Samui Cliff View offers cottages/villas set in a lush hillside. The rooms are stylishly equipped and have stunning views. The layout of the resort gives accommodations a feeling of exclusive privacy. The hotel seems relatively new so the facilities show none of the decay/mold that seems to be present at older resorts. While the hotel is accessed from Samui's busy main road, we didn't have the feeling of crowded over-development that we got visiting the beach hotels. We looked at the other hotels that we considered booking at and were really happy with our choice of the Cliff View after the fact.
At the base of the hillside is a manicured sandy sunbathing area, and steps lead down to the rocky water's edge where there is a sheltered swimming cove. When the sea is calm, jumping off the rocks into the warm, blue waters reminded me of a Mediterranean scene. The snorkeling here was pretty good, although the hotel masks left something to be desired. There is no beach, but what we found is that when you are on Samui's beaches you get heavily hassled by merchants and passers by, and you lose any sense of exclusivity or privacy (except at $800 night places which have private beaches). For a beach experience the hotel has a great shuttle which runs hourly that drops you off at the beach down the road. This gave us the benefits of the privacy of the Cliff View without the negatives of the beach. It occured to me that if there was a tsunami we would be above it.
The restaurant is good for breakfast, but we preferred to hop into a tuk-tuk to town for dinner.
There are 130 steps from the pool to the lobby. This is not a place for handicapped people.