Koh Samui is famous for its beautiful beaches and many hotels have direct access to them. After staying at the Anantara Lawana Koh Samui Resort, I moved to the Renaissance Koh Samui Resort & Spa.

Divided into two parts separated by a road, the Renaissance Koh Samui Resort & Spa has rooms and suites on one side and villas with private pools on the other. Both parts are easily accessible either by the road (which is not very busy) or by the footbridge that connects the room building and the reception.

Rooms are available from $173 (4329 THB) depending on the season. If you want to save money on your stay with Marriott Bonvoy points, you’ll need between 32,000 and 45,000 Marriott Bonvoy points per night.

For example, for a 5-night stay in November, it costs 134,000 points or $1053 which translates into a valuation of 0.07¢, which is lower than Milesopedia’s estimate.

If you want a villa with a pool and hot tub, it is possible to get an upgrade with points. For example, for a 5-night stay in November it costs 252,200 points compared to $2205 (55,041 THB). In this case, the use of points is interesting.

The best way to earn Marriott Bonvoy points for free stays at over 8,000 hotels worldwide is to have the Marriott Bonvoy^® American Express^®* Card (and/or the Marriott Bonvoy^® Business American Express^®* Card).

In addition to the exceptional welcome bonus of each of these two cards, you’ll earn 2 points per dollar on all your purchases and 5 points per dollar at any of the Marriott establishments. On top of that, every year, you’ll receive a free hotel night certificate (worth 35,000 points) and 15 Elite Night Credits toward your Marriott Bonvoy status.

Here is some information about the hotel:

The Renaissance Koh Samui Resort & Spa is located on the northeast coast of the island near Lamai Beach, one of the most beautiful beaches on Koh Samui.

The hotel offers a magnificent view of the sea and direct access to the beach. By car, it takes about 10 minutes to get to Lamai town and 30 minutes to get to Koh Samui International Airport.

A free shuttle service is offered to Lamai and Chaweng (Central Samui) with a single departure at 1pm each day. The return is at 4pm from Chaweng and 5pm from Lamai.

As soon as I arrived, the valet took care of my luggage and directed me to the reception for check-in. I was offered a welcome cocktail and a refreshing towel.

Thanks to the Titanium status, I chose to take the breakfast as a welcome gift since I was going to stay at the hotel for 3 nights. To my surprise, I got an upgrade to a villa with a private room and pool.

The villas are located in the lower part of the complex, some of them even have a direct view of the sea.

When you arrive at the villa, you can enjoy the space with the private pool which is also a hot tub as well as two lounge chairs. A table and two chairs are located at the entrance. I visited different villas during my stay and noticed that the configuration of the room and the size of the outdoor space can vary more or less.

The villa is very large with high ceilings. There is a sitting area with a sofa and a large TV screen.

The wood is preponderant in the decoration of the room. It can be found in all the furniture, especially the large four-poster bed with a mosquito net as well as the desk and the brown parquet floor.

The bedding was comfortable.

The bathroom is a full length with a separate toilet and shower, offering more privacy.

The shower is built in depth, also serving as a bathtub.

Breakfast is served in the main restaurant, Banana Leaf, from 6:00 am to 11:00 am in a buffet style. There is a wide variety of products and the buffet is always well kept. You can order pancakes, waffles and eggs prepared according to your preference.

Also, it is possible to make a Bloody Mary Thai style.

I was really impressed with the quality of the breakfast and the meals in general. The fruit was delicious.

The restaurant is located on the top of the hill and offers a beautiful view of the complex’s pool and the sea.

The hotel has 3 restaurants:

• Banana Leaf: The restaurant is open from 6am to 11pm, where you can have breakfast, lunch and dinner. It features international cuisine, from burgers to Indonesian dishes like Nasi Goreng. The food is very good and the prices reasonable for a hotel restaurant.

• TawaNN: This seafood restaurant serves Thai cuisine with local products. The restaurant’s terrace offers a magnificent view of Lamai Bay.

• Pool Bar: Restaurant and beach bar open all day.

Generally, it is recommended to book in advance because the restaurants are not very big, especially TawaNN.

The hotel has 2 swimming pools: a 50 meter long pool in the main building where the rooms are located and another pool facing the sea in the part where the villas are located.

There are plenty of lounge chairs available around the pool. Unlike other hotels, I never had trouble getting one.

The beach is very quiet and the hotel is the only one to have deck chairs directly on it. The hotel provides free kayaks to explore the bay. However, depending on the tides, the beach can be very small.

The gym is located on the second floor in the main building and is open 24 hours a day.

The Quan Spa is open from 9am to 9pm daily. I did not use any treatments during my stay.

The Renaissance Koh Samui Resort & Spa is distinguished by its location and service. The hotel is very quiet, we are lulled by the song of the birds and the setting is enchanting. At first glance, the hotel seems large but it turns out to be rather intimate. I have never been inconvenienced to find a place at the pool, at the beach or to get a table at breakfast.

However, the furniture in some of the villas is starting to show some signs of wear.

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