Dear Steemit Friends:
Today, I'd like to continue with my scenic tour of Koh Samui, an island belonging to Thailand that puts paradise on the cusp of reality.
I have some footage I made with my drone of the sunset and sunrise here at Samui! I hope you all like it!
Even though the island has been well documented throughout history, it's really only been a tourist hot spot in the last 20 years or so.
Today, it still retains the once idyllic and natural atmosphere which gives it a distinct flavor contrasting with that of it's metropolitan counterparts. For finding a nice quiet place to relax by a tranquil sea, there simply is no better choice than Samui.
The W Retreat Koh Samui is located in a relatively remote location, north of the island. It's design mantra is to build a futuristic modern hotel which is both isolated and yet captures the beauty of the island within it's visual design.
Continuing on from my previous introduction of this fabulous hotel, i'll be taking everybody inside the W Hotel and exploring some of it's communal areas, amenities as well as the guest rooms.
When you first arrive, a member of staff will take you a waiting area in the main lobby. As quickly as you can sit down, he'll also bring you a cool towel and a welcome drink. On the cup, you can see the words Whatever/Whenever. This is their customer service ethos, regardless of where you are at what time, they are always ready to help serve you and your needs. This is one of W Hotel's unique selling proposition, and also why they place such emphasis on the letter W. Quite a well executed branding exercise don't you think?
I actually really liked this welcome drink. The waiter explained that it is a natural concoction of ingredients which support good health. It tastes a little sour but also a little sweet. In any case, it was a much needed refreshment and I really enjoyed the taste.
This interesting booklet is the map of the W Hotel and it's facilities.
The hotel's arrangement becomes obvious at the very first glance.
The waiting area in the main lobby is actually quite a design spectacle in it's own right. We have some very tropical looking wooden chairs, as well as cylindrical sofa's which are very comfy.
In the lobby, you can see some very bright and vivid coloured portraits of some various movie stars. It showcases W Hotel's vivacious, risk and diverse interior design.
Everywhere you look, you can see little hints of Thai cultural influence. For instance, on the background here you can see the sky lanterns and elephants!
These table lamps are actually the head of Yaksha!
They've also got a computer, some speakers, and a few books and magazines for guests to read or use whilst they wait.
This a little corner of the W Lounge which is usually more busy at night. At this time of the afternoon, most of the guests will be elsewhere.
This is the W Lounge and Woobar from another angle.
I really like these bird nest style hanging lanterns. Beside them, you can see the W Hotel mascots.
The storage room for the alcohol!
Because the W Hotel has it's facilities spread out over quite a large area, moving around from your room, to the bar, the restaurant, swimming pool, beach, or lobby can be quite a walk, especially given the heat. Therefore, the Hotel recommends that you call a buggy whenever you need to move around. Now, let's take one of these buggy's to the guest room and see what's inside!
This is my door!
The hotel has 7 different types of rooms, and 73 rooms in total. All of the rooms are villas and will have their own private swimming pool as well as double bathrooms and outdoor lounge chairs. The villa I opted for has a floor area of about 49.3 square meters, despite being quite large, it is actually the smallest type of villa available at this resort.
If there wasn't already enough wow through this whole trip, stepping inside this villa adds yet another wow. I love how much natural lighting there is especially with the french windows. And just on the other side of them, we see a very blue swimming pool on the backdrop of a very blue sky !
The interior design of the villa is very consistent with the design mantra of the hotel's main lobby. Most of it utilises natural wood furnishing and everywhere you look, there are tiny W Hotel logos.
The bathrooms use a very red colour theme, once again showcasing the hotel's willingness to be vivacious and daring. This is actually the first time i've stayed somewhere with double bathrooms, I think it's a little over the top for my needs!
The lighting at night !
This brand of bathroom products (bliss) are an american designer brand!
This is the very well stocked mini W Mixbar. Sadly, only the coffee in the middle tray is free.
A nice selection of alcohol and snacks.
The bedroom uses wooden colours, white and dark grey. Continuing their red theme from the bathroom, we have some contrasting bright red pillows and a brain like ornament also red. Isn't it romantic?
These are some welcome apples and a delicious piece of cake !
Of course, they also supply a decent amount of touristy magazines which you can read whilst catching the cool breeze by the pool outside. Are we on earth or heaven???
By the private pool, we have a sofa bed!
From this point on, I pretty much spent most of the rest of the time dipped in the pool or the bathtub.
Dusk is beautiful.
Thank you for joining me on my adventures to this beautiful resort.
Coming up, I have more stories to tell from the rest of my travels at Koh Samui!
Friendly reminder!
Steem/it is currently in the final of the poll for a potential listing at BTCChina Exchange! Sadly, we're looking quite off the pace, but there is hope! We have 3 days to go! Let's get all our friends to vote for Steem!
今天继续带大家畅游苏梅岛的风景，苏梅岛和泰国的另一大岛屿普吉岛比起来，海滩质量更好，并且游客更加少，苏梅岛从开发算起，也只有大概20年，所以开发程度也远不如普吉岛，这意味着可以给我们更多的空间去探索这片美丽的小岛。如今它依然保留了曾经世外桃源般的自然淳朴气息，给人一片远离都市的原始风味和宁静的海。对于我喜欢安静的地方放松心情，充分的休息，过一过慵懒生活，苏梅岛是再好不过的选择了。
泰国苏梅岛W Retreat Koh Samui在2010年11月正式开业，当年算是SPG集团在东南亚地区的第一家酒店。W酒店请来泰国有名的室内设计事务所，主要是为了把泰國民俗文化的元素设计并融入在酒店的每一个空间。W酒店位于苏梅岛相对偏僻的北边，设计师们追求的是设计出充满未来感的现代化却又与世隔绝的酒店，并将岛上纯朴的自然风光融入到酒店设计的视觉空间里。继续上一篇的介绍，下面我带大家来探索一下酒店的内部空间和房间。 在等待入住房间办手续之前，服务人员会带领你到大厅休息，立刻递上冰凉的手巾和饮料。杯子上印着Whatever/Whenever® Service无论您需要什么，无论您何时需要 是W Hotel的服務宗旨，接下来你会在很多东西的细节上看见这些词。这杯饮料的颜色好特别，服务人员介绍说这杯饮料是天然调制的，对头发的养护非常好。味道酸酸甜甜，非常解渴好喝极了，所以立刻喝光这个漂亮的卡片，原来是酒店的地图。酒店的空间布局一目了然。
酒店大堂休息区，椅子都很有设计的美感，超大的沙发，坐着好舒服。Lobby以很多大面积彩绘人像墙作为装饰，展示了W Hotel活泼缤纷的设计处处都可以找到泰国的文化元素，背景墙的天灯，大象。台灯底座的夜叉王。电脑，书，音响，供休息的游客消遣。W Lounge安静的一角，因为到的时候是中午，所以没有什么游客从另一个方向看到的W Lounge和Woobar.很喜欢鸟巢形状的吊灯，边上是W酒店的吉祥物娃娃。现在就请大家和我一起坐上车，去探索一下房间里都有什么吧。这个就是我们的房间了。酒店有7种不同的房型，一共有73间客房。每一件villa都有私人游泳池，双浴室间和户外躺椅。我住的这间大概有49.3平米，还是所有房型中面积最小的，但是对我来说，已经超级大了。推开房门，只能用哇来形容。超级喜欢最佳采光的大落地窗,窗外就能看见泳池。房间内部和酒店大堂非常统一，都采用原木自然色作为主要色调。洗手间的色调以鲜艳的大红色为主，突出酒店活泼缤纷的特色。第一次见到双淋浴房，感觉有点用不过来。Bliess的沐浴产品是美国的名牌产品。丰富的迷你bar，虽然只有中间的咖啡球是免费的。卧室是木头色搭配白色和深灰色，再用充满热情活力的正红色的饰品，让整个屋子浪漫温馨。然后接下来大部分的时间，我都泡在水里，无论是泳池还是浴缸。接下来是我用无人机拍下的苏梅岛日出和黄昏的美景，希望大家喜欢。希望大家喜欢我对酒店的介绍!
VERY professionally done post! Congratulations on your many acquired skills now on display.
thanks onceuponatime, for the comment and your continuous support. We have a saying in Chinese, 活到老学到老 which means to live and learn, or rather never cease to learn as long as you live. I definitely try to subscribe to that philosophy!
holy freaking moly beautiful!
both you and the view!
thanks for the video!
perfect music for your pics wink wink <3!
you have a way with words englishtchrivy, thanks!
:D
that's a cute little flamigngo for coke! hahaha
You noticed! Haha baby flamingos !
Absolutely beautiful post @sweetsssj! Fantastic pictures, write up and the video was great! You've come a long way and it's always wonderful to see your posts!
Lucky duck! Or rather, flamingo.... ;)
tee hee :D
@sweetsssj is a sweet girl. Thanks for sharing photos. I feel excited to go there!
Then I feel very happy to have swayed your opinion! 😄
哇,这周我有不少steemit朋友也都去了W Hotel呢~
不过怕热的我最后还是决定去瑞士了
希望妳玩得愉快!
谢谢你哦，是的，现在去泰国确实有点热呢: )
That's probably like the best review ever put together! Nicely done!
Thanks creutzy!
great review, love that last one :)
Thanks doitvoluntarily ! Watched the video? Watch the video!! 😄
Started taking aerial shots also! You are evolving day by day!!
By the way you are looking red hot in that red hot bikini!!! ;)
Haha, just mixing it up a bit siddartha! Since I bought my drone, i've been taking it everywhere I can!
Red is the theme of the villa, so i thought i'd compliment it with the red bikini, good idea?
Nice, the more you experiment, the better you get. Who was manning the drone?
Red bikini was the awesome idea, looking so beautiful!!
You lucky girl. You live an amazing life. Another wonderful article!
Thank you jdawg, live life to the fullest as they say!
Congratulations @sweetsssj!
Your post was mentioned in my hit parade in the following categories:
Looks idyllic, I've just returned from Singapore; what an amazing place that is?? Currently in Kuala Lumpur, I've been very fortunate to stay at "One World Hotels" and would recommend them wholeheartedly!!
Thanks for sharing.
thanks michael, I am really looking forward to visiting Singapore myself one day, you should blog about your travels, i'd love to read them!
amazing and beautiful @sweetsssj
thanks ahmadhassan 😊!
Fantastic as always Miss @sweetsssj! You really know how to inspire us all with your luxury travels! The W in Koh Samui is amazing! I'm going to start calling you Miss Awesome ;)
thanks sandstorm, my travels won't all be luxury, but there's always so much to take away ! Thank you for my new nickname, liking it :D
Haha, Your welcome Miss Awesome @sweetsssj ;) Understood on the luxury aspect, but when you’re fortunate enough to be on a first class trip, always live it up the the extreme! BTW, I loved the video, they’re getting better & better each time.
upvote and rs for your...
thanks lautenglye
my new post, pls upvote and rs...thanks
https://steemit.com/jesus/@lautenglye/process-god
Disclaimer: I am just a bot trying to be helpful.
Love it @sweetsssj - this villa is 😍😍 I need to go check it out. Headed to Koh Samui in September 👌🏼
Wow, that's great lck, you are gonna absolutely love it. That's a great time to go too, since it's a little cooler and everywhere else in the world starts to wind down from summer as well.
Absolutely - we are looking forward to it. Let us know where your upcoming adventures will lead you. We plan to coordinate Insta / Steemit meets in the near future and would love to have you join! @jawdy
What a great trip, it looks great that place and you look very beautiful in the photos: D I would like to go on vacation there hehe :)
Greetings!
W Hotel really should hire me as their ambassador! :D
Yeah!! XD You would take many tourists and make them rich :D
Such a nice hotel. Must be a very enjoyable and relaxing stay.
Indeed, relaxing was absolutely paramount! They've really out done themselves here, it's no wonder they have such a good reputation!
I've seen some pictures of W Hotel in Sentosa, Singapore. It looks quite nice too.
Ah, Singapore!! I keep hearing great things about it and yet I still haven't had the chance to properly go yet!
If you do come, let me know if you keen to have coffee.
Nice pictures; it is so different and nicier the way it is described by someone that has lived the experience the that from a magazine or the internet webpages. To add to your nice post here the web for the hotel.
http://mantrasamui.com/en/hotel.html
Thanks, hopefully the video helps to show the hotel atmosphere better!
Wow, what a beautiful place. But one question....where's the monopoly man's monocle?! :D
He never had one! 😊
Great post and amazing hotel ... I love Thailand! Did anyone else in the hotel find out about your secret drone? :)
I was trying to be discreet.. but someone actually did come knocking and tell me to stop flying it! The world doesn't seem to like drones very much 😠
Haha! People likes to watch, but not watched. We are glad that you had garnered enough to finish this beautiful clip before you were forced to stop.
Thanks for watching , makes it all worthwhile !
How would you like it if someone came flying their drone around to watch you in your bikini？
Well, I would be too confident in myself for assuming that's what they're doing for a start. And secondly, most girls who wear bikinis are not going to care about an extra set of eyes looking!
That's always what they are doing. But you make a good point. I guess I should buy a drone. :-D
Thanks for the post , place looks beautiful. I stayed at the W Bangkok. The best was kata noi beach I stayed at Chanalai loved it there had a similar view , wasn't far from the big Buddha statue .
Thanks Nicky I think without the placing being Samui, just the hotel would lose a little bit of draw for me. As a hotel, it's as good as they come, but Samui as a place is like the icing on the cake!
I will maybe check it out some day from the looks of your photos seems nice and paradise like . Though Thailand as whole was to Touristy.
I agree, thankfully the W "Retreat" was actually not full of people. (Probably cause it's more expensive than usual!)
Is the hotel also in China?
Oh most definitely there are W hotels in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Xi'an and Hong Kong to name the ones I know!
Any idea about the price variables? Does it come cheap?
You'll have to be really brave if you want to stay at W Hotel, they are certainly not cheap, at Samui it will set you back a few hundred dollars a night!
Brave to spend hundreds of dollars :) I think it would not be a problem if the place is good. Basically, not for me :)
Yeah you're right, money is just money at the end of the day, experiences that you'll remember for a life time are priceless.
Exactly
This is a true dream, as I enjoy your travels lady @sweetsssj, I must admit that I am passionate about their images, it makes me very happy to see her enjoying her walks, thank you very much for being part of it.
have a beautiful day
Thank you jlufer!
Nice photos
Upvoted and followed
thanks jatinarora!
Nice👍
😄
wonderful place, nice photos, and that place looks lovely for vacation. You look gorgeous, and yeah i think they should hire you as ambassador..LOL...
thanks judeanthony, you know, when I was there, there was a man who worked there as an intern. He was majoring in hotel management. Basically just welcomed guests to the lobby whilst soaking up the sun the rest of the time. Not a bad job if you ask me!
O really..then you should go for it.. later on when i bring my family there for vacation then i know that , this hotel is providing fantastic service by you..LOL
I hope you relax well)
I voted for Steem!
yay! Thank you so much !
So much amazing! More than I can mention just now one letter at a time...
I must say I liked the end of the video- a cinematic triumph :)
thanks @throughmyeyes , for the comment and for watching the video!
Did I see a pack of Pringles? Sign me up.
You're so easy to please!
I wouldn't say that >_<
I devoured them. They were not cheap. I have no regrets!
Excelent, pretty gal, and great photograph @sweetsssj
thanks oyamurty !
Oh yes I've been in front of the W "by mistake" once when the driver misunderstood my address :) Nice to see it from the inside, thank you!
You're welcome dear! Like they say, it's like a blessing in disguise.
This is a. great post. I went in Koh Samui too vor almost half year. It was great though the monsun began. I can recommend you a Muang Samui Spa or the Tamarind Spring Spa too. Its really beautiful I think do you like it!
Thanks for the recommendation, do you know when the Monsoon season is exactly?
I love the W and the St.Regis brand. I also especially like the Bliss bath products, such a great scent. Wonderful pics.
thanks wthomas, it seems you have a penchant for the W :D
Looks amazing! And what a great place to visit!
yeah! Time to book that holiday natasha! <(^-^<)
I like the concepts of W. Winter concept is also nice dark and sexy but my favorite is the summer concept which is so refreshing.
W in the winter seems a little Gothic , I too like the summer concept.
Nice pics. Please follow me and check out my first post. Regards, Antonio
Thanks, will check out your post!
I am speachless, what a post! Wunderful!
Aww thanks !
very nice post. Travelling Thailand is awesome.
Are you also a SPG member if you stay @W?
Yes I believe they are a member of SPG !
I love SPG. Member benefits and lounge access is awesome.
awesome work
Thanks!
meep
meep meep
meep
WOOOOW!
I want to be there!
Everything is so nice and amazing. I want to play in that pool ;)
i bet you do! Drop what you're doing and book a holiday! Set yourself free, and enjoy paradise! Worry about life back at home later :D
Absolutely beautiful post. Great job!
thanks team101!
你很像中国人，也很像西方人。 我这几年有机会说中文，但是过几个月开始忘记的时候我开始写中文的博客在这里。
Looks like you have a pretty relaxing life ;-P
THanks, where are you from? I can't work out whether your Chinese is translated or not
North America·. 啊啊啊，有一些人用谷歌什么的翻译给你看，是吗？那你不相信我？我不是，我在打拼音。但我说复杂一点的东西会有很多错误。 先复习一下我的日语再学中文。我写博客应该不会你那么红吧，我不会那么nice，拍照没天赋，然后我穿比基尼太可怕。
You are so popular here. If I see you around I will try to practice my Chinese with your posts.
哇，你的中文已经很厉害了呢。很期待看到你的博客呀，有机会可以多读我双语的文章，也可以练习中文^ ^
You sure stay at some nice places!
Only sometimes, I like to have @variously visits :D
It's fine.
did you do procurement in school?, i can bet you have enjoy every single money you payed at the hotel, great shots
Procurement ? Not sure what you mean.. the hotel was well worth it though. Bit expensive but I wasn't there for the whole time I was in Samui. More on that later!
You are very cute I followed you but I aint cute like you so I do not think I am allowed to follow you
of course you can follow me!