Sala Samui Choengmon Beach Resort

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You’ll find laidback luxury at Sala Samui Choengmon, a 5-star beach resort on Koh Samui, one of the most popular islands in Thailand.

I lived in Asia for seven years and saw some stunning beach resorts, but Sala Samui Choengmon was a standout. Here’s my first-hand review.

Sala Samui Choengmon Beach Resort

If I only had one word to describe Sala Samui Choengmon Beach Resort, it would be dreamy.

Set on powdery Choeng Mon Beach, this luxury Thai resort has a serene layout and great beach facilities.

Don’t let the minimal reception desk fool you. This is a resort to unwind in, especially if you’re craving privacy and a low-key sophisticated style.

The Vibe

The resort has 16 Deluxe Balcony Rooms, but it sways heavily towards private villas with plunge pools that are designed with families and couples seeking togetherness in mind.

High white walls separate the villas, creating mini compounds, and the white interiors are chic and cool.

Check out prices and availability for the resort here.

The Best Part of the Resort

At the head of the resort, where sea meets sand, are the bulk of the facilities.

The eye candy of the resort is the two yin and yang pools: the designer-fabulous Black Pool and the family-friendly White Pool.

Wood and cream-coloured loungers and umbrellas on the beach offer a choice of sun or tree-dappled shade, and water will be brought to your side table.

Also oceanfront is an intimate outdoor lounge and the resort’s Sala Restaurant, which is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Where is Choeng Mon Beach?

Choeng Mon Beach sits on the northeast tip (it looks like a tiny wing) of Samui Island.

It’s a 15-minute taxi or tuk tuk ride (a shared truck taxi) south to busy Chaweng Beach. Head west and in 20 minutes you’ll be at trendy Fisherman’s Village at Bophut.

This means if you want serious shopping or nightlife it’s not far away, but you can escape back to your peaceful haven when you choose.

The resort entrance is on a quiet lane off the main road so you won’t get traffic noise, and it’s only a two minute walk to the restaurants and shops in the little village.

🌿 Travel Tip: Don’t confuse Sala Samui Choengmon Beach Resort with Sala Samui Chaweng Resort, as they’re two different properties on Koh Samui.

About Choeng Mon Beach

How, in all the times I’ve been to Koh Samui, had I never discovered Choeng Mon Beach before?

What I liked most is that it isn’t too crowded, and has a lazy holiday atmosphere that lulls you into vacation mode fast.

Quiet and protected, Choeng Mon Beach feels a bit like an insider secret.

At the same time it’s big enough for long barefoot walks and has plenty of beach bars and restaurants to add variety.

🌿 Travel Tip: You can walk even farther at low tide, when a little island called Koh Fan Yai becames accessible on the far south side.

Rooms at Sala Samui Choengmon

Out of the property’s 69 villas and suites, 53 have private pools and they vary in size.

Ours was a Sala Pool Villa, and the creamy decor was contemporary without being stark or cold. (Except when we cranked up the air conditioning lol.)

Canvas-coloured fabric on the ceiling gave the room a tent-like feel and made me feel as if I was on a safari, while the peaked roof was quintessentially Thai.

Pool Villa

Our plunge pool was a good size, and our courtyard got full-on sunshine (hot!) but with a shaded cabana that provided relief.

Generally, though, I spent more time catching the breeze at the beach where I could watch the world drift by. Privacy is great, but I don’t like spending that much time with my husband (Joking, honey! Kisses!)

Back to the room. In addition to standard luxury room amenities such as robes, slippers, coffee and tea making facilities, a mini fridge and satellite TV, there were unexpected extras.

My favourites? A different kind of bottled tea in the room every night, and the chic white beach bag.

The unexpected stunner, however, was the bathroom.

Al Fresco Bathing

“The toilet is outside?” Mark said, pulling open the sliding door on the side of our room and stepping onto a wooden deck.

I came out after him to see a free standing bathtub, sink and partitioned off toilet. It was surrounded by privacy walls and billowy mosquito netting.

“Can anyone, like, see us?” I checked out the height of the walls with a critical eye.

Unless someone trooped onto the property with a ladder (doubtful, as security at luxury resorts in Thailand is tight) we had our bathroom to ourselves.

“Now I really feel like I’m on safari,” I told Mark.

Swimming

The Black Pool

Sala Samui Choengmon was probably the most romantic beach resort of our 6-week Thai vacation, but my husband quickly lost his heart – not to me – but to the sleek and sexy Black Pool.

Surrounded by a watery moat of lotus blossoms, it’s an adults-only escape, and at 82 feet long, it’s ideal for doing laps. How could I compete?

The White Pool

In contrast to the edgy Black Pool, the family-friendly White Pool is a bright mix of white steps and turquoise water, punctuated – at least when I was there – by a huge yellow duck floaty.

Located beside the restaurant, it’s handy if parents want to chow down on Pad Thai while watching their kids.

The Beach

Choeng Mon Beach is great for swimming as it’s a protected bay.

There is a smooth sand bottom in most places, although you may need to detour a bit around vegetation.

It seems especially popular with families with small children as the water is shallow and calm.

Water Sports

Kayaks and paddleboards are free, and I made good use of them, going beyond the bay to toodle around the rocky shoreline beyond.

Dining: Sala Restaurant

The oceanfront restaurant has a chic decor of pale wood and cream.

The breakfast buffet is extensive and had more of a foodie culinary side than I’d expected.

Pastries are baked in-house and there’s a revolving selection of fresh juices.

The buffet has Western and Asian options, and includes menu extras like Crushed Avocado on Charred Bread with Poached Egg, and Banana Bread with Espresso Butter and Chiang Mai Honey.

Special Dining

The resort has various special dinner nights and we did a Thursday Thai Market Buffet.

Along with heaps of delicious options like Tom Yum soup, grilled tiger shrimp, peanut satay chicken and barramundi fish steamed with lime, the evening featured Thai dancers and musicians.

It ended with a jaw-dropping fire show on the beach. (If you’re a ‘fraidy cat like I am, don’t take a front row seat.)

The Spa

The day Mark and I got our couple’s massage at the hotel spa was the day we realized we should have been doing spa treatments every day.

Ultra relaxing, it’s a lemon-grass-infused way to unwind.

(Although you would think my husband, who had been making good use of the hotel gym, would have been all about a deep tissue massage, but no, he chose a scalp massage. Go figure.)

There are four indoor treatment rooms and a porch where you can sit with a cool herbal tea.

For those who prefer the outdoors, massages are also offered at one of the outdoor salas by the Black Pool.

A Unique Approach to Service

You won’t find any in-your-face over-helpfulness at this Koh Samui 5-star hotel. What the resort aims for is excellent yet unobtrusive service, and this they achieve.

Towels were refreshed, messes whisked away and nighttime turn down service completed without our normally noticing it.

It’s expertly done, and goes back to the resort philosophy of privacy being paramount.

Sala Samui Choengmon Beach Resort Review Summary

Sala Samui Choengmon Resort has a vogue-y sort of style that somehow makes you feel like you’re a luxury traveler ‘in the know.’

It’s one of the best Thailand resorts I’ve been to (and oh my gosh I’ve seen some beauties like the very unique Keemala and ultra trendy Sri panwa in Phuket).

With Sala Samui’s lovely beach, protected bay, and upscale facilities, this is a luxury Koh Samui resort targeted to couples and those seeking a laidback family vacation.

Address: 10 Baan Plai Laem Bo Put, Ko Samui District, Surat Thani 84320, Thailand