Well, my wife and I have just got home after 7 days at Bandara, we had a great time! The staff are welcoming and friendly, although at times their lack of English can lead to a little confusion. Our room was clean and comfortable, with good views of main pool area. The Beach pool is a great place to while away the hours watching the boats and beach sellers while enjoying a drink.

If you are into Thai cooking you must try the cooking class that the Head Chef runs, we had a ball and learnt a lot, it includes a trip to the local fresh market. The restaurants are good although maybe a little pricey when you can wander down the beach to Fisherman's Village and select from a huge range of bars etc.

Bandara is on the main ring road around Samui, making it easy to get anywhere and easy to get back to by taxi, just make sure you agree on the price first!

We had a ball and would go back again to this little tropical gem!

We have just returned from two weeks in Thailand were we enjoyed a slendid six days at the Bandara

My research initially caused some concern as the reviews from trip advisor and other holiday makers werent that favourable but we are so glad we gave the resort the opportunity to accommodate us.

The service from all the Bandara staff was exceptional, the food was great and the villa was just amazing with the plunge pool and the out door bath / shower made the stay a real treat.

The food at the resort can be a little on the dear side after tax is included but make certain you book the romantic dinner for two on the beach, we enjoyed this on our last night and it was the most pleasant evening we enjoyed.

The location is fantastic with the fishermans village a nice stroll away down the beach with a vast array of restaurants to choose from.

There is also a 7 Eleven across the road from the resort to stock up if need be.

We intend to return to the Bandara next year and cant wait.

We could not fault this hotel at all - everything was perfect!

Rooms are great, large well equipped, nicely decorated etc, plenty of personal touches- they supply everything, towels, flip flops, a beach bag so you wont need to bring much.

2 pools and its right on the beach so you can you can do either.

2 restaurants, both good, one is right on the beach (try the thai buffet night - the food was great!).

Location: About 3km from Chaweng beach which is the main tourist beach. However the closest area for bars/restaurants is fishermans village, dont bother getting a cab as its quicker and nicer to walk to it along the beach (10 mins walk) from the hotel. Plenty of bars and resturants here which should cater for all tastes.

Staff: Could not be more friendly/helpful.

Spa: Is on site and well worth a visit if you are in to treatments/massages etc.

We stayed at Bandara for 9 days in February 2008. We had the most beautiful holiday.
We were planning to just sit back and relax at the Resort for the short 9 days of our trip but we ended up making boat excursions to other island as well as renting a car for 5 days of our stay.
Ko Samui is a wonderful island with many exciting activities to spend your time.
About the hotel:
1. Rooms- we had a ground floor deluxe room which was clean, cosy and - besides the additional shower as others have mentioned - it was definitely worth its 4 stars.
We enjoyed the ground floor location because the main swimming pool was literally 10 steps from our balcony. (the room was equipped with lots of amenities, DVD player with 2 + 1 speakers, cofee maker, free wifi, minibar, nice bath, etc.)
2. Gardens - there is a lush tropical garden as seen on the pictures which is very well kept with ponds everywhere. Simply beautiful. The only downside was the mosquitoes which came right after sunset therefore it was not very pleasant to sit still in the garden or on the balcony at these times.
3. Food - we found the main restaurant very good at international foods for dinner (the breakfast was great too). The beach restaurant had a superb view on the bay of Bophut, and served good snacks and thai grills. The resort's restaurants were a bit expensive so we also checked out several restaurants in Fishermans' Village. The Shack (great steaks) and the Happy Elephant (thaifood) were our favorites.
The Full Moon Italian restaurant at the neighboring Anantara Resort is also a must.
The daily supplies (snacks, softdrink, water) can be bought easily and cheap in the small shop opposite to the hotel.
4. Staff - from the check-in - through all our meals and other requests, - to the check-out procedure at early morning the staff was always friendly, respectful, quick and very effective. We also arranged our excursions and car rentals with their help which seemed very fast and turned out to be the cheapest option we could find on the entire island. For example we rented the car (Suzuki Sporty) for as low as 17 EUR per day with full insurance.

Things we did not like:
- mosquitoes
- the free wifi was slow and unreliable (some of my mailboxes were downloaded in a sec the others were not working at all)
- the spa of the hotel was overpriced (though beautiful) but superb massage could be found on the beach

Overall: very good Resort, well worth its price.