Koh Samui: Heaven on an island

July 18, 2000
Web posted at: 3:55 p.m. EST (1955 GMT)

For those tiring of Samui's Maenam beach, the Santiburi's pool provides a refreshing change

In this story: Service important For the budget traveler Spas abound RELATED STORIES, SITES

By Elina Fuhrman
Special Correspondent

KOH SAMUI, Thailand (CNN) -- Superlatives come quickly to mind when talking about Koh Samui. But most visitors to this island in the Gulf of Thailand simply call it "Heaven on Earth."

The first tourists arrived on Samui in 1971, and until the late '80s, this island was best known as a backpacker's retreat. Koh ("island") Samui, part of the Angthong group of islands, is some 80 kilometers off Thailand's east coast of Surat Thani, about 560 kilometers from Bangkok.

	GALLERY
Click for a photo tour of Koh Samui

In 1989 an airport was built there; hotels followed, paving the way for a second wave of tourists.

"The airport was a watershed for the island," says Timothy Cooke, president of the Samui Chapter of the Thai Hotels Association and general manager of the five-star Dusit Santiburi resort there. In an instant, he says, Samui became "a more exclusive destination."

The new tourists tended to be somewhat older, with more money to spend and wanting a different experience than they'd had before. Nearly all the visitors came from Europe and Japan. "Northern Americans don't come here," says Cooke. "Many don't know of Samui, for others it's too far and others feel Asia is not a secure place to be."

But those who do make it to Samui are rewarded with a tropical retreat with no traffic, white-sand beaches, sapphire-blue sea and an abundance of tantalizing Thai cuisine.

There's also an emphasis on service, Cooke says.

"If our guest wants to arrive in a pink Rolls Royce, we'll do it. Sure, it will cost, but we can do it," says Cooke. One couple had a wedding on the beach, with a traditional Thai procession of Buddhist monks from their private villa, he recalls.

The Santiburi resort is designed to resemble the royal palace at Phetchaburi, with spacious and airy interiors and simplicity, accented with luxurious Thai silks and floral arrangements. The gardens and beachfront are quiet, making it an ideal location for honeymooners. "You stride in," says Cooke, "and float out."

Also in the business of catering to your visitors' whims is Le Royal Meridien's Baan Taling Ngam resort. It bills itself as a place "where dreams come true and fantasy meets reality."

Reality is not cheap. The resort's priciest room is $6,000 per night in high season. Less-expensive accommodations include rooms decorated in traditional Thai style for about $300 per night.

Santiburi's oceanside villas run as high as $400 per night in high season, but you can snatch them at half-price in the off-season, generally from late April through July, and then from early November through mid-December.

Unless you stay in a villa by the sea, however, the hike down the cliffs to the beach might be a workout. Note, too, that Taling Ngam's beach is small and shallow, restricting most beach activities -- including swimming. Resort guests can instead sunbathe and swim at its disappearing horizon pool with a swim-up bar, or any of the other six pools on the grounds.

The personalities of Samui's two five-star resorts are different; so make sure you pick the one that suits you before you make reservations. Le Royal Meridien's Baan Taling Ngam is more glitzy, while Dusit Santiburi's emphasis on luxury is more understated.

But if luxury does not fit your budget, you can soak up Samui's charm and sun for as little as $10 per day. The island is filled with all sorts of accommodations in every price range.

"Kids who stay at Charlie Huts (inexpensive bungalows) go to the same bars, restaurants and nightclubs as those who stay at the Meridien and Santiburi," says Shelley Poplack, the owner of Tamarind Retreat, a Samui spa and resort. "That's the beauty of Samui."

A former financial public relations consultant from South Africa, Poplack says she stumbled on Samui "by mistake and stayed." Today, Tamarind Retreat is one of Samui's most popular spas. "Nobody makes appointments here," says Poplack. "People just turn up."

Tamarind's design is intended to break the barriers between interiors and their natural surroundings. Ten Thai-style individually appointed homes, settled in private gardens and incorporating the huge stone formations dotting the hillside, have fully furnished kitchens and almost no walls.

Taking a hot water shower there takes on a new meaning when the showerhead is under a giant ficus tree, right in the middle of your open-air bathroom. Just beyond: hibiscus, whose stems teem with multicolored birds and butterflies.

Tamarind's prices begin at $98 per night in high season. It also features a $44, four-hour spa treatment that includes a 90-minute Thai massage, unlimited herbal steam, herbal facial and wild mint foot massage.

Or check out Poppies, situated on Chaweng Beach, run by Michael and Susan Holehouse. The hotel boasts 24 tastefully decorated Thai-style cottages, each designed for privacy. "We get a lot of honeymooners," Michael Holehouse, a Briton, says. The cottages run $242 per night in high season.

The Holehouses say they spend three hours a day fielding online reservation inquiries many from couples planning a post-wedding trip.

Newlyweds are just as intrigued by Santiburri's features, offers Cooke. And many, he says, come back long after the vows have been said. "We are not looking for huge increases in visitors," he says. "Our strategy is to focus on the experience people have when they are here."

Spas of all stripes have sprung up like mushrooms across Samui.

The spas aren't like European spas, which often feature technicians in white lab coats slathering chemical creams on aging faces. Instead, Samui's spas emphasize herbal treatments and creating beauty "from the inside out." Aromatherapy, herbal wraps and facials, combined with energy-based massage, meditation, and yoga, are routine offerings..

Some are places like The Healing Child. It looks and feels like a self-contained village, sitting on the beach with great views of the mainland and nearby Koh Pha-Ngan.

"Most people come here because they're stressed out from work or are unhappy about their relationship," says Shahli, a yoga instructor. "We teach them breathing techniques, how to have a better inner energy and release stress from their bodies."

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