Nara Garden Beach Resort Koh Samui

We booked the Beach villa for the first 2 nights in Koh Samui and then we booked a standard bungalow for our last night in Koh Samui. The beach villa was huge and had great panoramic views of the ocean. The accommodation is traditionally Thai styled and we had everything we needed including beach towels, a fully stocked mini bar, kettle etc. Rooms and towels were cleaned every day which doesn't happen in many similar standard accommodations. We were really surprised that the standard bungalow we stayed in at the end of our stay was of similar standard to the villa. The only difference was that it was smaller and only had views to the pool and gardens. There was still plenty of space with a nice separate seating area in the room and a terrace. I think we would probably just book a standard next time as it's much cheaper and you get a lot more for your money. The resort itself is set in lovely gardens and the pool is always clean. The beach is only a stone's throw away and is quite pretty although the water doesn't inspire swimming, i.e. a bit murky. The beach is also in the shade most of the day as it's only got a narrow strip of sand with trees behind it. As such we tended to use the pool or explored other areas of the island. The staff were friendly and helpful and when asked were happy to help in whichever way they could. For instance, one night we arrived back at about 1am and had run out of soft drinks. We went to reception and asked whether they had any and as the restaurant and bar were closed, one of their staff kindly offered to go and get some for us from one of the shops down the road and bring them to our room! We found the resort to be incredibly quiet and peaceful although it's just off a busy road. The only downside is that it's right under the flight path and planes fly very low over the resort. Despite this, it didn't detract from the peacefulness at all, we didn't notice any planes at night and our sleep wasn't disturbed. The resort if very convenient as it's close to the airport and to the ferry port so it's a great place to stay en route. It's also convenient for visiting other parts of the island. We would definitely recommend it.