We stayed at the Samui Amanda for 2 weeks in June 2007. From the moment we got there the staff were extremely helpful and lovely. The pool area is lovely and the resort has an authentic thai charm about it.

Yes, it is arouns a 25 minute taxi ride to Chaweng, but is that a bad thing?! Just enjoy the relaxing/peaceful resort and go on a few trips like we did. There is a good service from the hotel, where you can book days out.

The food is lovely and very reasonable! They have great fish dishes and authentic thai food for around £4 pp per meal!

I would say, if you are looking for a relaxing break and friendly people, with the option of visiting other areas easily, this is def the place to go.

We didnt want to come home!

The resort is absolutely lovely and the staff are very pleasant and go out of their way to help you. The private beach is lovely and you do get stunning sunsets.

If you were going as a family or couple who are looking to get away from it all, then the Samui Amanda is ideal.

I would just like to point out the following:

You are nowhere near Chaweng - the hotel brochure states that it offers a free courtsey bus to get there, but there is only have one trip which leaves at 7pm (you have to pay 400 baht to come back) and if you don't want to return at 10pm then you have to get a taxi back. The courtesy bus to Nathon only runs once a day 1pm there and 3pm back.

There is little/poor entertainment provided in the evening and the restaurant appeared to shut at 10pm.

If you are looking to get away from it all then this place is ideal, but if you are hoping for quiet in the day and busy in the evening, then I wouldn't recommend staying here.

Plymouth, England.
We have just returned from a delightful nine days at the Samui Amanda. If you're looking for somewhere with numerous bars and restaurants nearby then this is NOT the place for you - it's a world away from the loud and garish nightlife that has made Samui so popluar with the Brits. However if peace and quiet is your aim - then this place certainly fits the bill. The bungalows are simply furnished - but spotlessly clean and each has its own verandah. We stayed in one of the more expensive and slightly larger units overlooking the beach - worth every penny extra for the superb nightly sunsets. The pool area is really nice and the restaurant has a fantastic setting directly above the beach. We really enjoyed the food - but stuck to Thai dishes each night we ate there. The food and drink prices are pretty reasonable and compared favourably with the meals we paid for in Chaweng and Fisherman's Village. Other reviewers have talked about the beach - yes the water here is very shallow and a quite rocky in places. But at high tide the water is beautifully warm and there are plenty of sandy places to swim if you wade out far enough. At low tide the rocks are fully exposed and the beach doesn't look its best - but most people seemed to really enjoy pottering about in the shallows and investigating the rock pools. And it looks quite fantastic as the sun sets below the distant islands on the horizon. The staff always had welcoming smiles and couldn't do enough to help - although most had limited English. The massage sala on the edge of the beach offers various good value Thai massages - but be prepared for some fairly painful prodding and pulling. Each evening the hotel bus offers a free ride into Chaweng at 7pm which takes around 30 minutes. The return trip at 10.30pm costs 200 Baht per person (around 100 Baht cheaper than the taxi fare depending on your negotiating skills). The bus will also drop off and pick up at Fisherman's Village where there are several nice restaurants. All in all, a good value place to stay if you want to be away from the hustle and bustle of the main tourist centres.

We were going to stay at the Amanda Resort but in the last minute changed to somewhere else in Samui because of some reviews around the shallowness of the beach at Amanda's.

Out of curiosity we went to check the resort out and even had a chance to look at the bungalows.

There is no doubt that Amanda is a great value for money (booking long stays particularly). For 1200B one gets bungalows one would expect from resorts twice or three times that price, with all the amenities. The garden is very relaxing, there is a wonderful swimming pool, and it is close to Nathon where one can find very good cheap restaurants and good shopping (free shuttle provided).

However the big letdown is the beach- we tried swimming there and on top of being somewhat rocky, it is completely shallow - we tried walking dozens of metres out and the water was still knee-high!

This is a perfect resort for older travellers and families with children who may not care much for beach swimming. Otherwise you may want to look somewhere else as there is no beach nearby you can walk to.