Review: Anantara Bophut Koh Samui Resort

Anantara Bophut Koh Samui Resort invited Milesopedia to stay at the resort. No remuneration was received for the realization of this report: the opinions remain mine and were not influenced in any way.

The Anantara hotel chain has two hotels on the island of Koh Samui: The Anantara Lawana Koh Samui Resort where I spent the first two nights of my stay and the Anantara Bophut Koh Samui Resort where I spent the last two nights.

The two hotels differ in various ways, notably in their configuration, location, but also in the type of room available.

Anantara hotels have their own GHA Discovery loyalty program, with more than 800 hotels in 100 countries worldwide. Currently, there are no hotels for the group in North America.

To book your stay with points, you have several options. You can use your Aeroplan points by booking through the Aeroplan website. Aeroplan points can be earned with the TD^MD Visa Infinite Preferred* Card.

Another way to reduce the bill for booking an independent hotel is to use the points for a statement credit with a credit card with travel rewards or cash back.

Examples include the ^Platinum Card^® from American Express, the National Bank’s World Elite Mastercard^® and the Scotiabank Visa Infinite* Passport^® Card.

Anantara Bophut Koh Samui Resort is less than 20 minutes from Koh Samui Airport. It borders the beautiful beach of Bophut.

The beach also provides immediate access to Fisherman’s Village, where there are many restaurants, stores and a night market.

The large Central Samui shopping mall is 10 minutes from the hotel. A free shuttle is offered twice a day to get there (going between 12:00 and 4:00 pm and returning between 1:00 and 5:00 pm).

As soon as I arrived, I was taken care of by the valet who took my luggage and led me to the reception for the check-in formalities. While the agent checked me in, I was offered juice and a refreshing towel.

Having arrived at 12:00 pm, 2 hours before the check-in time provided by the hotel, my room was not yet ready. So I took the opportunity to walk around the complex and take pictures. The lobby is beautiful and very different from the Anantara Lawana Koh Samui hotel, which is open plan.

A library with a multimedia area (Mac and printer) is accessible from the reception. The room is air-conditioned and is often occupied by people waiting for a shuttle or a cab, but also by people doing remote work. The room is very well arranged to work with a vast central table; the only drawback is that there is no electrical outlet nearby for a laptop, but there are various cables to charge a cell phone.

It is impossible to miss the magnificent pond and its giant water lilies. It reminded me a lot of the famous Pamplemousses garden I had visited a month before in Mauritius.

The Anantara Bophut Koh Samui Resort has 106 rooms and villas:

• Premier Room with garden view – 32m² – 2 adults (third floor)
• Deluxe room with garden view – 36m² – 2 adults and 1 child (second floor)
• Deluxe room with sea view – 36m² – 2 adults and 1 child
• Junior suite with garden view – 44m² – 3 adults and 1 child
• Suite with garden view – 65^m2 – 3 adults and 1 child
• Suite with sea view – 65m² – 3 adults and 1 child
• Royal Suite with sea view – 80^m2 – 3 adults and 1 child
• Anantara Suite on the beach with pool – 80^m2 – 3 adults and 1 child

As soon as the room was available, the front desk sent me a message via the Anantara mobile app to let me know. So, I went to the reception and was then taken to my room.

Once at the room, I was shown everything that was available as well as what was offered and paid for in the minibar. A few minutes later, the valet brought my luggage.

The room offers a nice surface and is very bright with a Thai inspired decoration. I was pleasantly surprised by the decoration on the bed to welcome me.

As well as homemade candies given to me as a welcome gift.

The room has a desk and a television. I must admit that the chair without a backrest is not ideal if you plan to work on-site, but it is not a problem when you are on vacation.

You will find the minibar and safety deposit box in the entrance hallway.

The bathroom is ingeniously designed. The shower door is flexible at 90 degrees, allowing an entry for the toilet part.

The bathroom is as luminous as the bedroom thanks to a door on the rail allowing either an opening in the vanity or shower area; it has a large mirror on the bathroom side.

The deluxe rooms have a balcony-sofa overlooking the lush gardens.

Breakfast is served at Thin Tai from 6:30 am to 10:30 am in the form of a buffet. Thin Tai serves Thai and international cuisine at dinner time (6:00-10:30 pm). On Sunday evenings, a buffet with Thai flavors is served.

You will have the choice to have your breakfast inside with air conditioning or to enjoy the outside under the beautiful veranda.

The buffet is divided in two with an indoor section for anything that needs to be refrigerated such as fruits, dairy products, freshly squeezed juices and raw vegetables.

Outside there is a hot buffet with Asian and continental specialties, a noodle station and you can get eggs cooked the way you like them.

The Guilty is the hotel’s signature restaurant, overlooking the garden and its water lily pond on one side and the pool and bay on the other.

Open from noon to 11 p.m.; the Guilty offers a complete culinary experience featuring Peruvian specialties with Japanese influences.

You can choose dishes from the à la carte menu or be tempted by the full-service menu with more than ten dishes. I opted for the menu: Guacamole, mango salad, Wagyu carpaccio and ceviche for an appetizer. Then for the main course: broccoli, Wagyu sirloin, braised asparagus, grilled cob, barbecued Hibachi pork belly, and snapper fish. Dessert is a platter with churros, crème caramel and scoops of ice cream.

This meal was a great tasting and entertaining experience. That evening, a show with acrobats and dancers was offered in the restaurant’s center. There are different animations every week.

The pool faces the sea and offers a beautiful 30 meters length if you like swimming. In fact, the infinity pool is separated into two areas for those who wish to relax in the water and for swimmers.

It is lined with numerous sun loungers and cabanas. During my stay, it was not always easy to find a free lounger although the hotel states that it is not allowed to reserve a lounger and that after 20 minutes of unoccupied time, towels will be removed. The pool is open from 6 am to 6 pm.

The hotel’s beach is the public beach of Bophut which is very well maintained and clean. The hotel provides deck chairs, umbrellas, and large footstools (which are not in the shade).

If you like to paddleboard or kayak, the hotel provides the necessary equipment. If you’re more of a motorsports enthusiast, there’s an independent kiosk next door offering jet ski rentals.

The fitness room is located at the entrance of the resort and is accessible at all times with the room key. The room looked totally new when I stayed there. It is very well equipped for both weight training and cardio.

I didn’t have the opportunity to try out the spa treatments during my stay, but I did walk around the area, which is worth a look. The spa was designed by award-winning architect Bill Bensley and is set in the middle of a lotus-filled pond.

The spa is open from 10 am to 10 pm.

The children’s club is located right in front of the Thin Tai restaurant. It is open from 9 am to 12 pm and 1 pm to 5 pm. Many activities are offered throughout the day.

I had an excellent stay in this hotel which is well maintained. The gardens and the beach are beautiful. The staff is very welcoming and always there to help you and make your stay unforgettable.

My stays at Anantara Bophot and Anantara Lawana allowed me to discover a brand that I had never tried before. Overall, I was impressed with the consistent quality of service offered at both facilities. Also, I was seduced by the mobile app which is very useful, because in addition to being able to chat with the front desk, it allows you to view the restaurant and spa menus, make reservations, or even place an order with room service. There is also much information about the destination and points of interest.