Updated on December 14, 2023

Conrad Koh Samui – Royal Oceanview Pool Villa

I didn't stay at this property so I won't have a full blown review.  This is a guest post from my buddy, Anthony, who negotiated an amazingly cheap rate to upgrade to the presidential suite (named the Conrad Royal Oceanview Pool Villa) at the Conrad Koh Samui in Thailand.  I asked him to share a video, some pictures, and a few highlights – so the Villa is the focus for this review.  If you are interested in a more thorough review of the property itself, check out Lucky's review.

Hotel Cost

Anthony redeemed 3 weekend night certificates earned from the Citi Hilton Reserve credit card.  He earned 2 certificates as his own signup bonus and his girlfriend earned another 2 certificates from her signup bonus.  So far, cost = $0 for a 3 night stay.  It was quite easy to contact the hotel to combine separate reservations so that they did not need to move from 1 villa to another.

1 week prior to check-in, Anthony noticed that the Conrad Royal Oceanview Pool Villa was still showing available for his dates.  He called the Conrad directly and spoke with a Reservations Manager, who quoted him 30,000 baht / night to upgrade.  To his surprise, the Reservations Manager was willing to negotiate and they eventually agreed to 10,000 baht / night (~$290 USD), inclusive of all taxes and fees.

Was it worth it?  See below and judge for yourself…

Royal Oceanview Pool Villa Overview

The Reservations Manager emailed Anthony a brochure, highlighting some of the perks of the presidential suite.  434 sqm = 4,671 sqf!!!  Holy cow!

Source: Conrad Koh Samui

Source: Conrad Koh Samui

Other Highlights

Other things of note:

• Only 1 Royal Oceanview Pool Villa on the entire property
• 22.5 meter infinity pool is second in size ONLY to specific 3 BR villas
• Optional “connecting” villa which one of Anthony's travelling companions booked (only 1 connecting villa possible)
• Gold/Diamond members get some sort of raffle during check-in, with prizes range from free food items to a free upgrade to the Royal Oceanview
• Gold/Diamond members get free daily full buffet breakfast for 2 people
• In-room dining was reasonably priced relative to US resort standards ($8-12 per dish/entree) but “overpriced” relative to Thai cost of living
• Buggies (essentially golf karts) take you from A to B throughout the resort – dial 0 to order one 5 min ahead of time
• Tipping is optional but I often found myself tipping the buggy driver 100-200baht per ride ($3-$6) and 20% for in room dining
  • Can't be cheap if I am staying at the Presidential suite
• Bugs galore outdoors during night time – make sure doors are closed
• Circular bed: great in concept, not so great in practice – legs kept dangling off unless I slept dead center
• Taxis are ~$50 USD each way; recommend renting a car instead as most of nightlife is on other ends of the island

Panoramic Pics

I didn't take as many pics as I should have, but I was able to find 2 pano pics that are nice but don't do justice to just how beautiful the view truly is:

Video Review

And below is the highlight of the post – a 5 minute video review of the Royal Oceanview Pool Villa. Please excuse the messiness of the villa – we were so excited to party, I didn't take a video till day 2.

So What Do You Think?

Was the prez suite worth the $290 daily upgrade?

I am thrilled that my friend was able to score such a monster upgrade! He added that he was travelling with a large group of friends who had booked their own standard villas (using Citi Hilton Reserve certificates of course), but they all ended up day partying at his Royal Oceanview Pool Villa's massive 22.5 meter infinity pool.

Next time you are staying at the Conrad Koh Samui, you can try ringing up the hotel directly (TEL: +66-77-915 888), ask to be transferred to the Reservations department, and try to negotiate your way into the presidential.  Good luck!