Can you hack the Conrad Koh Samui?

More than one month after trip to Koh Samui, my stay at the Conrad remains one of the most amazing experiences of my life.

Despite the rather hit and miss service, the quality of the villas, the breathtaking views and the experience of watching day turn to night over the sea from your own private villa pool make this a must-return place for me.

 Base Case (S$1,083 per night)

The problem is, as you might expect, that such an experience does not come cheap. I burned 95,000 HHonors points in my account for this trip , and even that only got me one night at the property (to be fair those points were more or less costless to me, coming as compensation for a disappointing stay at a property in Pune).

So when I was looking at revenue rates for a potential getaway for 3D2N over the long NDP weekend (6th-9th Aug, with one day leave taken on 8th Aug), my heart sank. The views are as breathtaking as the price, evidently.

84,277 THB (S$3,250) for 3 nights is, unfortunately, somewhat outside my price range. And by somewhat, I mean totally. But if there’s one thing The Milelion doesn’t do, it’s pay full price! (or shower twice a day because seriously who has time for that)

So, how can we bring The Conrad Koh Samui into affordable territory? Those dastardly Americans have their Hilton HHonors cobranded cards which give them 2 free weekend nights at any Hilton property around the world (well not any, but the Conrad Koh Samui is included)

Those of us in Asia have to be a bit more creative…

Option 1: Hilton Premium Club Membership (S$623 per night)

I only recently learned about this rather low-profile program, but it provides you with a way to get more than 50% off the Conrad’s usual rates.

Here’s the deal. You buy an annual membership for Thailand at THB7,500 (S$290). This comes with-

• 1 Voucher for 1 night accommodation at THB 11,250 nett (Deluxe Villa) with ABF (American Breakfast) at Conrad Koh Samui (Valid any day in the week) booking based on availability, excluding Public Holidays for resort hotels
• 4 Vouchers for one night in a Deluxe room “Beach Escape” for 2 persons with ABF (valid Sunday to Thursday) at THB 11,500+++ (for a Deluxe Villa) at Conrad Koh Samu
• 2 Vouchers for one night at Best Available Rate and receive second night COMPLIMENTARY, Excluding Public Holidays for resort properties.

Let’s do some quick math for my 6-9th August stay-

• 6th Aug-11,250 THB (13,452 THB all-in)
• 7th Aug- 11,500 THB (13,751 THB all-in)
• 8th Aug- 11,500 THB (13,751 THB all-in)

The total amount will be 40,953 THB (S$1,580). Remember to add the cost of your Hilton Premium Club Membership (7,500 THB) and altogether you’re looking at S$1,870 versus S$3,250 if you went for the official rates. How’s that for some travel hacking!

It gets better. Along with your Hilton Premium Club membership comes the following substantial savings on your spa and restaurant spend at the property-

• One (1) Voucher buy one and get one for free Spa Treatment. Valid at Hilton Worldwide Hotels in Thailand. Fully Transferable
• One (1) Voucher for Complimentary Set or Buffet Lunch for two persons (Valid everyday) food only. Valid at Azure at Conrad Koh Samui
• One (1) Voucher for Complimentary Set or Buffet Dinner for two persons (Valid everyday) food only. Valid at Zest at Conrad Koh Samui
• One (1) Voucher for Complimentary Afternoon Tea for two people. Valid at Aura Lounge at Conrad Koh Samui,
• One (1) Voucher for Complimentary bottle of House Wine when dining in any restaurant. Valid at Hilton Worldwide Hotels in Thailand. Non-Transferable.
• One (1) Voucher Buy one bottle of House Wine or House Spirits at a 50% discount when dining in any restaurant. Valid at Hilton Worldwide Hotels in Thailand. Fully Transferable.
• One (1) Voucher for Complimentary Signature Drinks for 2 persons. Valid at Hilton Worldwide Hotels in Thailand. Non-Transferable
• 50% off dining at Azure and Zest when 2 people dine (33% with 3 people, 25% with 4 people)

That’s quite a bonanza. To summarise, 1 for 1 spa treatments at the Conrad Koh Samui spa, 1 complimentary buffet lunch, buffet dinner, and afternoon tea plus complimentary drinks and house wine is going to settle all your meals for a day. For the rest of your stay, you can use the 50% off (when 2 people dine) at Azure and Zest.

Like I said in my review of the Conrad, the base prices at Zest aren’t cheap by any means, but they’re reasonable given that you’re in a 5 Star property. Take a further 50% off the menu price and you’re looking at a very sweet deal indeed

I’d probably put this as my preferred method of hacking the Conrad, given the other freebies that come with the membership.

Note: There are other benefits that apply at other properties in Thailand but since the focus of this post is on the Conrad Koh Samui I’ve excluded them from above. Strongly encourage you to read the full range of benefits here.

Option 2: The Entertainer (S$566 per night, sort of)

For the uninitiated, The Entertainer is a discount booklet full of buy 1 get 1 free deals at restaurants, activities, retail establishments, spas etc.

The cost is S$85, although they run frequent sales where you can buy it for S$75 or less. You can read more about the Entertainer here, and I believe there is a S$10 off coupon there you can use too.

The Entertainer also has a Hotels section which has numerous vouchers with buy 1 night get 1 night free. The first night must be priced at the Best Flexible Available Rate. One (somewhat major) issue with this is that The Entertainer only covers the Conrad Koh Samui Residences. The Residences are located in exactly the same place as the Conrad Koh Samui, but they comprise of 2 and 3 bedroom villas instead of the standard 1 bedroom villa.

If you look at this map you’ll see the 2 and 3 bedroom villas on the upper levels of the property. The Conrad regular 1 bedroom villas start with 1XX, 2XX and 3XX. 4XX and above are the Residences

I emailed customer service to ask, and the base level 2 bedroom villa will set you back THB 56,501 a night, or S$2,180. Add S$85 for The Entertainer and that’s S$2,265.

If we factor in the 1 free night, that rate gets halved to S$1,130. But remember that it’s a 2 bedroom villa, so if you find another couple to go with it’s effectively S$566 a night.

Of course, this rate is only valid if you’re able to find a second couple to go with. And I’m sure the villa is plenty large, but unless you’re the swinging sort you might be more comfortable having a romantic weekend in a bit more privacy. For what it’s worth, the rate comes with full breakfast for 4 adults.

Option 3: Buying HHonors Points (S$540 or $640 per night, depending on period)

The final option is to buy Hilton HHonors points and redeem them for a room. These go on sale several times a year and the cheapest price I’ve seen them go at is 0.5 US cents per point.

Points rates at the Conrad Koh Samui (when available) price either at 80,000 or 95,000. For the period I’m looking at it’s pricing at 95,000.

The total price for 3 nights will be S$1,920 (95,000 points *3 nights * US$0.005 per point), or S$640 per night. Of course, if you can find a period with 80,000 point rates, the cost will be S$540 a night.

Remember that you can only buy a maximum of 80,000 points per year. This figure is before bonuses, meaning that the effective maximum you can get is 160,000 points at a cost of US$800. So you’d need your partner to buy points as well in order to get enough.

Conclusion

The Conrad Koh Samui is an absolute must-visit place if you’re intending to head to Koh Samui. The above tricks by no means make the Conrad Koh Samui cheap, but they bring the otherwise unattainable prices down to more realistic levels.

Hope this helps!