Intercontinental Koh Samui Review: Stunning Uninterrupted Ocean View

Location

I would say the location is both a highlight and a drawback of Intercontinental Koh Samui. Situated on lush tropical grounds atop a cliff that slopes down to a sandy beach, the resort offers a stunning natural setting. From various parts of the property, including the lobby, main restaurant, and private terraces in guest rooms, you can enjoy uninterrupted views of the ocean, lush greenery, and tropical sunsets. The elevated position not only gives you sweeping vistas but also cooler air than many other coastal parts of Koh Samui.

This setting reminds us a lot of the Intercontinental Danang in Vietnam. As it is on the west coast, you will be able to see breathtaking sunsets if the weather is great. It was cloudy during our stay so we didn’t get to enjoy the golden hour we were hoping for.

The downside is the resort is a bit far from the airport, main tourist hubs and local restaurants. They provide a shuttle service with scheduled trips to town and some attractions though. It was also quite quick and easy to book a Grab car to get to anywhere in Koh Samui. The good thing is their on-site restaurants are pretty decent and not overpriced, and the resort also runs its own boat tours departing from their private pier. So we didn’t feel the need to leave the resort during our short stay.

Overall Experience

We stayed here for 2 nights in a classic ocean view room before heading to the Vana Belle Koh Samui (read my review here). The main reasons we chose this property for the first part of the trip are its spectacular ocean views, sunsets and the convenience of having boat tours to Ang Thong National Park, Koh Tan, and Koh Madsum leaving right from the resort’s pier.

Overall, service was professional and attentive. I had contacted the resort before our trip to arrange for airport pickup and to book activities, and everything was handled smoothly. The airport transfer is not very expensive so we recommend considering it as due to monopoly at Samui International Airport, you cannot have the airport as the pickup destination in Grab app (at least it was the case during our trip). A more affordable option will be booking airport transfer services on Klook or GetYourGuide.

Our room was spacious and had great ocean views. While the layout and size were satisfying, we felt the interior could really benefit from a refresh. A room renovation would greatly improve the experience.

Another thing to note is that some rooms may require a lot of steps to get to, and some rooms may get more noise from the bars. If you have mobility concerns or are sensitive to sound, it’s a good idea to let the resort know your preferences in advance so they can assign a more suitable room.

We enjoyed all our meals at the resort. Breakfast had enough variety, and the Thai dishes we tried for lunch and dinner (pad Thai, fried fish, fried rice, soup, curry) were all decent. In fact, they were as good as some of the popular restaurants we visited in Koh Samui and prices are not much more expensive. I think for a remote resort, having solid onsite restaurant is very important and the InterContinental Koh Samui definitely delivered that during our stay. Afterward, the food at Vana Belle was a letdown.

To get down to the beach, you may need a buggy ride (or take a long walk). It is a pity that the beach at this resort is not very swimmable and the sand is not soft. One afternoon, the water had quite a few small broken branches floating around. Another morning, the tide was so low that the beach became rocky and not ideal for swimming.

While the resort has several pools, including those with ocean views, it’s always a disappointment to us when a beachfront resort doesn’t have swimmable beach. That said, this seems to be a common issue among many resorts in Koh Samui, not just the Intercontinental.

Detailed Review

Our Room

We stayed in a King Classic Ocean View Room located in a building connected to the lobby. This made it convenient to access both the lobby and Amber, the main restaurant, without needing a buggy ride. The walk still involved several flights of stairs up and down, which might be a consideration for guests with mobility issues.

The room had a dark wood floor, large sliding glass doors, and a spacious terrace with ocean views. The interior felt dated, but overall, the room was functional and comfortable. The bed was plushy, and we slept quite well during our stay.

However, there were a few design aspects that should be improved. The water pressure in the bathroom wasn’t very strong. The handheld shower was mounted unusually high, making it a little inconvenient to use. We also found the sink vanity placed too far back, requiring us to lean in more than usual when using. The TV is also mounted very high in the bedroom.

Dining Options

The resort has two main restaurants:

• Amber in the lobby building: serves breakfast, Thai cuisine for lunch and dinner.
• Flame on the beach: serves Western-style lunch and dinner.

Depending on the day, you may catch live performances during sunset and dinner hours at either restaurant.

At Amber, guests can choose between indoor air-conditioned seating and breezy outdoor seating on the terrace with sea views. The breakfast includes both made-to-order items from a menu and a selection of dishes at the buffet counters. While I wouldn’t call it an exceptional breakfast buffet, there was enough variety with a good mix of Asian and Western options, and the quality was quite decent.

For lunch and dinner at Amber, we often ordered a mix of familiar Thai classics and dishes we hadn’t tried before. We thought both the taste and portion were good and we didn’t feel like the food was Westernized at all which is a good thing.

We only had one quick lunch at Flame, the beachfront restaurant. It is an open-air space, which can get quite hot during the midday hours. We kept it simple and ordered pizza, fries, and soda for a quick bite, which was fine for a casual meal.

Activities

We originally booked two activities through the resort: a half-day boat tour in the morning to see pink dolphins, Koh Tan, and Koh Madsum, and a cycling tour in the late afternoon. That morning, we were informed (and could actually see from our room) that the tides were extremely low, exposing all the rocks around the pier. Because of that, the boat couldn’t depart as scheduled. The staff suggested rescheduling to early afternoon in hopes that the tide would rise enough for departure.

By early afternoon, the water had improved slightly, and we carefully waded through muddy patches to reach the boat. Because the boat tour was moved to the afternoon, we had to cancel the cycling tour we originally planned for that day.

We were told that dolphin sightings wouldn’t be possible in the afternoon, so that part of the tour had to be skipped. The first stop was Koh Tan, where guests were invited to swim and snorkel. I opted out, but Long went in and said the snorkeling experience was underwhelming. There wasn’t much to see, and a lot of the corals appeared to be broken or dead, likely a result of heavy human activities over the years.

Fortunately, the next stop made the trip worthwhile. Behind Koh Madsum, the guide took us to a beautiful, quiet area with incredibly soft sand and calm, shallow, crystal-clear water to swim. We both really enjoyed this part of the trip.

After that, the boat took us to the more popular side of Koh Madsum, where we briefly got off to see the famous black pigs that roam the island. It was fun though not particularly exciting, so we quickly returned to the boat and made our way back to the resort. The return trip was rougher, with stronger winds and more splashing.

The resort also offers a full-day boat tour to Ang Thong National Marine Park. One important thing to note is that these boat tours require a minimum number of participants. For our trip, the minimum was four guests. It ended up being just us and another family of four. If they hadn’t joined, the tour would have been canceled. So if you are set on doing a boat tour, it may be safer to book with an outside operator with small sized groups.

There is a game room with a pool table and two air hockey tables in the lobby building. We spent some time playing those games the last morning before checking out. The game room is a bit tucked away, next to the souvenir shop. It seemed like not many guests knew about this room so almost no one else came to play except us.

Final Thoughts