Koh Samui is a tourist paradise. The entire infrastructure of the island is built on services for holidaymakers. The real estate market is no exception. You can choose a villa for every taste and budget. There are several search options for this.
Many gated communities have been built on the island, which include about a dozen villas, a swimming pool, a landscaped area and other joys of life for visitors. There are also detached villas, also built for subsequent lease.
Search for a villa through an intermediary
There are two ways to search for such companies that will help you rent a villa on Koh Samui:
1. In the search engines Google, Yandex and other sites of these companies will be in the "top", that is, the first in the list. You can safely go in, choose a villa for yourself and write a booking request.
2. Search through social networks. It is enough to find groups by request "Samui", select the most popular and ask questions there. As a rule, these are groups of the same intermediary companies. In public there are links to real estate sites and contacts of managers. Write your requests to the manager and they will help you find the villa. For money, of course.
The difference between searching through social networks is that the group also includes ordinary islanders who can freely share the information of interest with you. This does not mean that you will be immediately picked up a villa for free. However, subscribers can give a lot of valuable advice regarding the organization of island life. This will give you a better chance of collecting real information. The advantages of intermediaries are that they speak Russian. It is easy to find a common language with them and explain what you need. The downside of such companies is an exorbitant desire to make money on you and at the same time perform a minimum of work. That is, if you want to rent an inexpensive villa, then most likely you will not be very interesting to intermediaries. If you want to rent an expensive villa, then you will be treated as a valuable client, but be prepared for the fact that the villa will cost more than market value.
Search through online booking systems
In this case, we are talking about sites: Booking.com, Agoda.com, Airbnb.com and the like.
On such sites, the owners of villas, hotels, hostels and guesthouses directly present their properties. Here, in fact, the site itself is the mediator. But, as a rule, these sites do not charge commission from you, but from the property owner. Or the commission is already included in the cost that you see on the site. You pay only the price that is presented in the description.
Property owners try to fill in as many fields as possible in the description in order to attract a client. Such booking systems are very convenient because you can read reviews of the selected villa and clarify a lot of useful information about it before making a booking decision.
There are still disadvantages to this method of finding housing. First of all, this is the fact that without having a clear idea of the island, you can choose a not very convenient location, face the fact that it looked a little different in the photo, or find flaws in the service. To avoid this, carefully read the reviews and ask the owners questions in advance.
Self-guided villa search upon arrival
This is an option for single travelers or couples without children who speak English. Thais do not speak English very well, but in Russian they most likely will not understand a word at all.
The search steps are as follows:
1. You are arriving in Koh Samui.
2. Check into any hostel or guesthouse for a couple of days (you can book in advance through intermediary sites).
3. Drive around the island and choose the area you like.
4. After you have chosen, you start driving along the streets of this area and look where there are “RENT” announcements or signs with phone numbers. If there are vacant houses in the village, the owners immediately write about it at the entrance.
five. Call the phone numbers and arrange to see the villas. As a rule, they will be shown to you right away. The owners either give directions to the staff or come and show themselves.
6. Look at the villas, agree on the price, the amount of the deposit (it will be returned to you after the lease term). Find out if utilities are included - electricity and water.
