Garrya Tongsai Bay Samui

I have stayed at many 5* resorts across the world and this was BY FAR the best service I have ever received.

After traveling for a few weeks me and my partner spent a few days at this resort and our experience was incredible. The villa was lovely, and the rest of the resort grounds were really well maintained, yet somehow despite the beautifully maintained Forrest you didn't feel like you were overwhelmed with gardeners around every corner.

I could write about the very warm welcome or the extra things that are done for you like snacks in your room or the quality of the breakfasts and other restaurants but the thing that made this trip the most special were the staff.

It's one thing to have high end incredible fast paced service alone, but having that from staff who seem genuinely happy to be there and relaxed in a positive way, along with very warm frequent interactions with the manager is another thing entirely.

When I stay somewhere I am ment to be relaxed, but feel a tension and stress behind the smiles of the staff it grates me so, and I think stops me from properly relaxing; Here we didn't have this problem and we were really happy to see that all the staff appear to be looked after and allowed to be having a good time while still maintaining some of the highest quality service I have ever experienced. (and I was trained in Michelin starred service for a while)

An example was our dinner at EVOL restaurant which was very good, both in terms of food and service. After finishing, me and partner (who chose to stay at this resort due to the abundance of nature and love of animals) were looking in the pond outside the restaurant for the many frogs that live across the fresh water in the resort. Our waitress (Koolik I believe) came up to us and then in a most friendly way showed us where to find the biggest frogs which we loved, then asked us if we liked lizards and if we had seen many in our time in Thailand. After a brief yet jovial and friendly conversation she beckoned us to follow her back into the restaurant and around a corner and showed us a spot to see three huge geckos the likes of which I have never seen. We could've never found this spot on our own. Her interactions at this point and thought the rest of our stay left us smiling.

While this may not be traditional high end service (although that element is very strong), this personal, kind and friendly touch really separated this experience from others in my mind in the most positive way, and was found in different ways from almost all the staff at the resort.

Adding to that, the nature of the property is really quiet special. We saw bright blue birds, huge purple butterflies and many frogs and lizards. It have the whole place a magical feeling.

Overall, this hotel is on the top of my list and I hope to return sometimes soon!

-W

Hotel booked based on Trip Advisor reviews and didn’t disappoint. Excellent family holiday made extra special by the friendliness of the staff, hotel facilities and the location. We celebrated two birthdays which the hotel acknowledged with cake and renditions of ‘happy birthday’. Rooms were spotless and attended to throughout the day. We used the gym facilities, played tennis, did body stretch and yoga classes in the yoga studio, and had an excellent cooking class during our stay. Location was great for us, secluded compared to some of the other areas we visited. It was easy to get golf buggies around the resort and taxis to and from the resort to visit parts of the island. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay.