Lonely Planet Review

Styled like a Malay colonial mansion, this vast place offers top-notch facilities in a huge, mature tropical garden at the south end of Hat Chaweng. It's all very organised and calm and the grounds are screened from the road by a high wooden trellis backed by palms.

The fact that Centara Grand Beach Resort Samui has four restaurants should give you some indication of the kind of place this is. The gleaming white blocks are decorated in colonial Malay style and the vast grounds provide a welcome buffer between the resort and the surrounding shopping arcades. Rooms are smart and business-like, and there are decent facilities for conferences, as well as the usual dive school, spa, fitness and sports facilities and beachfront bar and pool. Probably the nicest detail is Sala Thai - a gourmet restaurant with just one table, set in a wooden Thai-style pavilion in the gardens. It's definitely one for people who like everything organised and on time. However, a note of caution - the walkways between the rooms can be devilishly slippery after rain.