Elements Boutique Resort

Elements is a phenomenal resort on Koh Samui if you like a quiet relaxing atmosphere and don’t mind being somewhat remote.  We absolutely loved our 6 day stay here.

Location: The hotel is located on the far southwestern tip of Koh Samui, in Phang Ka.  It’s on the complete opposite end from the airport, so a transfer will take around 45 minutes or so, depending upon traffic in the more populated areas.  The resort is about a kilometer off of the main road.  You’ll wind your way through a small residential area and the resort will be at the end.  There are a couple of small convenience type stores about 2km from the resort for any snacks or small items you may want to purchase.  It can easily be reached by a short 15-20 minute walk or take one of the free bikes from the resort.  

Chaweng is the center of nightlife and activity on Koh Samui.  It’s about a 20-25 minute car ride from the resort.  There are a few things in between, but not much.  We found the location to be an advantage not a disadvantage, but then we were looking for a more relaxing, do nothing vacation.

While the resort is “ocean front”, it actually is on a secluded bay with shallow water.  During dry season and low tide, you can be as much as 500-100 feet from water more than 1 or 2 feet deep.  It’s still very beautiful, but if you’re looking to be able to jump right into the water from the resort, you may be disappointed.  The beach is sandy in front of the hotel, however beyond that it can be a bit rocky.

There are many flights to Koh Samui everyday on Thai or Bangkok Airways. Most leave almost hourly from Bangkok or other destinations.  Note that if you do travel via Bangkok and arrive late in the evening, an overnight stay might be required before going on to Koh Samui.

Rooms: Elements is a very modern, contemporary place to stay.  The resort itself is small and compact, so you’re never far from activities, restaurant, pool or spa, no matter where your room is located.  Larger and more expensive rooms are located towards the pool and beachfront in a “villa” type atmosphere.  Smaller, less expensive rooms are situated towards the center of the resort in “villa” style or “two story” type buildings.

All rooms are simple, with modern Thai style furniture and furnishings.  We stayed in a 2BR oceanfront villa with a pool, that was directly next to the main resort pool.  The 2BR villa is a walled “compound” that consisted of four separate buildings, a single bedroom in each of two buildings, a central building that housed the living room and kitchen and a small half bathroom in yet another building.  Between the buildings and the ocean, lie the room pool, which was of significant size.  There’s also an in ground hot-tub in the villa.

All of the “villa style” rooms are very private, with 8 foot walls surrounding each.  On the end of our villa, was a wooden screen that you could open to look out directly on the beach and ocean.  Almost all of the buildings in our villa were floor to ceiling glass on two sides.  During the very hot months, the air conditioning can have a hard time keeping rooms cool, even with the draperies shut.  The kitchen area included a small refrigerator as well as dishes and barware.  A flat screen TV was in each building and free wi-fi was available throughout the resort with fairly decent speeds.  Housekeeping was twice daily and the rooms were immaculate.

Facilities: The hotel has a pool, exercise room, full-service spa and restaurant with small bar.  The exercise room is very large, with floor to ceiling glass on three sides.  There’s a wide range of exercise equipment as well as free weights.  There’s a small changing area and locker room as well.  The pool is a large rectangular shape with chairs and umbrellas down each side.  It opens on to the beach area, which includes additional chairs and umbrellas.  

The restaurant is open-air style, with additional patio seating outside.  A small bar that’s elevated a few steps above one end of the restaurant, is a great place to relax in the afternoon or before lunch of dinner.  The food here was excellent.  There’s a great combination of traditional Thai food as well as Western favorites.  If you don’t see what you like on the menu, all you need to do is ask and either the Thai or Western chefs are happy to accommodate your requests.  Prices are reasonable.  There are also a couple of theme nights during the week, such as BBQ night.  Breakfast is included in most room rates.

The spa here is really unbelievable.  You can see our separate review of that, here.

Staff:  The staff at Elements was exceptional.  The entire crew were extremely helpful and accommodating, no matter what we needed or what we wanted to do. We’ve been to Thailand many times and we can truly say, that the service here is top notch, not only for resorts in Thailand, but most places around the world.  In addition to transfers to and from the hotel, we also hired one of the hotel’s staff members to take us on a tour around the island for a day.  The vehicle was always stocked with cool towels and bottled water or soft drinks to help survive the hottest part of the day.

Pros: A very relaxing getaway at a very reasonable price.  Food and spa re great and the resort has a very quiet atmosphere.

Cons: If you want to be near the hustle and bustle of Koh Samui, this may not be the option for you.  Also, if you want to be directly on the ocean, you may want to seek out other resorts.

IAH TIP:  Occasionally the hotel has special rates on Jetsetter.  Rates are lower during off-season.

For more photos of the hotel and Koh Samui, visit our photo gallery by clicking here.