Koh Samui Vs. Phuket

[firebladejr]

Hi,

We're looking at coming to Thailand for our honeymoon in November 2007. We've been to Bangkok & Phuket twice before (last visit was in March 2006). We generally stay at the Peninsula or the Pathumwan in Bangkok, or the Novotel Coralia at Patong in Phuket.

For our honeymoon we thought that we would try some place different, but we're hoping it has everything that Phuket has to offer. Is Koh Samui (Chaweng beach) comparible to Patong in Phuket?

We like to be close to shops and restaurants, as we do get bored staying in the hotel all day. We'd also like it to be near a nice beach, etc. I've heard that the Banana Fan hotel is in a nice section of Chaweng beach, about 5 mins from the shops and close to restaurants, etc. We're looking at a Beachfront Bungalow with a Jacuzzi on the deck... is the Ban Fan any good?

Also, for those of you that have been to Phuket, what are the restaurants and shopping areas like in Chaweng? Are they similar to the Bangla Rd area in Patong? My Fiance` likes to buy all the copy handbags, etc. and I don't mind going for a walk around the shops… I'm just wondering if there is enough to do there without getting bored in a 2 week stay.

As most of you guys live there, or have been to Chaweng before, can you recommend any of these hotels for beautiful accommodation and a good location to the beach and shops?

• Banana Fan Sea Resort
  
• Buri Rasa Village
  
• Kandaburi Resort and Spa
  
• Muang Samui Spa Resort
  
• Art Palace
  
• Amari Palm Reef Resort
  
• Baan Haad Ngam Boutique Resort
  
• Muang Kulaypan Hotel
  

Anyway, thanks for taking the time to read this. It's quite a lot of money for us to spend on a honeymoon so we just want to make sure that we pick the best place we can.

I hope you all had a great new years.

Peter.

Edited January 10, 2007 by firebladejr

[Samui Coconut]

Hi,

We're looking at coming to Thailand for our honeymoon in November 2007. We've been to Bangkok & Phuket twice before (last visit was in March 2006). We generally stay at the Peninsula or the Pathumwan in Bangkok, or the Novotel Coralia at Patong in Phuket.

For our honeymoon we thought that we would try some place different, but we're hoping it has everything that Phuket has to offer. Is Koh Samui (Chaweng beach) comparible to Patong in Phuket?

We like to be close to shops and restaurants, as we do get bored staying in the hotel all day. We'd also like it to be near a nice beach, etc. I've heard that the Banana Fan hotel is in a nice section of Chaweng beach, about 5 mins from the shops and close to restaurants, etc. We're looking at a Beachfront Bungalow with a Jacuzzi on the deck... is the Ban Fan any good?

Also, for those of you that have been to Phuket, what are the restaurants and shopping areas like in Chaweng? Are they similar to the Bangla Rd area in Patong? My Fiance` likes to buy all the copy handbags, etc. and I don't mind going for a walk around the shops… I'm just wondering if there is enough to do there without getting bored in a 2 week stay.

As most of you guys live there, or have been to Chaweng before, can you recommend any of these hotels for beautiful accommodation and a good location to the beach and shops?

• Banana Fan Sea Resort
  
• Buri Rasa Village
  
• Kandaburi Resort and Spa
  
• Muang Samui Spa Resort
  
• Art Palace
  
• Amari Palm Reef Resort
  
• Baan Haad Ngam Boutique Resort
  
• Muang Kulaypan Hotel
  

Anyway, thanks for taking the time to read this. It's quite a lot of money for us to spend on a honeymoon so we just want to make sure that we pick the best place we can.

I hope you all had a great new years.

Peter.

Both destinations have their good and bad points. I am a Samui fan, but considering the time of your visit (November), I would probably opt for Phuket, purely due to weather reasons. (Samui is usually rainy season, however, last year November was fine).

As for hotels, I would go for Burirasa, Muang Samui, and may be Amari. The others are not really honeymoon hotels or their beach is not as good as the Banana section. Art Palace is a nice place, but not what I would choose for my honeymoon. Banana Fan Sea is a typical tourist hotel full of Germans.

[firebladejr]

Both destinations have their good and bad points. I am a Samui fan, but considering the time of your visit (November), I would probably opt for Phuket, purely due to weather reasons. (Samui is usually rainy season, however, last year November was fine).

As for hotels, I would go for Burirasa, Muang Samui, and may be Amari. The others are not really honeymoon hotels or their beach is not as good as the Banana section. Art Palace is a nice place, but not what I would choose for my honeymoon. Banana Fan Sea is a typical tourist hotel full of Germans.

Thanks for your reply.

I'm really looking for an alternative to Phuket for our Honeymoon, as we have already been there twice and the last visit to Phuket we had a crash on two jet-skis ( I crashed into my father) and we had to pay to fix both of them... it cost us a fortune. Kind of a bad memory for Phuket really. I know what you mean about the German tourists though.. they can be quite arrogant. I'm an Aussie, and we try to be as respectful to the locals as we can be, but I have seen some Aussies giving the rest of us a bad name.

Is November really bad weather in Koh Samui? Does it rain mainly in the afternoons, or does it rain all day? The first visit we had to Phuket was in the monsoon season and although we couldn't really use the beach, it was still nice.

[Samui Coconut]

Both destinations have their good and bad points. I am a Samui fan, but considering the time of your visit (November), I would probably opt for Phuket, purely due to weather reasons. (Samui is usually rainy season, however, last year November was fine).

As for hotels, I would go for Burirasa, Muang Samui, and may be Amari. The others are not really honeymoon hotels or their beach is not as good as the Banana section. Art Palace is a nice place, but not what I would choose for my honeymoon. Banana Fan Sea is a typical tourist hotel full of Germans.

Thanks for your reply.

I'm really looking for an alternative to Phuket for our Honeymoon, as we have already been there twice and the last visit to Phuket we had a crash on two jet-skis ( I crashed into my father) and we had to pay to fix both of them... it cost us a fortune. Kind of a bad memory for Phuket really. I know what you mean about the German tourists though.. they can be quite arrogant. I'm an Aussie, and we try to be as respectful to the locals as we can be, but I have seen some Aussies giving the rest of us a bad name.

Is November really bad weather in Koh Samui? Does it rain mainly in the afternoons, or does it rain all day? The first visit we had to Phuket was in the monsoon season and although we couldn't really use the beach, it was still nice.

The jet ski thing could have happened anywhere and sure you have to pay for it. A majority of any nationality could be nuisance, thats why I proposed smaller resorts with a better mix. November 2006 was great for weather, only occasional rain showers. November 2005 was a disaster, continuous rain for days, flooding and more flooding.

[Mid]

Historically , November IS the wettest month for Samui by a country mile .

[Lite Beer]

For me Patong and Cheweng are equally as bad as each other. Samui has some lovely spots. I am sure Phuket has some also.

As said , November in Samui is not a good time to come. It can rain for days non stop.

Unfortunately this years rainy season never happened. It will mean a lot of water promlems in the hot season.

[firebladejr]

that's disappointing about the November weather. I know this is probably not the right forum to ask this in, but can you recommend anywhere else that would meet the criteria I described above? eg. Pattaya (never been there), or Krabi, etc...?

[Lite Beer]

Krabi. Yes. Pattaya. Honeymoon. No. Stag party. Yes.

[SamuiRep]

Hi Firebladejr,

i would prefer you definetly to go to Samui on your Honeymoon but book a hotel outside of the touristic area like Ban Talingnam or Laem Set & there are really nice Hotels for Honeymooners as well. I am a travel operator, i would not send my honeymoon Couples to Chaweng, or maybe to "the Briza" in Chaweng. Not to forget, the architecture and the nature on Samui are very different to phuket or pattaya. On Samui you have the tropic atmosphare and not the feeling, you where in a big City...

good luck

SamuiRep

[firebladejr]

Hi Firebladejr,

i would prefer you definetly to go to Samui on your Honeymoon but book a hotel outside of the touristic area like Ban Talingnam or Laem Set & there are really nice Hotels for Honeymooners as well. I am a travel operator, i would not send my honeymoon Couples to Chaweng, or maybe to "the Briza" in Chaweng. Not to forget, the architecture and the nature on Samui are very different to phuket or pattaya. On Samui you have the tropic atmosphare and not the feeling, you where in a big City...

good luck

SamuiRep

Thanks SamuiRep, but would you still recommend travelling to Samui in November?

[Mid]

Thanks SamuiRep, but would you still recommend travelling to Samui in November?

this ough to be good .............................

[firebladejr]

Thanks SamuiRep, but would you still recommend travelling to Samui in November?

this ough to be good .............................

haha, I realise his best interest is in getting tourists into Samui, so I will evaluate his response accordingly..

I remember everyone told us not to go to Phuket in July, but we did anyway and had a great time.. sure it rained sometimes in the afternoon but who cares!! by then we were exhausted and relaxing in our room anyway.. then when the rain stopped we'd get ready and hit the twon for some dinner.

[Samui Coconut]

Hi Firebladejr,

i would prefer you definetly to go to Samui on your Honeymoon but book a hotel outside of the touristic area like Ban Talingnam or Laem Set & there are really nice Hotels for Honeymooners as well. I am a travel operator, i would not send my honeymoon Couples to Chaweng, or maybe to "the Briza" in Chaweng. Not to forget, the architecture and the nature on Samui are very different to phuket or pattaya. On Samui you have the tropic atmosphare and not the feeling, you where in a big City...

good luck

SamuiRep

Sure, as a travel operator you would recommend Samui, but weather wise they will have a very wet (no pun intended) honeymoon. There are many hotels in Chaweng who cater to the honeymooners and the reason you would send them to Briza is coz the commission is higher due to their very high room rates. Actually its a cramped place for the bucks you pay and the beach is far from perfect. Meridien is old and isolated......just read the travel reviews......

[hecky]

i would go to Phuket, samui is dirty smelly over priced dump. lived here 5 years had enough going to Phuket to civilisation. if you come to samui Central Samui is as good as it gets.

do yourself a favour go tho Phuket

[Rooo]

i would go to Phuket, samui is dirty smelly over priced dump. lived here 5 years had enough going to Phuket to civilisation. if you come to samui Central Samui is as good as it gets.

do yourself a favour go tho Phuket

Might smell better now.Samui's loss ,phuket's gain.

[Samui Coconut]

i would go to Phuket, samui is dirty smelly over priced dump. lived here 5 years had enough going to Phuket to civilisation. if you come to samui Central Samui is as good as it gets.

do yourself a favour go tho Phuket

Central Samui ? - As good as it gets ???? When did you live here ? 20 years ago ?

[britmaveric]

Phuket hands down!

[BigC]

i prefer samui. it has more of an island feel to it. doesn't feel like you are part of the main land. crazy island. loads of motor bike accidents and shooting yet i never see them apart from printed in the news paper.

does get a bit mad here then i fly to phuket for a naughty holiday. fly direct from samui to phuket and back.

if you like to open up your rented cbr then Samui is definatly not the place. phuket beats samui hands down on roads. off road stuff is good here though. i take my off road motorbike up the mountains every other day.

this text is probably too late though anyway you have probably come and gone by now. oh well best of luck