Where to stay in Koh Samui

Pick the area by your evenings

Where to stay in Koh Samui depends on your evenings: a villa near Chaweng for a group, Chaweng itself for the clubs on foot, Bophut for food and boats, and Choeng Mon or Lamai for quieter beaches.

Most of the action is on the east and north-east coasts, a short drive from Samui airport. Ask Tanner which area fits your evenings.

For the clubs: Chaweng

If you're asking where to stay in Koh Samui for nightlife, it's Chaweng: Samui's busiest beach, with the beach clubs, bars and clubs within walking distance.

ARKbar is Chaweng's best-known beach club, right on the sand. CLUB SEEN, number 52 on DJ Mag's Top 100 Clubs for 2026, is open 11am to 11pm while works go on (CLUB SEEN's own site, Nov 2026). See ARKbar, CLUB SEEN and our Koh Samui nightlife guide.

Chaweng is loud after dark, and rooms near the road pick up the music and traffic. Most groups take a villa in the hills above Chaweng Noi, just south, with a car for the evenings. Ask Tanner which villa keeps you closest.

First time on Samui

On a first trip, it comes down to the clubs: Chaweng to be in the middle of it, or a villa above Chaweng Noi or in Bophut to stay close and sleep well. Both are a short drive from the airport.

Most first-time groups take a villa, spend two evenings in Chaweng and one at Fisherman's Village, and add a boat day. Ask Tanner to build that week for you.

From the airport to each area

The official airport taxi, SmackOne, prices by zone (fares as listed in March 2026). Grab and Bolt can't pick up inside the airport, so you walk about three minutes out. The cheapest ride is the songthaew: ฿120 flat, cash, roughly every 30 minutes from in front of arrivals.

After 10:30pm, each car adds ฿100. For a group, our van is waiting at arrivals instead. Ask Tanner to have it there when you land.

Bophut and Fisherman's Village

Bophut is the base for food and the boats. Fisherman's Village is the old village street, and its Friday Night Walking Street runs from 6pm to 11pm, Inside Samui lists: the busiest night of the week there.

Lomprayah boats to Koh Phangan leave from Maenam and Seatran from Bangrak, both close by, and the crossing takes about 20 to 30 minutes. See Koh Samui to Koh Phangan. Ask Tanner to book the boat.

Choeng Mon and Lamai

Choeng Mon is the best beach to stay in Koh Samui for calm water: a quiet north-east cove near Big Buddha, the gentle end of the island.

Lamai, south of Chaweng, is the second party beach: smaller and more relaxed, with its own bars. Chaweng and Lamai can be rough in the November to December rains, so ask Tanner for a calmer bay in the wet months.

When to come

Samui's weather runs on its own clock. February to April are the driest months and the weather stays good through August, the Thai Meteorological Department says. October to December is the rainy season: November is the wettest, with about 445 mm, and the ferries to Phangan and Tao run on choppier water.

December is the tail of the rains, and Christmas and New Year are usually fine. From about 20 December to early January, hotel rates run 30 to 50% above the rest of high season, so book the villa early.

Ask Tanner to hold the villa for your dates.

Maenam and the west coast

Maenam, on the north coast, is calm and local, with the Lomprayah pier for Koh Phangan. The west coast around Taling Ngam has the sunsets and the island's grandest villas.

Nathon is the island's main town and ferry port on the west coast, where most boats from Donsak land.

The west is the right base for a slow, private week, with the car doing the drive on the big evenings. Ask Tanner to plan the car for those nights.

The best hotels in Koh Samui

If the group is splashing out, the big names sit on their own bays: the Conrad at Taling Ngam on the west coast, Banyan Tree on a private bay at Lamai, and the Four Seasons on Laem Yai in the north-west, Pickyourtrail lists. On the quiet north-east, SALA Samui Choengmon sits on Choeng Mon beach.

Our pick for a couple is the Conrad, for the west-coast sunsets.

A luxury resort suits a couple or a small group. For eight or more, a private pool villa often costs less per person and keeps the group together. Ask Tanner which suits your group.

Hotel or pool villa?

For a group of eight or more, take a pool villa. Everyone stays together, there's space for a DJ and a chef, and the party carries on at home after Chaweng.

Pool villas start from ฿18,500 a day, and the car picks the group up every evening. See Koh Samui pool villas, and ask Tanner for three to choose from.

For the Full Moon Party

For the Full Moon Party, stay on Koh Samui and take a boat across: a villa on Samui is calmer and better than anything near Haad Rin, and the party is a boat ride away.

Haad Rin Queen boats leave Big Buddha pier for Haad Rin, and most other boats land at Thong Sala, 20 to 30 minutes by songthaew from the beach. Check the dates on the Full Moon Party page, and read up on Koh Phangan. Ask Tanner to book the boat back before you go.

How long to stay

Four or five days is right for a group: two big evenings in Chaweng, a boat day to Ang Thong or Koh Phangan, a beach-club afternoon, and slow mornings at the villa. Ang Thong is 42 islands about 30 km north-west of Samui, 45 to 60 minutes by speedboat, but it's closed from 1 November to 15 December 2026, so the boat day goes to Koh Phangan then.

A week adds the Full Moon Party and a day on Koh Tao. See things to do in Koh Samui to fill the days, and ask Tanner to fit the boat days in.

Where to stay in Koh Samui in short

• What it is: a guide to Koh Samui's six main areas, from Chaweng's clubs to Taling Ngam's sunsets, and who each one suits.

• Most groups take a pool villa near Chaweng, the busiest beach, about 10 minutes from the airport.
• An airport taxi to Bophut or Chaweng is ฿400 for two, SmackOne's fare in March 2026.
• Bophut and Fisherman's Village have the food and the Phangan boats, 20 to 30 minutes across.
• Choeng Mon and Maenam are the quiet bays; Taling Ngam has the sunsets.
• February to April are the driest months; November is the wettest.

Checked October 2026.

How we plan the stay

We pick the base around your evenings, meet the group at the airport, and keep a car with you for the whole stay.

A luxury van for up to 4 runs from ฿6,500 for 10 hours, with a party van for up to 10 or a coach for 20 or more. We book the villa, the yacht, the beach-club daybeds and the boat to the Full Moon Party, and the airport transfer is waiting when you land.

Plan it with Tanner.