I stayed here for one night with my husband. I was initially impressed by the beach front location, cute swings, lounge chairs, and individual villa style rooms with beach views and front porch. However, upon entering the room, I was disappointed -the top of the shower area was see through ( plastic cover i think ?) so I could see the dirt/leaves accumulated from the weather. The bathroom itself was also very dim, even with the lights turned on. There was barely any water for showering on the night that we stayed, service was minimal.

Although I would prefer to stay somewhere else next time, I actually really enjoyed my experience here. The location was peaceful and relaxing, with a small and quiet beach. I really felt like I was on a secluded island far away from the hustle and bustle of city life.

If you are looking for night life, entertainment, and luxurious accommodations, however, I would not recommend Ao Cho Hideaway.

We arrived by speedboat from the mainland (about £25 each way) and were dropped on the beach and waded ashore. The Ocean View bungalow was pleasent enough and very peaceful. It was was cleaned each day by grumpy cleaners and it had a TV, Kettle and decent air con. The beach was clean and fairly quiet and ideal if you are looking for a peaceful holiday. We did the hotel facilities a bit lacking though with any chance of eating over by 9pm. The next beach is 10 mins walk and we found it a little more viberant in the evenings with the chance to eat a bit later. The breakfast was served on the beach in a buffet style and offered very little choice with either rice or noodles, eggs and ham or frankfurters along with a small choice of fresh fruit. I was alarmed by the way the frankfurters and ham were left in a try with no heat or ice to avoid any problems and I suggested that the butter would be better kept in iced water so as to avoid pouring it on the bread. My wife eat the breakfast on day 4 and suffered severe food poisoning and she was really ill for 24 hours vomiting violently which obviously spoiled our stay. We also found that most of the staff were young and from Burma and quite honestly, could hardly smile a good morming each day and provided some of the worst service I have ever come across which is down to the training i guess as clearly the management consider it OK to treat paying guests with such indifference. We did go for a trip and found that once you leave the resorts and travel inland a little, the full extent of how filthy the island really is becomes aparent. We were horrified at the rubbish and lack of respect for the environment the locals seem to have and also the lack of infastucture. Its all about a fast buck and giving very little in return. Whilst the beach and room were quite nice, we wonr be returning to either this hotel or the island of Koh Samet.

It is very difficult to find a reasonable priced, clean resort on Ko Samet and Ao Cho Hideaway proves the point. The bungalows are well located and have a lovely sitting area out front. They are comfortable and clean inside though not especially large. They would definitely be worth 1500 baht on an average Thai beach in the south, but the problem is that Ao Cho Hideaway charges 3000 baht for these simple air con bungalows. It is outrageous until you realize that most other places on Samet also overcharge and they are still full every weekend and publuc holiday since the island is just so beautiful and close to Bangkok.
The staff is terrible here, most of them are Burmese immigrant workers who live in filthy shacks right behind the resort. It's really no wonder then that they never smile, don't communicate well and are generally just incompetent. The owner of this resort should invest some money and hire at least a few properly trained staff, but I guess this is too much to ask. The food is terrible here, especially the free breakfast, which is hot dog sausage with egg and imitiation juice, or imitation ham with egg and juice or leftover rice in chicken broth. Mmmm.... I know this is standard in many Thai guesthouses, but I am paying 3000 baht, the same as Evason Pranburi in low season (check my review) which is a 5 star resort with 5 star food and facilities, also on the beach.
Only stay here if you cannot find any other place on Samet as its only redeeming future is its excellent location, between busy Wong Deuan and lovely Tubtim beach.