Koh Samui gay hotel?

[thrillbill]

I was doing some research for a gay hotel/guest house/ resort at Koh Samui. I checked Utopia, but the ones they list seem to be mixed hotels. Any info out there?
:dontknow:

[NickysGayPattaya]

There's a few listed on http://www.nickysgaythailand.com/gay-sa ... mmodation/ (http://www.nickysgaythailand.com/gay-samui/accommodation/)

The only fully gay one is Wonderworld (German owned) but the rest are gay-friendly. We're getting very good reports of Saboey Resort and Villas тАУ Bophut.

If you're there over the 22nd/23rd September - I'd love to chat to you!

Nicky

[Khor tose]

Bhundhari Spa and resort advertised in "Out" magazine and in the Koh Samui gay guide is mixed but gay friendly. Food and accommodations are excellent but resort starts on the beach and goes straight up the hill. There are golf cart drivers available, but unless you get a beach villa, plan on climbing some stairs.

[Dodger]

thrillbill,

A few things you should know about Koh Samui:

I rarely put down a place because we all have very different tastes, but you should know that Koh Samui is a str8 island, popular with tourists who have never been to mainland Thailand, over populated for any island, and lacks tranquility as a result.

I was there last June...took a friend along (Thank God) and stayed at Baan Hin Sai Resort & Spa (BHS). BHS did offer a bit of the tranquility one would expect on an island, had spectacular views as it is lodged on the side of a cliff with a jungle-like ambience, great swimming pools (thus the reason I chose this place), although we had to take the BHS curtesy van anywhere we wanted to go including the beach, restauants, etc. They serve a great buffet breakfasts but the dinner meals where nothing to talk about.

There are no gay bars on Koh Samui, and in all our exploring never saw a gay couple together anywhere. I guess BHS was gay friendly because they were friendly to us, although we were the only gays in sight.

The main towns with any action at night are Chaweng and Lamai which have plenty of girlie bars, and of course horny str8 farang in abundance.

We learned via the internet that a bar called Green Mango in Chaweng had a mix of gay and Str8 so we went there, only to walk out after downing one fast drink - as the crowd was totally str8 and very rowdy. For some reason I felt a little uneasy sitting there in the middle of them with a cute 20 y/o Thai boy at my side. We did get a few smiles from a group of fat farang girls who were drunk on their asses, so out the door we bolted.

Frankly, there is nothing you will see or experience on Koh Samui that you couldn't see or experience on Koh Lan or Koh Samet, both of which are a stones throw from PTY and don't require an expensive airline ticket. The beaches, ambience, tranquility, and feeling of gay friendliness on these other islands blows Koh Samui away.

Sorry for the bad review...but this place is off my radar.

We went to to Samui for a week last christmas...we did'nt bother trying to find a gay hotel..as i read most were gay friendly anyway...we stayed at Akwa..chawng beech...it was ok and all the staff gave us tips on places things to do...and there were the usual gay guides in reception
maybe if you like exclusively gay resorts , it might not be for you...but me and my bf...like going to straight places too
and samui is like the rest of thailand dont care if your gay or not ...if your friendly people will be friendly back
we used to go a club called Boyzone....but it closed a few months after cause there was a lack of punters.
Their is another small club called K club....but when we went we were the only ones there ..but the staff were nice so we had a good laugh with them.
We allso went to Green mango a few times...we had a good time ...i love dancing..and they played some good tunes...and the drinks are cheep.....and plenty of eye candy....a lot of young guys who have been pumping iron in the gym before their hols ha ha.
if you hire a motercycle you can go to the other side of the island which is beuatifull and less comerciall
we went to a few nice watefalls in the middle of the island too
Samui is not for everyone...but when i asked my bf which is his fave place we've been to in Thai ..he said Samui

[RonanTheBarbarian]

Hi thrillbill.

Thai Puan magazine lists seven gay friendly accommodation options in the Chaweng area alone.

Not sure to what extent they are purely gay, or just gay friendly, but if you look at the Samui map in Thai Puan magazine online, they are there at least.

Also, I think gay friendliness of hotels etc, is probably a little less relevant in Samui, where the main model is "bungalows in a garden" anyway.

I stayed a resort in Chaweng, and I went to and from my little cabin for a few days without passing reception or even seeing another guest after the checking-in process. Of course if you like to lounge around the pool during the day, you should be aware that the resorts will probably be very straight.

As regards nightlife - you have to do a little research. There is no gay areas like Phuket or Pattaya where you can just stroll around and know you will come across half a dozen bars. However, Dodger is quite misleading above with his "No gay bars in Samui" claim. There has always been at least one fully gay bar with offable staff in Chaweng, (and when I was there, you had three to choose from. Now seemingly it is down to one again - however it is NOT a purely "Bring Your Own Boy" destination). In addition, if you go to one of the two ladyboy cabarets, there are plenty of handsome backing dancers and waiters who will only be too delighted to make your acquantance after the show (although the audience during the show will be mainly straight). But you need to do a bit of research to find the bars - they tend to be down quiet side lanes, other than the ladyboy bars, which are on the main drag.

Not to be down on Dodger, but it sounds like he failed to do enough research prior to his coming to the island, failed to find the gay nightlife, and is prejudiced as a result.

(I guess Dodger could rightly counter that it being a necessity to plan ahead like this is a disadvantage in itself, however that it is quite different than there being "no gay bars in Samui".)

Also, i found that Chaweng at least there were plenty of gay couples out of an evening - I saw at least a dozen obvious farang-Thai male couples out every evening walking about, including some holding hands- I admit that perhaps if you stayed in Lamai or Bo Phut you might see none.

I think Samui can be a good destination for a gay guy, even if he goes on his own. But it will suit somebody who wants to go on a "beach holiday" with some gay nightlife of an evening, rather than somebody who is mainly interested in going somewhere to sample the nightlife. And you are better off trying to get somewhere in Chaweng.

[billyhouston]

A gay guesthouse in the hills above Chaweng:

http://www.premiumwanadoo.com/atmanasamui/

Some way from the beach but enjoyed my stay there greatly. Didier and Mana are great.

[christianpfc]

My experiences of Koh Samui are different than Dodger's. When I was there (January 2011, trip report somewhere on this forum or gaybutton), there were one gay gogo, one gay host and one gay cabaret I visited. Can have changed by now. Apart from the expensive transport (taxi and baht-bus mafia), it was a nice place that I consider visiting again, probably with a friend rather than alone (as my previous visit).