Baan Bida Manda

About the hotel:
What a wonderful place! It is run by an extremely nice & helpful staff and owner. Baan Bida Manda is an operation with 8 or 9 very nice bungalows within a walled-in compound. The bungalows themselves are very nice, very modern, and large (about 17 feet by about 30 ). They have a kitchenette, with a small fridge, a sitting area with a hi-speed DSL internet connection (at no extra charge), a bedroom area, a western style bathroom, and plenty of storage. The A/C and TV work well. Maid service is once week, but that is all that is really needed. The bungalows have all-tile floors, so they are easy to keep clean. You have a small porch (with an awning) to sit at outside. The owners and staff have done an AMAZING job of landscaping! What a beautiful and lush setting! The pool is not large, but plenty big to cool off in, with a nice outdoor shower. Flowers, jungle vegetation, and birds everywhere. Just wonderful. In the bungalow, the bed is very hard, but what we Westerners consider hard beds are VERY common all across Thailand at most resorts and hotels. In any case, the very nice staff lady there (Kale) gave me a foam pad to put on my bed and I was OK then. Just a small example of how nice and considerate they are there. The place is very quite, with what I consider an excellent location. If you are looking for a jumping, hi-traffic, loud, hot spot , Baan Bida Manda is NOT it. This place is nice, quite, and has a very secluded feeling, though it is only about 300 feet off the blacktop. I consider it a place more for an older crowd. It is about a 5 minute walk to Maenam beach, or 5 minutes the other direction to the Ring Road . You can eat MUCH cheaper at a sidewalk cafe on the Ring Road than at the tourist places in the immediate area of the resort. Just go to the Ring Road, turn left, stay on the LHS of the road, walk about 250 feet and you will see a small Thai sidewalk cafe with blue chairs under the Harry s Bungalows sign. Nothing fancy at all......just your typical Thai sidewalk cafe run by a family. A nice lady named Chim runs the place and will whip you out the best plate of chicken or shrimp fried rice you have ever had, for only about a $1.50. You can grab a beer to take with you to drink with your meal at the corner store on your way there if you wish. Tell them at Chim s that Papa sent you. Just beyond Chim s is May s Bar , with some VERY nice ladies there if you are a single gentlemen looking for some company. No need to go all the way to Chaweng beach for that unless you want to. They have some good American style burgers at the biker place across the street.... Hawgs . Also, you can get an excellent motorbike from the resorts owners brother there at the intersection of the dirt road (to the resort) and the blacktop road to Lomprayah Ferry and Na Phra Lam temple. Go is the gentlemans nickname. He will usually not require your passport if you are staying at his brothers place. He has excellent condition bikes there, all at the going rate. TIP: the longer you rent one, the cheaper per day it can be. Also, I can highly recommend the Lomprayah bus/ferry service from Bangkok. A 6 or 7 hour bus ride from downtown Bangkok in an excellent bus, the ferry then departs the mainland at Chumpom. No need to go all the way to Surat Thani to catch a ferry. It cost about 1/4 of what the total price is to fly from BKK to Samui( considering the ticket, the Samui airport fee, and a high taxi rate from the airport). It takes about 12 hours total to get from Bangkok to Samui. Very comfortable. And you see so much more than if you fly. Lomprayah will get you to about any resort on Samui for a small amount. Or, you can simply walk the 5 minutes to Baan Bida Manda if your bags are managable. Otherwise the ferry service will be happy to take you on a 2 minute ride to within about 300 feet of the resort. At Baan Bida Manda, I stayed long enough to get the GREAT monthly rate the resort offers. It is a BARGAIN folks! Take my word for it. You pay for electricity on the monthly rate though. My cost was about $90, but I was there in the hottest time of the year, and I had to stay indoors more than I would had since I dislocated my shoulder while on Samui. If you are looking for a nice quite, laid back, secluded yet handy place to stay......that gives you a lot for your money, you cannot beat Baan Bida Manda. I know what I am talking about. I have been to Thailand many times, and to Samui twice for extended periods. Tell them Papa sent you!!

About the reservation service:
Very smooth and seamless. Thanks!

About the hotel:
Stayed for one week at Bida Manda.. And had a great time, very nice and helpful staff, very good value for money. Bida Manda is not big and doesn t provide much in service and all, but wins in; nice garden, good location and good price. Can only recommend it....

About the reservation service:
Like always - perfect service :-)

About the hotel:
Well ! Baan Bida Manda was amazing. Took me a long time to find it though, but once I got the web page I knew it was exactly what I was looking for - it had everything I wanted. I booked it for a month and paid the monthly rate which was around 450 bhat a day. Its out of my budget at 900. (But its phenomenal value at 900 a day if its within your budget) If you find this place online - consider yourself very lucky. It took me months to find it and I must have looked at everyplace within budget on all three islands - Koh Sumui, phangan and tao. Maenam beach is amazing and probably the best on Sumui. Very kind owners. Top of the class !

About the reservation service:
Very helpful and co operative. Recommended. No worries.