Arayaburi Boutique Resort Koh Samui Reviews & Ratings

I had agreed with my travel agent to go to Arayaburi for my honeymoon with my wife on the understanding this was a 4* accommodation with a lovely secluded beach.

The reality being that the beach is perhaps artificially sanded at least partially as its much rougher than the rest of the island, and you are almost certain to cut yourself on the masses of rocky coral that leads you out across the very shallow bay.

The accommodation itself, is locally rated as 3*. And you will find yourself being transported through what is most likely the largest mess of concrete building projects of new resorts in this corner of Samui to reach Arayaburi through more than an acceptable amount of small roads to get to where the resort is, if you are planning on using taxis then be prepared to pay double for any journey to the resort due to its remote location and do not expect to find a taxi other than the NOT free resort minibus which will take you to only Chaweng beach.

As there is nothing else to do in this location other than stay at the resort, they naturally charge at least double price for food and drink, and the American breakfast included with your room will become very tedious and boring if you stay for more than three days, the same food with the same music and the same limited vocabulary staff going about their daily routine.

Rooms are not always cleaned, and the state of the bungalows in general needs attention due to insects (ants, scorpions...) and water leaking in when raining.

We had requested on 5 occasions that we wanted a wake up call to be ready for various activities, 1 was on time, 2 were late, the remaining two were never called at all!, including when we booked a great day out snorkeling and were called to be told that the tour operator minibus was about to leave without us (the wake up call we requested for 40 minutes beforehand would have been less stressful).

Rates for the minibar and use of the telephone in the bungalow were also higher than expected (as this was at the end of the trip and I found out what Arayaburi was about I kind of "expected" that it would be overcharged)

When booking a return journey with the resorts own minibus be aware that the time you must be at the meeting place for the return journey is not based on Thai time, but that of the minibus driver who has a watch that is only a couple of minutes ahead of Thai time but will not wait for you at all. We had booked the return journey for 22:30 to have a nice evening at Chaweng only to find that when we returned at 22:30 (my watch and the clock at the hotel confirmed this to be so), the security guard at Chaweng buri told us the driver had already left. The offer made by Arayaburi was "well you can take a taxi home and we will let you use your return vouchers for another day", after explaining that we had no cash remaining and after 25 minutes of offering them only two options to either send their driver back to do his job or pay for our taxi home to the point where I was shouting at them they finally gave in and sent the driver back.

This resort is owned by a family that has at least three resorts in Thailand, two on Samui (the other one is chaweng buri) and one on Phi Phi, we had a look at the Chaweng buri one which seemed a far far better place but was fully booked for the month and had checked with local travel agents for two days out of our vacation time to find alternative accomodation to get away from the sheer disappointment of Arayaburi only to find that we couldnt get a room anywhere else so just had to suffer the frustration which was partially overcome by being able to get out for day trips on motorbikes and a jeep we hired to be able to get to places where there were things to do.

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We stayed at Arayaburi for 7 nights but left the night before to go to a nicer resort in Central Chaweng (Bannana Fan Sea Samui) The free breakfast is very average and you kind of get sick of it after a week.

It is in the worst location ever! It is at the very North of the island and about 20 min to Chaweng. I advise you to rent a car for 800 baht a day because a taxi can reach up to 400 baht one-way

The beach is completely artificial and it is almost impossible to swim it the incredibly rocky bay.

The Swimming pool is good enough but there is no shade to lie down in.

I don't reccomend this hotel and you should look at either Central Samui or The Penisula.

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It was out of the way and the food prices were about three times the amount that would have been charged on Chaweng Beach area.

Will definitely not stay at a remote location as this in the future.

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This is a good place to get away from the overcrowded Chaweng area but close enough to commute when you want to. Quiet beach (almost private) and friendly staff make it a good place for rest and recreation. Access to other busy parts is by shuttle and/or rental car/motorbike.

Overall a good alternative to the hustle of the busy areas.

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