Staying in Koh Samui July

[Wisenotboring]

We are currently planning a trip to Thailand in July next year with our children. We fancy a few days relaxing in Koh Samui at the end but I'm concerned it will be a bit grim. I was there backpacking over 20 years ago but suspect it has changed! Hotel recommendations welcome!

Grim? I love Koh Samui. How much do you want to spend?

We're fairly flexible on budget. I just remember from my past visit there were some pockets of not so nice bits. I've read up on threads here and lots say that chaweng isn't nice at all and full of tacky shops, dirty beach etc. We will be at the end of a fairly busy tour of other parts of the country so more likely to want to just flop rather than loads of sightseeing, but it would be nice to be able to walk into a local area with some restaurants etc.

I should say I loved it too which is why I want to go back with my children but also want to be realistic about what it is actually like a d make an informed choice about where to stay based on what I know about my family.

Like nearly every where in life, there are some lovely areas and not so lovely areas.

Pre-covid we had an amazing stay on Koh Samui in a beachfront villa at Baan Rim Haad. It had its own private pool right next to a white sand beach. There was a nearby beach restaurant where we could eat very cheaply including breakfast, so didn't need to self cater, although had the advantage of having a kitchen to prepare a few snacks for hungry kids.

Thank you. Is there a particular place you would recommend...chaweng, fisherman's village, bophut?

Just picked up on this thread, am currently in Koh Samui for 3 nights before heading to Bangkok and am staying at the Amari, very child friendly with pools, kids club and a beach. We are doing B&B and the buffet breakfast was very good.

We’re just heading out to Thailand with two kids (age 11 and 13) and we’ll have three nights on Koh Samui as part of the trip. We’re staying in Cheongmon at the Royal Muang villas, I’ll report back after the visit!

We stayed in Royal Muang for 6 nights last month!I was just about to recommend Choengmon to the OP. The Melia next door is very popular.

We'd originally booked Peace Resort in Bophut but were put off by reviews of the beach. Choengmon beach is one of the nicest on the island, soft sand, very safe bay. Fishermans/Bophut is grittier and the sea isn't as clear. There are enough nice restaurants within walking distance in CM for a short stay (highly recommend The Mother) but very little going on after 11pm! We got a taxi to Fishermans Village market one evening and to Chewang another night.

TLDR: Depends on your priorities, Choengmon for beach/daytime and FV better at night. Parts of Chewang probably offer a good mix of beach/night but it's easy (although not cheap) to move around.

Did you get any further in your planning OP? We are planning a trip too and have been to Thailand a few times twenty years ago. I am wondering what Chaweng is like now as the hotels look nice but don't want to stay anywhere too seedy with my teenagers.

We have booked our trip. We are doing a tour around Southern Thailand and some time in Ko Samui at the end. We went for a hotel in Bophut area in the end. I'm not sure if we have made the right call, but like you wanted to avoid anything too seedy or party-like.

Thank you. I'm looking at that area too.

It would be lovely if you could report back, OP I’m looking at your thread thinking it is the exact same requirements!

We went for the first week of August. Read everywhere than Phuket would be rainy. Out of 7 days on Koh Samui we had 2 days of sun, four days of really overcast grey, and 1 of rain.

Phuket on the other hand was perfect sun. We were gutted as Phuket was about 40% of the price of a good resort on Koh Samui.

We were on the gulf islands from Aug 18th to Aug 30th. We had fabulous weather. Two days where it rained for an hour maximum

We stayed here a couple of years ago ANANTARA BOPHUT KOH SAMUI RESORT

Top notch hotel absolutely gorgeous

@jaeww That's exactly what happened to us! Although generally it was dry during the day. Koh Samui was beautiful though. We were in Choengmon and the beach was lovely.

We went and had a great time. We had done quite a bit of traveling prior to arriving so were happy to mainly chill in our resort. We enjoyed fishermans village and the children loved buying replica bags, watches etc. Overall we had a fabulous holiday and would definitely recommend!