I mean, it’s got potential, but I’m going to show you why it’s a hard pass from me.
Hi there, my name is Kevin.
This channel came from a love of traveling, a love of the full process and the journey
itself.
I feature airline trip reports and high end hotel reviews from all over the world.
My reviews aren’t sponsored by airlines or hotels so you can be sure to get my unbiased
honest opinion.
Am I an expert?
You can decide.
Am I fair?
Yea, I am.
Let’s get into it, welcome to Koh Samui.
If you’d like to know the exact rate that I paid for my stay here or my next five videos
in queue, please check out the description below.
Here we are, walking into the SAii Choengmon.
Allow me to be clear, this video has one and only one agenda.
To show you the resort so that you can decide if it is a good fit for your next stay.
As my other 187 videos on the channel will show, I call it like I see it- good or bad.
So this is simply my good faith assessment of my experience at this SAii and in every
case possible, I’m going to not just talk about, but also show you how I’ve formed
my opinions.
Checkin was a thoroughly pleasant experience.
From the get go, it’s clear that the reception staff are very friendly and well intentioned
and they’ll give you a cup of tea while finishing the check in process.
I was also granted an early check in, which subject to availability was included in my
room rate.
As we head down to the pool area, let me briefly talk about SAii and why I chose the resort.
SALA and COMO are two small upscale or luxury hotel brands which are based in Thailand and
Singapore respectively and I have always found, provide outsized value at their properties
in this region.
It has always seemed to me, at a local upscale brand, since you’re not paying for the big
name, you can typically pay $200-$300 per night for an experience that would cost you
50% more at a big brand name chain.
So, SAii, with it’s four resorts has been on my radar since I began the channel.
SAii is owned by S Hotels & Resorts which is owned by Singha Estate which is owned by
Boon Rawd Brewery, the parent company of the namesake Thai Beer.
On the S Hotels & Resorts website, they categorize SAii resorts as “Upper Upscale” described
as “A regional brand with international appeal, targetting millennial-mindset global
experience seekers looking for down-to-earth luxe, strong destination connection and personalised
moments worth sharing.”
So I think we can agree that it would have seemed to be a good choice.
Let’s very quickly check out where we are.
SAii currently has four resorts, three in Thailand and one in the Maldives.
Today we are of course on Koh Samui in the Gulf of Thailand.
The property has one restaurant, a cafe and this poolside bar.
The pool areas, beach and landscaping throughout the resort are either great already or have
potential with a bit of a renovation.
Case in point, the pools themselves look fine, but the motley collection of loungers in not
so great condition doesn’t scream upper upscale to me.
Let’s take a walk to my room and I think you’ll agree the landscaping is very well
kept and does give the resort an intimate tropical feel, with just 52 rooms or villas.
We are actually walking towards my second room now and I’ll show you why I needed
to change.
My original room was very near to the central pool and was absolutely filthy with a really
strong chemical air freshener scent.
Whether it was hairs or dead bugs around the vanity, stains of what sort I don’t know
on the water bottle holders, hair in the shower area, what seemed to be stains on the sofa
cushions and was was definitely stains on the carpeting.
Wood trim that was either in bad repair or filthy, some more hairs on the windows…it
was not going well.
I tried to call the front desk, but the phone in the room didn’t work, so I text them
on their in house app.
After around 30 minutes, a new room was ready and a member of staff escorted me over there.
While I was waiting, I found it curious that the chain locks were on the outside of all
villas.
I’ll restrain myself from speculating what they’re for.
Ok, so here is my actual room, a Pool Villa which is the most common room category at
the resort.
The layout of the room itself is nice and I think makes a good use of the space in the
oddly shaped room.
Plenty of space for working, dining, lounging and unpacking.
Only instant coffee available, but frankly that’s is the least of my concerns at this
point.
I’ll let the rest of the room speak for itself.
Ok, so obviously, I was not paid to made this video by this hotel or any other entity.
I filmed this anonymously in the same fashion that I film all of my hotel and resort reviews.
I think filming anonymously is the only way to get a true impressions of a hotel or flight
but it’s not quite as easy or in this case as pleasant as it may seem.
So, that's why your likes, comments and subscriptions are always greatly appreciated as they really
do help the channel grow and continue to put out twice weekly content.
A big thanks for watching today and my Patreon is also linked in the description below.
The outdoor space is the highlight of the room, though the pool is more the size and
depth of a hot tub, which isn’t hot.
But, it may come as no surprise that this room was also, filthy.
Splatter stains on the throw pillows and the mirrors above the bed.
More hairs and grime in and around the vanity area.
The same kind of stains on the bottle holders, but this time it also came with a long white
hair.
Finally some various hairs and small stains on the bed sheets.
It was, no bueno.
If I was here on a personal vacation, I would have left- but, it’s all about that content,
right?
So I prepared myself for dinner at the Olive Oyl restaurant which has seating both inside
and beachfront- the outside area really being a nice atmosphere.
As I’m sure you noticed in almost all of my Thai videos in this series, I had family
who was visiting hop from resort to resort to join me for dinner.
Tonight, I specifically asked them to stay at their resort.
The food was fine.
I tried to pick a few things that it would be really difficult to get wrong and in that,
we both succeeded.
Only when I got back to my room did I notice how insanely dusty the TV was.
Anyway, after a less than stellar sleep, the next morning at least the sunrise didn’t
disappoint.
The northeast part of Koh Samui generally has very calm and clear waters and here was
no different.
That calm water though means that there’s really no excuse for less than clean beaches
though.
I’ve certainly seen much worse than this, but when the beach is clearly your biggest
asset, perhaps attending to it a bit more might be a good idea.
On to breakfast.
Comparing the offering to the five stars that the hotels say they are as well as compared
to other resorts on the island in the same price range, the offerings here were limited
and the whole spread just felt a bit cheap.
I’ll note the beautiful breakfast spreads available at the Hyatt Regency and SALA Chaweng,
both of which have rates that are similar and sometimes lower than this SAii, for comparison.
Last up, there is a small fitness center near the front desk area.
Overall, I think you can agree with me that the location- as in the setting- and the bones
of the resort have a load of potential and with a proper refresh and retraining, the
resort could offer a decent product and value, but for me- if you can’t give me a room
that feels clean and fresh, none of the other stuff really matters all that much.
Last up, there is a small fitness center near the front desk area.
Given all of that, I do hope you enjoyed this video for what it’s worth and will give
it a thumbs up and subscribe with notifications on so you don’t miss my upcoming flight
and hotel videos from Vietnam, South Korea and Japan.
Thanks for watching until the end.
Ok, so obviously, I was not paid to made this video by this hotel or any other entity.
I filmed this anonymously in the same fashion that I film all of my hotel and resort reviews.
I think filming anonymously is the only way to get a true impressions of a hotel or flight
but it’s not quite as easy or in this case as pleasant as it may seem.
So, that's why your likes, comments and subscriptions are always greatly appreciated as they really
do help the channel grow and continue to put out twice weekly content.
A big thanks for watching today and my Patreon is also linked in the description below.