Glamping in Thailand: A Review of Khwan Beach Resort
As some of you know, my sister, Bri, lives in Australia, and this year we decided to have our annual get together in Asia. After a lot of research and indecision, we settled on Thailand and decided to spend some time up north in Chiang Mai, followed by a couple of weeks on the island of Koh Samui. While researching where to stay on Koh Samui, we stumbled across a place called Khwan Beach Resort and were immediately obsessed with the fact that they offer glamping, which is basically super posh camping. I love staying in unique places so we decided to make one of their glamorous tents our last abode before heading home.
Khwan Beach Resort is located on the northern part of the island just 4.3 miles (7 km) from Koh Samui International Airport and a couple minutes walk from Maenam Beach. It’s a small boutique establishment with all the tents and villas (yes, if glamping isn’t your thing you can stay in a villa) circled around a beautiful communal pool and restaurant, which creates a very intimate feel. When we arrived we were greeted with a delightful chilled beverage and a super fast check in and led to our tent, located in its own walled private garden with a carved wooden gate. The walls around our garden were high enough to provide complete privacy so we could enjoy having the sides of our tent rolled up, which is the first thing we did.
Rolling up the sides of our tent for that open air experience
Our tent was absolutely beautiful and exactly how I imagined glamping would be. The canopy bed and swinging day bed were absolutely dreamy and the outdoor bathroom was pretty magical, especially the stone tub with its antique style tap ware. It rained every afternoon we were there and it was pretty fun to go out and shower in the downpour. The one downside to the outdoor bathroom were the mosquitos. They weren’t a problem when we were showering, but I did get quite a few bites when I sat and soaked in the tub. I love outdoor bathrooms though so it was an acceptable trade off in my opinion.
Our tent had plenty of amenities including WiFi, air conditioning, a fridge with a mini bar, beverage maker with tea and coffee capsules (a very strong Italian coffee), a smart TV, safe, bathrobes and slippers, toiletries, and hair dryer.
Since the tents and villas encircle the pool, it was just a few steps to it from our garden which was very convenient. There were plenty of loungers around the pool, each with an umbrella and large pool towel.
Leaving our garden for the pool area
Breakfast was included and involved choosing from a daily a la carte menu of continental and Asian breakfast foods. We tried a variety of things but my favorite was their yogurt, which involved choosing a flavor of jam to mix into a bowel of delicious plain Greek style yogurt. The restaurant looked good and had good reviews online, but we never ended up eating any meals there aside from breakfast because there were a lot of other (cheaper) restaurants within walking distance.
As I mentioned earlier, Khwan Beach Resort is just 50 meters from Maenam Beach, so truly no more then a two minute walk down a paved path through an enchanting bamboo tunnel. When we checked in we were told to notify a staff member when we wanted to go to the beach and they would set up an umbrella and stuffed loungers for us, which was one of those cherry on top touches.
We ended up spending four days at Khwan Beach Resort and loved every minute of it. When we left the staff gave us a going away gift and packed us a lovely breakfast to go since we had to leave before regular service hours. They also helped us purchase our return ferry tickets to the mainland to catch our flight home. All in all it was a very successful first glamping experience and if you’ve been wanting to try out glamping, this would be a great option! After our experience at Khwan Beach Resort I’m super keen to glamp again, so let me know if you have any suggestions!
Things to Keep in Mind
Khwan Beach Resort is geared towards adults and only children age 14 and up are allowed to stay.
Khwan Beach Resort is located just 4.3 miles (7 km) from Koh Samui International Airport and they offer complimentary return airport transfers for all stay over 3 nights. We traveled to Koh Samui by ferry and arrived at Nathon Pier, which is just 8.6 miles (14 km) from Khwan Beach Resort - about a 22 minute drive.
Aside from the pool and some spa amenities, Khwan Beach Resort doesn’t offer much activity wise if that’s important to you. It didn’t matter to us because we love to just sit and read and it’s an easy walk to bars, restaurants, and shopping in the town of Maenam. They are also just 0.2 miles (300 meters) from the Maenam night market that happens every Thursday.
If beach quality is everything to you, Maenam Beach isn’t the greatest in my opinion but anyone who knows me will tell you I’m a beach snob. I love a good powdery white sand beach with brilliant blue green water and that is not Maenam Beach. Fortunately, the Khwan Beach Resort’s pool is so nice we spent most of our time there instead.