantage of all the extra’s on offer. We had a Yoga Class, Thai Massage and a Thai cooking class. It was great fun for the whole family.||The House Manager also helped us hire a boat for a trip to some good snorkelling sites and came along to make sure everything worked out according to plan (which it did). ||||The retreat offers a complimentary daily round trip transfer and we took trips to the beach as well as shopping excursions. You get a mobile phone on arrival with the House Managers contact details so we just called her 30 minutes prior to pick up from the city. Worked perfectly every time. ||||As there were no guests staying at the largest house we could use the tennis court for free. The kids also took a Thai Boxing class at the boxing ring. The coach was excellent and the kids really enjoyed the lesson.||||Panacea is top notch all the way. The kids loved it and we had one of our best holidays ever. If you have the possibility to stay here I am confident you will not be disappointed. This is a perfect family...

We had the most disappointing and upsetting experience at Panacea and would not be returning or recommending that place to anyone we know. We rented the whole Panacea complex (5 villas) for a 3 day stay for us and our friends and family who travelled from all over the world to celebrate our wedding on 9th February 2020. My main complaint is about the villa staff whose behavior, negligence, lack of care and attitude that resulted in our wedding and the holidays of our guests being completely ruined. During the wedding there was an incident which the villa staff had direct involvement in, which was disgusting. When we reported the incident and staff involvement to the Villa Management and Elite Havens, the management company of Panacea, they were completely unhelpful and unprofessional. After what happened to us, even our wedding planner (the top wedding planner in Thailand) said that she will no longer be recommending Panacea Villa for future weddings. The rooms were okay but the stay was not worth the money considering the attitude and behavior of the staff. We and our 60 wedding guests will never recommend this place to any of our friends or family. As we feel strongly about it we would like to warn others through...

Our family of ten stayed in 5 bedrooms Villa Avasara for 4 nights. The villa is up in the hill but very near Fisherman’s Village. The villa is in a gated area with 24 hours security so it’s very safe. All the staff are fantastic and always gave the right level of attention. They went above and beyond to provide excellent service especially Baw, who is always there to help with restaurant and tour bookings.||All the rooms are beautifully decorated and have views of the infinity pool and the village. The breakfast was brilliant and delicious with local and western choices. This is the meal our whole family always look forward to every morning. We had lunch cooked by the in-house chef one day and we hired a chef for our BBQ night. All the food was delicious. ||The only fault I can find is the bathroom which has only rain shower and without a door. Water splashed everywhere and floor mat soaking wet. It is extremely inconvenient to take a shower without wetting our heads even with a shower cap it’s soaking wet. As a result I’ve got an ear infection after water got in. Perhaps the owner could improve by fixing a handheld shower in...