Tropical Garden Lounge, Surat Thani

I stayed at Tropical Garden Lounge in May 2009.

GENERAL INFORMATION
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The resort has a website (http://www.tropicalgardenlounge.com), which provides some useful information about the place. You can also use the website to book your room.

I booked my room through the website and it was relatively straight-forward. Although even though you book a room through the website ...
...a 10 minute drive from Tropical Garden Lounge. A taxi will cost you approximately 400-500 Baht. The other option is the Songthaew (public taxi buses in the form of flatbed trucks) which you can hail at the roadside. A Songthaew will cost between 100-300 Baht (per person) between Chaweng and Tropical Garden Lounge depending on the time of the day (being more expensive at night).

I preferred the beach in Chaweng too. Despite being more ... more

I stayed at Tropical Garden Lounge in May 2009.

GENERAL INFORMATION
-----------------------------------

The resort has a website (http://www.tropicalgardenlounge.com), which provides some useful information about the place. You can also use the website to book your room.

I booked my room through the website and it was relatively straight-forward. Although even though you book a room through the website and provide credit card details, your booking and payment is only completed when you carry out an additional transaction through Paypal. This could possibly be explained a bit more when going through the booking process. I thought after completing the transaction on the website I was all booked and confirmed. It came as an unwelcome surprise to get an email saying confirmation of the booking will not be finalised until I carry out a Paypal payment !!

Upon arriving at Koh Samui, you'll find that not many people will know of the resort. And it can be quite difficult to find first time as its located off the main road and the sign for the resort isn't very prominent. A very good tip here is to write down the hotel phone number and show it to the taxi driver. They'll then call the resort and get detailed directions from the receptionist on how to get there. Once you get to the resort, ask them for a business card and carry with this when you go out. Show this to any taxi driver if they've no idea where this resort is.

You're welcomed to the resort with a small glass of juice. The registration/check-in procedure is pretty straightforward. Although be prepared to part with 1000 Baht as a security deposit. (You get it back when you check out). The one concern I had with this payment was the fact I didn't receive a receipt even when I asked for one. The hotel staff speak limited english, so maybe they didn't understand what i was asking for, but it would have been nice if the management had prepared a receipt for such a standard payment.

ROOMS
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Once checked in, you get taken to your bungalow. I booked a Holiday Bungalow but there are a few different classes depending on the size of your party.

My bungalow (as I believe all of them are, although I cannot remember for sure) was raised off the ground on stilts. This means a climb of a few steps up to a nice porch are in front of the bungalow door. There are a couple of plastic garden chairs out here for you to sit on if you just want to relax outside your bungalow. I cannot say the view was good enough for me to want to sit out on the porch.

Once inside, there is first a lounge area, with a 2 seater bench/sofa and an arm chair. There is also a shelf unit and also a small fridge containing minibar items. One good feature of this resort is that they provide 2 bottles (i think they were 500ml each) per day as part of the rate you pay for the room. This was very useful when you head out each day, you dont need to stop off at the shops to buy this. Room service would replenish these items in the minibar fridge at no additional cost.

On top of the shelf unit was the television. The hotel had cable TV with a plethora of channels. However, on talking to other guests I found that some rooms got some channels whilst others didnt. But I wasn't in Koh Samui to watch TV in my hotel room (and I'm sure very few guests are) so I'll not hold this against them.

The bed was comfortable although like many previous guests I was somewhat confused by the practice of sleeping under a towel rather than a blanket or a sheet. It didnt affect the quality of my sleep but was an unusual feature worth pointing out. I'm sure if it was a major problem you could speak to the staff and they'd find you a sheet.

There was a small bedside cabinet, a wardrobe and a dressing table all within this area of the bungalow.

Note however there was no safe in the room. So you'd have to take your valuables with you everyday.

In a side room was the bathroom and toilet. This area was relatively small compared to the rest of the bungalow. Although reasonably clean, it was obvious that this room didn't get the same level of cleaning as the main part of the bungalow. The windowsill next to the shower was dusty and had quite a few dead flies and mosquitoes sitting on it.

The shower was adequate, although don't expect power shower water pressure levels. The sink only had a cold water tap, so there was no hot water for a shave unless you did it in the shower.

I opted for a room with an air-conditioner, but you can brave the heat and select a room without one. It worked well and had a remote control so you could set it whilst in bed.

There were no mosquito nets so be careful in leaving the bungalow door open for extended periods after dark. And as an added defense wear insect repellent whilst sleeping.

OTHER FACILITIES
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The resort has a pool and a swim-up bar. When you check-in you get given a voucher for some half-priced drinks at the bar. The pool area is quite nice. There is no lifeguard however. The sun-loungers are also limited with only about 5 or 6 available.

Unfortunately I never chose to eat at the resort's restaurant so cannot comment on the food. Although you get vouchers for half-price breakfast too. (Thailand is reknowned for its good cheap food, so I'd always eat somewhere else.)

The reception area has a computer for you to access the internet for a small fee. Alternatively you can pay a small fee to connect to the resort's wireless network. Check what options are available when booking your room as there are bonus packages that include the wireless in the room rate.

There also has a mini library in the reception area where you might be able to find some interesting novel for poolside/beach reading.

The resort also offers a tour/excursion booking service for many of the major activities to do on the island. I only used them for one tour, so I'm not sure how competitive they are on the prices, but the tour I booked was the same price as everywhere else I had checked. The added advantage of booking the tour through the resort is that the cost of the tour is added to your bill so it can save endless trips to the ATM to pay for excursions.

LOCATION
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Located at the north of the island, the resort is about a 15 minute walk from the beach. A walk that is not well signposted and deceivingly difficult given how close the resort looks to the beach on the map !!

Upon reaching the beach I was disappointed with what i found. Its definitely not one for the sunbathers. The sand is coarse and grainy. However, it is peaceful and not very touristy. So if you want to sit in peace and quiet it might be for you.

The main tourist area is Chaweng and this is approximately a 10 minute drive from Tropical Garden Lounge. A taxi will cost you approximately 400-500 Baht. The other option is the Songthaew (public taxi buses in the form of flatbed trucks) which you can hail at the roadside. A Songthaew will cost between 100-300 Baht (per person) between Chaweng and Tropical Garden Lounge depending on the time of the day (being more expensive at night).

I preferred the beach in Chaweng too. Despite being more toursity, the sand was fine and powder-like and much more suitable for sunbathing on.

As for tours and excursions, they normally include pick-up/drop-off from your resort so there's not much to worry about here.

So location-wise the resort is a bit isolated, but if you want to avoid tourist crowds and the beach isn't your thing then you'll like this place.

Even though it looks like I've got a lot to complain about with this place, I did enjoy my time there and the Tropical Garden Lounge is good value accommodation. I'll definitely stay there again. I didn't mind commuting to Chaweng for the toursity things and the beach. It was worth it to return to such a lovely bungalow at the end of the day.

To summarise, as long as you can endure a few minor inconveniences then Tropical Garden Lounge is a great place to stay especially if you're looking for good value accommodation.

 

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