Ban Sabai Big Buddha Retreat & Spa

During our 10 days of vacation, when we mostly stayed next door Hotel, we visited this small spa for four times, because the massage there was really good. Authentic Thai massage with very good feel and touch. Massage at Fisherman village was touristic and not closely as good as this spa massaeusers did. Also it is very peaceful and garden is full of plants. It is a bit more expensive than massage at Fisherman village but quality is several times better at this SPA.

When we first arrived they had no record of our reservation through Expedia or that we had already paid. If you’d like to go, book directly with the property- don’t do it through Expedia.

They were able to accommodate us anyways with their last available room. Our room was very beautiful. It was in the middle of a garden, up on the 2nd floor. We had a patio with a view of the ocean. The bathroom is an outdoor bathroom off the side of our room. Still very private, but we’d never had that before so it was interesting. TV didn’t work, but we couldn’t have cared less about that. They had Wi-Fi, the room was comfortable enough. It’s got open-air bug screens around the ceiling of the room, so you can always hear the ocean waves and the cars on the street nearby. Theres a big fan & AC still, so it’s a comfortable temperature in the room. There isn’t any restaurant or food offerings at the hotel, but there are restaurants within a 2 minute walk up and down the beach from the hotel. At night it’s very dark. There’s no lights around the property or the street outside and we used our phones lighting up the street when we walked to dinner.

The beach had garbage around.

We didn’t try any of the spa services or the gym, so I can’t comment on those.

In summary, I would say that we enjoyed our stay and the staff was really lovely at accommodating us. It is definitely a more unique hotel stay in my experience, so if you want a full-service hotel this may not be for you.

A very restful place to stay. We had 3 days there and relaxed in the tranquil atmosphere. Lovely staff and top notch service. We were served breakfast on our own terrace at what time we wanted, also if you wanted any other food they would cook it and serve it to you at a very reasonable price. I had a massage and body scrub and it was bliss.

I just I didn't like it. I think it doesn't worth to pay a lot of money.The view is awful to me. it was actually infront of the sea but the sea seems not good because there were some withered trees and trash ,and the sea is to sharrow so seemed not good... I just I hated to see the view. if it were more and more cheaper, it could have been ok ... but I think it was too expensive to pay the money even though I used the coupon. the room was clean but the door of bathroom doesn't close easily and the furniture seems a little scarely. the room is dark and wifi didn't work at all. it was much better to stay in the hostel which is much cheaper than this hotel . I also didn't like the location because it is far away from town. if it had a nice view it doesn't matter , but the view is not good and the room was dark and the wifi doesn't work at all , so I felt not ok... especially for me, it was the stay just by myself so the room looked very scarely . well, this is just my opinion so please feel what you feel.

The staff here are awsome, and so friendly. Jane was really helpful and spoke the best English of any Thai we have met. If you want a fairly secluded resort with a quite beach don't pass this up. I would like to thank all the staff here for allowing us to celebrate songkran with them.

One of the best hotels we stayed at on our trip to Thailand!
THe staff is simply amazing, they were extremely helpful and did not know what else to do to make us happy. Our flight didn't leave until late at night and even after we checked out they let us stay around and made sure we were comfy enough. The hotel room was extremely clean and beautiful. The hotel is well located for a relaxing trip but if you want to go in search of action it is 15 minutes away from the Fisherman's village. The only downside are the mosquitoes as they have a lot of stagnant water.

I absolutely loved this hotel and would come back again!

Excellent staff let down by the facilities.
Staff could not have been kinder or more helpful however, the spa itself is dated and is missing some basic facilities to be able to compete with other spas on the island
Pros
Has a very nice rustic feel, you can definitely escape modern life and you are in safe and professional hands in relation to detoxing.
A qualified nurse takes care of the orientation, blood test and more sensitive parts of the detoxing.
The room was large
The yoga teacher (Namwan) is extremely personable and pushes you as far as you feel you can go.
The Thai massages are as good as any I have received. (Would highly recommend the Aroma herbal massage and June as a masseuse).

Cons
Seems to be losing popularity against competition as I was the only guest for 8 nights out of 9 - so go in a group it you do go
Location wise is a bit remote - this helps for the detoxing but makes it a boring place to be. Can hire mopeds over the road relatively cheaply
Mosquitos - Lots of large plant pots with stagnant water which seem to breed mosquitos in the 100's . Go very prepared or you will get bitten a lot.
No swimming pool - this is a major problem as the beach is narrow, the sunbeds uncomfortable, in the shade most of the day and the water too dirty to swim in
Hard beds
Steam room was a waterproof tent over a chair with a rice cooker underneath - extremely effective the task but not exactly what I was anticipating

I was there to dive, easy to get to site of departure, easy to get scooter. On the beach and convenient.

This delightful resort and spa has an old world Thai charm-lovely wooden buildings,calming gardens,meditation and massage areas and the ocean on your doorstep.Quiet location just a 15 minute walk to town(or a very short taxi ride).Some excellent massage therapists and spa staff at call.Very restful with lovely ambience-quiet and peaceful.Wonderful and helpful staff.

ban sabai is located in a quiet beach, with a beautiful garden.
very nice and friendly stuff, proffesionall masages.
it is the second time we have been in ban sabai big buddha, and we are surely come again.

If you want some peace and relaxation it's the place to go!
I booked a yoga retreat package and it's the best thing I have ever done.

The retreat is small, there is no pool but it's right on the beach. The staff are the most loving, caring and they just could not do enough for you. They treated me like a princess.

The rooms are very large but could do with a little updating. I was there in July so there were a lot of mosquitoes too.

The yoga was the best I have ever experienced, the massages were fantastic and I was pampered day in day out!

It's a lovely quaint little place if you are just looking to escape from the world!!!

I like this resort. I went there without a booking and they offered me a couple of options of room available. It was for my last 2 night in Samui no discount ( unlike all the rest of places where i stayed) was offered. I stayed at the "jasmine" room , it was a very big and nice room .. there is not a pool or a bar or anywhere where you could "meet" any other guest .. therefore I do not advice to go as a SOLO traveler as you won't be able to mingle to any one . The breakfast was served in a table outside and they are making it for you , so you have to tell them the time you would like to have the breakfast ( find this quite strange). No other food is served in the resort , so if you want any other meal you have to leave the resort and getting it somewhere else. it is very close to Koh Samui airport only 10 min by car , so great location if you are flying from there . 10 driving minutes from The Fish market village which I highly recommended to visit on a Saturday night as they have plenty of things to buy and it is so lively ..
This resort is marketed as a Spa Retreat , when I went there the was not any sort of retreat ,.Yoga was not available and they only availability was a VERY expensive massage which I decided not to try ..if you walk in the beach going towards thr Big Buddha Pier you will find plenty of places offering a massages for a quarter of that price ( I tried few .. very good indeed) .

i arrived at ban sabai in a bit of a wreck, i was having trouble with my boyfriend and had a recently torn shoulder ligament. overall i was feeling a little lost. upon arrival a driver picked me up from the airport and took me to the resort. the girls was very welcoming and took care of me every step of the way. i even had a few issues with my bank card but the girls sorted it out to my relief. during my stay i had my first experience with yoga and immediately fell in love. staying at ban-sabai honestly changed my life and did me a world of good, i left a completely new person, i left a happy and healthy person. the detox was a little hard at times but if you stick to it you will see amazing results. i lost 4 kilograms and have kept it off since leaving 3 weeks ago. the location is amazing and i personally love the wooden style rooms. the in fared sauna and steam baths are a bonus. the only thing i would recommend is that they update the bathtub in the room i stayed in as it was a bit rusty, apart from that, its a great boutique place to visit and pamper yourself! next time i would like to try one of their other detox programs. there is a market at the base of the big buddha where u can find loads of cheap cotton shirts and one shop even has thai silk scarves, i would also recommend buying some organic coconut oil whilst your there as its a lot cheaper than buying at home. (i am a recent coconut oil addict lol, i bought back about 4 large bottles)

Highly recommend for the Thai massage and tranquil setting on the beach. There is also a beautiful dog called 'Cookie' whom I will never forget, touched my heart! Jane and the staff are wonderful, wish I could get back for more of their treatments - next time.

If you would be treated like a queen or king and pampered like a baby in paradise, with such heartwarming people, spend a few days or longer in Ban Sabai for massages and a detox.
Beautifully decorated in Thaistyle, along the beach
Elisabeth

Just went to another day spa at Ban Sabai on Dec 28th. Do not remember how many times I have been there...
I , my family and friends have been to Ban Sabai for day spa for so many times over the course of 10 years and it has always been outstanding ( I am from Hong Kong and fly to Samui at least 3 times a year! I do love Samui, lol) .I particularly like the "old charm" of the Thai wooden building. The building is 20 years old and undoubtedly need constant improvement .

The owner is a "take it easy" type of lady and so she does not aggressively promote the business and so not to get too busy for herself ( guess she has plenty of money for retirement anyways).

I never stayed over night there and so I cannot comment but I must say it is very hard to find a good floral bath in a 2-person wooden bath barrel anywhere in samui ! The massage therapists are the more experienced type ( at least 40 years old) and they know what they are doing.

Above all, it is the friendly staff that makes up to the old structure / facility and if you are looking for a traditional down to earth Thai hospitality, this is the place to find.

I've just returned from a five-night stay at the Ban Sabai Big Buddha retreat and spa in Koh Samui, Thailand. I enjoyed my stay but, were I to return to Koh Samui, I'd probably stay somewhere else.

There are a lot of really great things about this retreat, so I'll start with the pros.

The retreat faces directly onto the beach and offers beautiful views of the ocean, particularly at sunset. It's secluded and incredibly - almost eerily - quiet. I only saw one other guest during my stay. There was also a stray dog called Cookie. We became very good friends.

The room was spacious, attractive and clean. A tasty breakfast was provided each morning, and the staff were friendly and helpful, and the reception is attended until 9 pm each evening. The wi-fi is reliable and fast. Tick.

It's not all roses, though.

Communication is a problem at the hotel. Jane's English is great but, on arrival, I was greeted by a different (albeit lovely) lady whose English was incredibly difficult to understand. Fair enough, too. Unfortunately, this led to some confusion, particularly around the payment of spa treatments and private taxis. It would be helpful were a written document prepared, indicating when guests are to pay for spa treatments, that a private taxi service is offered by the hotel and that payment is to be made directly to the driver. This may go some way to bridging the gap in communication.

The price of the spa treatments is also very expensive, even by Australian standards. A one-hour massage in the retreat is 900 baht. With health cover, I pay significantly less than that in Australia. Down the road, it's about 250 baht.

Also, I want to point out that a lot of the promotional material for this retreat - Trip Advisor, Hotels.com, Expedia, et cetera - indicate a large, outdoor pool on site. Indeed, please refer to the retreat's profile image on the Trip Advisor website. This pool ... *drumroll* ... does. not. exist.

I specifically asked about this during my stay. I felt kind of silly because ... there's clearly no pool, you know? I'm not sure where this promotional picture comes from. Ban Sabai should probably change this, hey ...

There *is* an incredibly small, tiled pond in the grounds of the retreat. It may once have been a plunge pool, but you'd be crazy to use it. Crazy. I figured it was purely decorative. It's green. With mosquitoes. Pretty ... but if I saw someone floating in it, I'd assume they were dead.

The retreat's location is also a bit difficult. It's sort of in the middle of nowhere. Google indicates a short walk to Fisherman's Village. Unfortunately, this is along a treacherous, jungle highway, necessitating the constant need for taxis to and from the retreat, which aren't cheap, again, even by Australian standards.

In conclusion, while there are a lot of good things about Ban Sabai, there's also room for improvement. I wouldn't necessarily have a problem staying here again; I just don't think I'd choose to.

On my trip I required a room for just one night so looked for budget accomodation. I had originally planned to stay at another hotel but it was so disappointingly small and uncomfortable I left and walked to the Ban Sabai (not mentioning the other hotel's name as it's unfair as I didn't stay there and the manager didn't charge a cancellation fee).

When I asked whether a room was available and what the price was it turned out to be slightly cheaper than the room from the hotel I just left. This concerned me so I asked whether I could see the room excepting a box and a mattress on the floor, well, imagine my surprise in seeing a room about 3 times bigger with a bed twice as the one I abandoned.

Can't comment on the spa facilities as I never tried them, but they do seem to focus themselves as a spa rather than a hotel/resort and I did notice a few day guests.

There are cons such as the the rooms being dated, the pools of still water around the gardens do attract mosquitos and the bath tub felt a little fragile when standing in it.

Perhaps it was due to the exceptionally friendly staff, very polite and engaging, but
for all it's quirks (for some strange reason the cupboard is in the bathroom instead of the ample sized room) I enjoyed my short stay and thought it a bargain.

Staying at Ban Sabai was an amazing experience, the staff are so warm and friendly and they ensured we were comfortable and happy. The gardens are beautiful and and well maintained and the location on Big Buddha Beach is perfect for a relaxing holiday. The buildings are authentic Thai architecture and the rooms are huge and inviting with authentic Thai furnishings. We stayed here for 6 days and enjoyed every moment, I would definately stay here again.

This was hands down one of the nicest, tranquil and relaxing hotels and spas on the island. It small size makes it feel very "homey" and the staff couldn't be any nicer and helpful. The spa treatments were 1st class. The room was extremely clean, spacious and suprisingly modern. Would highly recommend Ban Sabai Big Buddha!!