Amari Koh Samui

Amari is a Thai hotel chain, and this is its five-star Chaweng resort: three pools, a spa, a gym, a beachfront. On paper that is one of the longest facility lists we list anywhere. Guests score those facilities 8.7, which sits near the bottom of our Samui set, so the list and the satisfaction are not saying the same thing.

The scores are more mixed than the star rating implies. Staff at 9.1 and wifi at 9.2 are good. Cleanliness at 8.7 and comfort at 8.8 are middling for five stars. And value for money at 8.1 is the lowest we recorded on Samui, which is the number to sit with before booking at around ฿4,416 a night.

Booking.com scores it 8.5, exactly our minimum. Agoda has it at 8.6 from more than twice the reviews. It qualifies, at the line.

The honest read is that guests like the beach and the pool complex, and feel they paid too much for what they got. If a brand name and a big resort matter to you, it delivers both. If you are scoring on value, a good many three and four-star properties we list beat it, several of them on this same beach.