Questions and Answers

Time to start planning my trip. I booked Qatar biz r/t JFK-SIN with their last sale. I want to take 4 nights in either Bali or Ko Sumui. I’m looking beach and beach for swimming plus great restaurants. I read that the beaches in Bali are not best for swimming but does Ko Samui have good weather in early August?

Anyone have a fav 5* hotel on Ko Samui? Many thanks

I don’t think Koh Samui have much beaches at all. There are many places in Thailand with nicer beaches for swimming in my opinion.

This one is easy. Koh Samui hands down. I recently spent 6 weeks traveling through SE Asia and Koh Samui is one of the most beautiful places on earth. Bali on the other hand….meh. Would not go back.

I’m not sure what kubear is talking about because Koh Samui has breathtakingly beautiful beaches with really calm waters for swimming.

And if you like good food, pretty much anywhere in Thailand is miles better than Bali.

[QUOTE=”travlermb, post: 26277, member: 2714″]Time to start planning my trip. I booked Qatar biz r/t JFK-SIN with their last sale. I want to take 4 nights in either Bali or Ko Sumui. I’m looking beach and beach for swimming plus great restaurants. I read that the beaches in Bali are not best for swimming but does Ko Samui have good weather in early August?

Anyone have a fav 5* hotel on Ko Samui? Many thanks[/QUOTE]
A different opinion and perspective on Bali, just returned and had an amazing experience…will absolutely go back. That said, I don’t think the beaches have anything on say, Hawaii…not a knock on Bali, just relative perspective. We spent the first half of our trip at the St. Regis which is a beach hotel…what a phenomenal property, possible the best St. Regis experience we have ever had. But the beach, while very nice, had no surf as the off-shore reef really flattens things. The second half of our trip we headed inland and stayed in the Ubud area at the Ritz Carlton Mandapa…really stunning property, just amazing. This is when Bali really started to shine for us, we felt much more immersed in Balinese culture and the jungle/rice terrace, rain forest experience was far superior to the beach experience we had. I would say that the Balinese people were the warmest, most gracious and genuine people we have encountered in SE Asia, a nice contrast to parts of Thailand and very similar to what we encountered in Cambodia. Sorry, no experience with Koh Samui, our Thailand experience outside of BKK is limited to Phuket. One caution, we were there (Phuket) in July and the currents bring in a lot of ocean garbage that time of year…I went expecting world class diving and left disappointed…and disgusted!

I second Marshall on Bali. Beautiful place, warm people, lovely resorts, not the best beach. Ubud is fantastic as well though. If you choose Bali, I loved the Mulia beach resort, and in Ubud the Hanging Gardens were highly unique.

Can’t speak to Koh Samui, but I did go to nearby Koh Tao. It’s a little harder to get to than Koh Samui (extra ~1.5-2 hour ferry ride), but the villas I stayed in, The Place, were fantastic. Definitely not a full-service hotel, but a truly gorgeous setting and very well-designed villas. Private plunge pools, sweeping ocean views from everywhere in the villa, etc. Service was also fantastic – reasonably priced spa services on your private balcony (e.g. $25 massages), but it’s not a full service hotel in the sense that the lobby is simply a hut, there’s no on-site dining (local places deliver to rooms instead), etc. I was there in August and the weather was great. Koh Tao has lovely beaches, great water for swimming/diving, etc.

[USER=1793]@Mark16[/USER] and [USER=2797]@Marshall Tate[/USER] Did you guys even read the OP request? Sounds like their main criteria is a nice beach, which Bali is not known for. Yes Ubud was nice but clearly not what the OP is looking for.

Yes, Bali (Seminyak) is >all about the private walled-in villa with large private lap pools, $20 in-villa massage and private in-villa breakfasts<..... the beach in Seminyak had dark sand and saw no one swimming even in the 100 F peak of summer. We walked the beach but never went into water. Had a huge party club scene which was very nice for after sunset.