Am Samui Palace

“Cool place to retreat: nice rooms, nice pools, nice beach”

I will give thumbs up to this one. The AM Palace Resort is "just right". It does not try to be luxurious, it does not try to be anything than what it is: a nice hotel with two very nice pools, 80 meters from the beach, smackdown in the middle of the business of Lamai Beach, but still quiet, afforda… more

I will give thumbs up to this one. The AM Palace Resort is "just right". It does not try to be luxurious, it does not try to be anything than what it is: a nice hotel with two very nice pools, 80 meters from the beach, smackdown in the middle of the business of Lamai Beach, but still quiet, affordable, and with a understated charm. The room: I stayed on the most basic room, and I have nothing to complain about. The room is large, the bed is large, everything is very clean, and there is a nice terrace. Ours open up to the entrance/parking lot, although it still catch a glimpse of the pool. Not a big deal, but I would suggest a pool view room. More secluded, and the pools are surprisingly quiet. The bathroom shower, like in most hotels could definitely benefit from being enclosed, to avoid splashing water on the floor. But the bathroom is again, quite clean and functional. As in most resorts (as opposed to the cheapest hostel) WiFi is not brilliant, and TV options are almost non-existing, unless you speak Thai. One good thing in this Resort is how quickly and early in the morning they make up your room (if you want that of course). We left for breakfast at around 9am, and the room was always ready when we came back 30 minutes later. For some people, like myself, this is a bonus. But I do hope the hotel starts a renovation program soon. For now, the rooms are charming, but the bathrooms are between charming and dated, which is a dangerous place to be. The breakfast: I always dread breakfast time at resorts. People eating mountains of food, sometimes shirtless, and the hotel trying to cater for too many tastes, making the whole experience unpleasant. Nothing like that here: there are plenty of options for all breakfast types, but no excess of anything, and very well-behaved guests. The pools: although I did not spend much time on them, they are nice, really nice. Quiet, not crowded and both are designed almost like lakes, full of levels, some trees, etc. Not your traditional rectangular pool. It gives somewhat of a cosy feeling. And Lamai beach: The beach itself is better than I expected: very clean sand (almost no plastic waste), nice/safe sea, and a super low profile feeling. Most of the visible constructions are almost shacks, not overwhelming the place. From anywhere in the beach the shore is lined with trees rather than buildings. On the other hand... the streets around Lamai beach make you wish for a time-machine. A lot of noise, a lot of bars and restaurants, and a lot of cars and motorcycles. The one thing that there is not a lot of is space for people to walk around and enjoy their time, while considering their food options. It is a smaller version of Kuta or Patong, and unfortunately it takes something away from a place that is aside from this, quite lovely.

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