We (my daughter and I) went through LuuxryLink.com (LL) and bought a 7-night package at a reasonable price that included, transportation to and from the resort, one dinner for two, including a bottle of wine and a one-hour massage at their spa. The accommodation included the Hydro pool villa but we were upgraded to the Grand pool villa. According to the resort’s website, the Grand pool villa is 160 SQM with a separate bedroom. Thus, we received quite a shock when we entered the villa. The bedroom was located in the middle of the room and definitely not separated and I would estimate the entire indoor living space at about 40 SQM, well below the 160 SQM stated on the resort’s website. I called reception thinking we were given the wrong accommodation, but we were quickly told that we were in the right place. Reception started to defend the size by stating that the ceiling was high and that the pool was 3 x 4 meters and 1.2 meters deep! As incredible as it sounds, this is more or less exactly what he stated. In my view, this must be willful perversion of facts. We asked for two beds in an email I sent long before arrival. We received an e-mail that we would be given two beds, but when we entered the room, we saw that there was one bed! The room per se was rather nice though definitely not at 5-star level. One positive feature was the resort’s location (right on the beach and in the middle of Lamai for easy access to restaurants and shopping. The villa’s pool and garden areas were acceptable, nothing fantastic, but quite ok. The room and garden (as well as the pool) were kept very clean. The groundkeepers and housekeeping staff were extremely polite, which cannot be said about the staff at reception. Although I must say I felt that all staff improved during our week stay, as though they changed their original attitude, which was rather poor, to a much more service-minded one. In general, the resort was kept in good order. Another positive element was the competitive prices in the mini-bar and at the restaurant. In addition, there was a happy hour from 15.00-16.30 in which drinks were reduced by 40%. I would give the breakfast about 3.5 on a 10-point scale, where 1 = extremely bad and 10 = extremely good. Fresh OJ was an extra charge as was cappuccino, which I found offensive since the room rate for the Grand pool villa is over 16,000 baht/night. Our LL included 1 hour spa treatment. Of course, the resort offered us the cheapest massage (Thai). I was shocked by the low quality of the spa (outdoors only), no shower facility and a restroom without toilet paper! Don't use the resort's spa as you can get a Thai massage for 200 baht (vs 1500 from the spa) at any of the massage shops in Lamai. Only 2 (free) waters were given (daily) but the housekeeper was kind and always gave us 2 additional bottles. We had several other problems with our stay that I think potential guests should know about. One quite embarrassing problem was the fact that the toilet would not flush and we had to call for help! They sent a housekeeper but she could not solve the problem so an “engineer” was called in, but he, too, could not fix it. In the end, it took over 5 hours and we were not compensated (e.g., lunch or drink at the bar). After nearly 5 hours, we said we needed a restroom and was told to use the Spa’s. When we arrived, the young girl on duty did not speak English but after a short while, we could explain we needed a toilet! There was no toilet paper and when we tried to explain this to the girl, she did not understand. Finally, we went to the restaurant’s restroom! Another was the rather large number of mosquitoes both outside and inside our villa. Another problem concerned mold in the shower (also strange spots in the bathtub), which we requested that they try to remove for health reasons on about the 3rd day of our stay. Not all blackout shades were working properly. Rainwater was found in a pool on the floor a meter from our bed, but the hotel staff fixed this link and we had no problem the rest of our stay. A rather loud sound was continuously present from the air con unit. The internet was not very reliable. Finally, in our package one dinner with wine was included. When we arrived for our dinner, we were told it was a set dinner and that we could only choose sparkling wine. I told them that the LL voucher stated a dinner (not set dinner) for two and wine (not sparkling wine). In the end, we could choose a la carte for up to 1200 baht (XX USD)! Similarly, the LL voucher listed a massage for two persons for 1 hour. The resort pointed out it would be Thai massage (cheapest massage on the menu!). Things like this are irritating because we paid a rather high price for one thing but we felt we were getting something else, and clearly of less value. As I pointed out previously, this resort has some nice features. However, I would not recommend the Pavilions Koh Samui to others nor would I ever return. Even if in the kindness of moods, I could not rate this resort’s services higher than 3.5 stars. Their explanation to my query about the size of the grand pool villa is so absurd that I found it highly insulting. On the other hand, I would like to point out that I felt the staff improve during the course of our stay, and when we checked out (14.00, i.e. a two-hour extension), one of the staff informed us that they would arrange a room where we could shower and change. This was a nice gesture of the Pavilions. I believe the Pavilions is run and owned by Thais.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
