Lipa Noi beach holiday villa "Tranquility" in Lipa Noi

We thoroughly enjoyed our time on Koh Samui and that was in no small part due to our stay at Tranquillity. It was a very peaceful place in really lovely surroundings, and very close to Lipa Noi beach - great to watch the sunsets there. The villa itself was very spacious and pretty well kept, with some powerful aircon to keep us cool in the rooms and plenty of space to relax in, including a nice terraced area out the back perfect for a quiet read and to listen to the surrounding wildlife. The pool was fantastic and we made full use of it - I tried to start and end the day with a swim in it as often as I could, a great size, beautifully designed and so peaceful and secluded. The access with the cars could have been a little easier but once we got used to it it was fine - hiring a 4x4 wouldn't be a bad idea, but we coped fine in our little Honda.

Hiring a car and staying away from the main noisy resorts meant we had free rein to properly explore the island. I found driving on Koh Samui a doddle to be honest - the main road is expansive and in pretty decent nick, and although some of the driving can be a little erratic it's nothing you can't anticipate. We felt we saw a lot of the island over our two weeks, with particular highlights being the trip to the Angthong Marine Park, a safari day (up at "Waterfall 2"), and any number of wonderful meals, in particular a Thai style Christmas lunch at Poppies in Chaweng.

This is a good place for the more independent traveller but aside from the managing agent out there, we found Viva Vacation - a resort just around the corner - were very happy to "adopt" us to help us sort out expeditions, pick ups etc, as well as being a great local restaurant to get a nice meal in for two or three quid.

We spent 12 days in the villa in a group of 3 adults and 3 kids (5 and 8 y.o.). It is a perfect place to stay for families. The swimming pool is large and the waterfall was a great fun for the kids and even for us. The pool is shared with another villa (the same style), but it wasn;t occupied this time and we felt very comfortable and freely. Even if there were some people I am sure that it wasn't be a problem, as the garden and the swimmingpool are realy large.The villa is spacious and nice furnished. It is fully equipped and there are some games too, which made our evenings even more enjoyable. The big advantage is the contact with the owner who was very helpfull and provided us a lot of usefull information about the area. The property is hidden among the trees and is difficult to find for the first time. Renting a car or a motorbike is necessary in the property, but this necessity turned to be a great fun as well, as we rented a motorbike and we traveled like a real Thai family (with two kids and shopping on one bike :-))). There is a beach that you can go to admire a beautiful sunsets, but this is in the nearest village whihin ten minutes walk. If you go after the village gate, you find a resort named Viva Vacation Resort (if I rememeber well) when you can eat nice food in reasonable prices and use free Wi- Fi, as our computers didn,t work with the internet tool at the villa. To visit another points you need to ride a car or a morotbike. In the Nathon city there is a resataurant Sunset where you can eat delicious dishes in a very good price. We also ordered a take- away dishes from the lady by the main street (about ten minutes by the bike, direction south) and took it to the villa. This was also a good Thai food, very cheap and safe.There are two shops in the distance of 5 minutes by bike where you can buy most things needed and a bigger shopping, you can do in Tesco in Nathon. The minus of the property is the remotely from another peole which- nice during the day- makes the place a little spooky in the night. A little upsetting was a neighbourhood of the swamps where the frogs gave a loud concerts every night. However, what is imprtant, in spite of this, there were not many mosquitos in the area. Genarally, besides this, the place is very nice and knowing these little disadventages, you can spend a wondrefull time in the villa. We recommend the property!

We had the most incredible trip imagineable and were so disappointed to have to return home so quickly!

The villa is set back off the beaten track as described making it very peaceful and an ideal place to unwind. Our week was split between days out and about and days spent at the villa eating, drinking and enjoying the surroundings. The wildlife e.g. birds and butterflies you get to see in this location is stunning!

The pool was perfect for the adults in our party to have fun and great for the children, and it was warm day and night. The airconditioning in the villa was a very welcome relief at times to escape the humidity outdoors.

We had 4 adults in our party a 4 year old and a 17 mnth old and there was masses of space for us all. Dave very kindly supplied a beautiful rocking cot for our youngest daughter which made our lives a lot easier. We also hired a car seat and buggy from the car rental people that Dave recommended to us and they were great and saved us a lot of hassle.

It is highly recommended that you have a car though for getting supplies from the shops, going to restaurants and seeing what else the island has to offer (if this is your intention). Nathon is a 5-10 min drive away and has everything you need regards shopping, eating out etc. There are smaller supermarkets closer than this though and a local market which is much cheaper to buy food (probably avoid the meat because of the flies).

The beach at Lipa Noi is a dream - a paradise! It took 5 mins in the car to arrive at white sand and turquoise water which again was warm day and night! There were only a handful of other people on the beach and all of the hotels along the beach front were very welcoming and happy for you to order drinks and food, use the sunbeds etc.

Overall a great place! Perfect for peace and seclusion to get away from it all but only a short drive to more exciting things if that is what you are after. Dave made the whole transaction smooth before we travelled and upon our return - if only more things in life could be that simple!!!

Many many thanks for the memories.