We arrived with a speedboat from Ko Samui (30 minutes) and spent 11 nights in a Deluxe Room (433, on the top floor). It was spacious, nicely decorated, covered by teak timber. We had a large terrace with magnificent sea view over the bay.
Santhiya Resort is a very clean, quiet, and calm hillside surrounded by tropical rain forest (they destroys mosquitos every Thursday and Sunday afternoon).

The buffet breakfast is a little bit boring after a few days. We tried the Resort’s seaside restaurant the first night but it was disappointing and decided to go out and have dinner further along the bay. You may find very tasty foods at more reasonable prices in restaurants at the seaside and in the small village.

If you want a nice sandy beach you should move few 100 meters to the direction of the village. The bay in front of the hotel is rather rocky after a few steps in the water and often tangy.

The staff was helpful and friendly.
I would recommend this resort to anyone looking for relaxing or looking for romantic honeymoon.

if you are looking for a secluded hide-away retreat far from the action the Santhiya is just right - its literally at the end of the road on a hide-away island. Getting there is an adventure by itself, as the road from the ferry-pier is partly extremely steep and partly not yet asphalted so its quite a ride to get there.

as the place is very large - it stretches out over the whole hill on the north side of the Thong Nai Pan Beach, you certainly wont feel crowded arounded you, on the other hand you shouldnot mind a 2-5 minute walk from your villa/room each time one-way to the Pool/beach/restaurant.
there is lush vegetation all around - its set in a very green tropical garden.
the pool-area is very nice and big

the hotel-beach is however extremely narrow, like estimared 10 to 15 meters. they put the loungers there shoulder to shoulder in 3 rows. you can however take a short walk over to the common Thong Nai Pan beach, which is big enough so you dont feel crowded and the beach is in a much better condition than the small private Santhyia sand-strip.
its roughly a 100m walk from the Santhiya-beach to Thong Nai Pan and you have to climb over some rocks and cross a small section of the adjacent resort.

I highly recommend the restaurants/bars/massage-places in the small village behind the Thong Nai Pan beach which is a further couple 100m - so its not near, but still in walking-distance from the Santhiya.

Service was good there - cant say anything negative
Breakfast-buffet is very ordinary, we didnot bother eating in the hotel for lunch or dinner, but walked over to the village behind the beach where there are plenty of options - all of them quite excellent.

All in all it was a bit too sleepy there for us - but i definitely would recommend the hotel to anybody who is looking for a really really quiet and secluded place.

Don't get me wrong, the hotel is tranquil, picturesque, and peaceful. The downside: the hotel is only reachable by 4-wheel drive vehicle over a long stretch of dirt road. Most taxis won't go to the hotel without charging about 800 - 1000 baht. Very expensive.

The hotel only offers two shuttles daily to take guests to town, which we didn't find out before booking. We had to cancel some activities that we had planned on Ko Samui, and also check out 1 day early so that we could make an early morning flight on Samui
.
The staff are very friendly and try their best to help guests out with the transport situation. The food selection is limited, but just down the beach there are some local restaurants offering good local fares at more reasonable prices.

Overall, the hotel is very nice, but plan your activities, flights very carefully!

Having just spent four days at the santhiya it is very hard to believe the previous poor review.
Stating the resort is tired is beyond me and leads me to believe some people just get too carried away!
This is a beautifully appointed resort on a small private beach set on a picturesque hill side.
Our hideaway pool villa was just amazing, spacious, large pool, georgous outdoor bathroom
and super comfy bed and living area.
The service from all the staff was second to none, nothing was too much to ask although my only small critisicm would be a few of the staff spoke very little english and found it hard to understand, but this is only a small point.
i must mention a lady called Lianie down at the beach side restaurant who was simply brilliant and couldnt do enough for us, she is a credit to the resort.
The food was very tasty and the cocktail list is comprehensive and the 2 for 1 offer went down a treat!
There are some nice restaurants on the nearby beach ("Luna worth a special mention)
and the dive centre "tropical" was very professional and took me on a great diving trip to Sail Rock.
All in all a great stay in a romantic and peacefull resort, Well done Santhiya We shall be back!