The Island Resort & Spa, Chaweng

The Island Resort & Spa, Chaweng

This is one of the resorts where I've been driving by of since years on an end until very recently one of IDC candidates was staying there and I had a reason to go inside. I was pleasantly surprised by the spacious lay out of the Island resort and the relative low number of rooms they have, just 62.

In fitting with the tranquil ambiance the in-house spa menu derives from traditional Balinese massage, offering you an array of sensory pleasures.

Situated a short walk from the nightlife and shopping areas of Chaweng, the Island Resort and Spa offers the perfect balance between relaxation and recreation.

If you're looking for a nice, relaxing and affordable resort in Chaweng, this may be it for you.

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The inside of a superior room

Deluxe room


The nice, relaxing, green and spacious hotel area


One of the bungalows with lots of space around it

A view from the pool onto the ocean and the pool bar

X2 Resort, Hua Thanon

X2 Resort, Hua Thanon

You like contemporary, a peaceful, quiet and relaxing atmosphere, X2 (pronounced Cross To) on Hua Thanon beach is your answer.

The resort has opened it's doors about a year and a half ago and is build on 12 rai of land (5 acres) and hosts 27 villas. The general area is underdeveloped and makes for a peaceful surrounding of the resort and makes for an unbelievable sense of space.

It's a beautiful designed concept with eye for nature and detail. The picture above shows the reception area. The overall philosophy is to leave the guests as much undisturbed as possible and staff is almost invisible unless you need or want them.

Part of the reception area where the great combination of concrete and wood comes out nicely.

The walk way from the reception to the beach and the 4K restaurant (pronounced fork) with all the villas on each side of you.

Rooms are available as bungalow, pool villa, suite pool villa and owners' villa, all of which offer state of the art luxuries including satellite LCD Apple TV (loaded with plenty of movies and music), mini bar and internet access.

The walls that hide the villas from view are designed in such a way that no trees had to be cut but rather the walls were adjusted to allow the trees to grow.

A view over the currently deepest swimming pool on Koh Samui with 3 meters at the deep end. The pool is big and fits in to the overall design of the resort. The cubic hosts a couple of lounge like areas where it's great to just relax or read a book.

The pool is almost directly located at the beach and one of the nice things about this beach is that there are no jet ski's and no beach vendors! Nice and quiet and what a treat. Kayak's are available at no extra charge.

An entrance to one of the villa's. The entrances all look similar but behind the doors and walls is a variety of amenities, including private pools.

A sleeping room in one of the pool villas. The villas are luxurious and host private sitting areas.

One of the private pools, the outside sitting area is to the right of the picture and there's another 'cove' like sitting area on the left side as well.

Looking at the Apple TV, loaded with plenty of movies and music, even if you're caught on a rainy day, it's easy to get through the day.

The shower area, opposite the bath tub. All lusciously designed with special, locally made stone.

An incredibly big and spacious bath tub, it takes a while to fill up but almost makes for an indoor pool. relax and enjoy!

A view from the 4K restaurant over the ocean in front of the resort. The restaurant is very reasonably priced and offers a well balanced menu with some great smoothies and fruit shakes!

If you're looking for a relaxed and quiet atmosphere, away from all the hustle and bustle that Chaweng and Lamai offer, X2 is an absolute must and comes highly recommended by me. It's only 40 minutes from the airport and there's plenty of activities very near to the hotel, the Samui aquarium, The butterfly garden, the Namuang waterfall and the Magic Garden just to name a few, will keep you busy and entertained, providing you want to escape the serenity of X2.

Camille

Booking by Hotels Combined

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