We stayed at both hotels back to back on our Thailand trip, so this is my honest comparison of The Retreat vs Sol Beach Koh Chang. I’ve also written a full review of each, The Retreat Koh Chang and Sol Beach Koh Chang, if you want more detail.
Below I’ll compare where each hotel is, what the rooms are like and how much we paid. You’ll also learn about the food, the vibe, the facilities and why I’d stay at both.
I have to say, the two couldn’t be more different. The Retreat is a calm, upmarket, adults only hotel with breakfast included and shops a two minute walk away, and it’s perfect for when you first arrive. Sol Beach is right on the sand, with exceptional food, a DJ at sunset, a sauna and an ice bath, and it’s great when you’re ready to be around people. I would definitely choose both, with The Retreat first and then Sol Beach.
We paid for both stays ourselves so this is not a sponsored post.
See prices and availability at The Retreat Koh Chang
See prices and availability at Sol Beach Koh Chang
The Retreat vs Sol Beach Koh Chang side by side
Before we get started, check out my Instagram reel review of the hotels:
| The Retreat | Sol Beach | |
|---|---|---|
| Area | Kai Bae Beach | Klong Prao Beach |
| Type of hotel | Adults only boutique hotel, 38 rooms | Boutique beachfront hotel, 16 bungalows |
| What we paid | AU$270 a night, before high season | AU$220 a night |
| Breakfast | Included, order anything off the menu | About 800 baht for two |
| On the beach? | No, but the deck flows out to the ocean | Yes, right on the sand |
| Swimming pool | Yes | No |
| Aperol Spritz | 450 baht | 300 baht |
| Walk to shops? | Yes, within about two minutes | No |
| Booking.com score | 9.7 out of 10 | 9.0 out of 10 |
Where are The Retreat and Sol Beach Koh Chang?
The Retreat Koh Chang is on Kai Bae Beach, and Sol Beach Koh Chang is at the northern end of Klong Prao Beach, the next beach up. Both are on the west coast, where nearly everything on the island is, and a cab between the two cost us 300 baht.
I’ve written a full guide on how to get to Koh Chang from Bangkok, and it’s a long day, so have your travel insurance sorted before you set off. The Retreat picked us up from the ferry for free, and Sol Beach will help arrange a transfer on WhatsApp.
Which location is better?
For me, The Retreat has the better location. Within about a two minute walk you’ve got a 7-Eleven, street stalls with cheap Thai food and massage places. I felt more connected there, because we could go outside to the shops and we weren’t restricted to the resort. Once you’re back inside, you feel like you’re in your own little private oasis.
Sol Beach is a bit out of the way from the main road, so you can’t just walk out to the shops. We got a local taxi to White Sand Beach for 100 baht each and took the driver’s WhatsApp. But it’s the type of place where you don’t feel like you need to leave, and we got chatting to some Australians who hadn’t left in about four days.
The rooms at The Retreat vs Sol Beach Koh Chang
These aren’t quite like for like, because we got the cheapest room at The Retreat and a much larger family room at Sol Beach.
The Retreat
We got an upstairs balcony room with no view of the beach. It was nice and cold and really spacious, with a stocked minibar and a beautiful Japanese inspired bathroom. Next time I’d book one of the pool access rooms downstairs, which have their own little swimming area that flows out onto the main pool.
Sol Beach
We stayed in Luna 1, a family room with two king size beds. The beauty of it is you just open the door, and bam, you’re straight onto the sand, and we could be in the sea in like 30 seconds.
The shower isn’t great though. It’s an electric shower and there’s hardly any water coming out of it. If you want to walk straight onto the sand, ask for the first row, because the others are in the garden behind.
Which room I preferred
The Retreat felt a lot more luxurious, and I preferred the bathroom. But walking out of our room and being in the sea in 30 seconds was absolutely amazing, and you don’t get that at The Retreat.
How much The Retreat and Sol Beach Koh Chang cost
We paid AU$270 a night at The Retreat with breakfast included, and AU$220 a night at Sol Beach without it. So Sol Beach was about AU$50 a night less, but breakfast cost us about 800 baht for two, which is around AU$34. That only leaves about AU$16 a night between them.
The big thing to know is the season. The rates at The Retreat almost halve before high season starts on 1 November. They went up to over AU$400 after that, which was out of our budget, and that’s why we only stayed the first two nights. We moved to Sol Beach on 1 November, so in high season the gap could be a lot bigger. Prices vary depending on your dates, so search yours before you book.
An Aperol Spritz was 450 baht at The Retreat and 300 baht at Sol Beach, which is a big difference.
Food and drinks at Sol Beach do add up though, and our 2 day stay came to over 8,000 baht (about AU$340). If I was coming again, I’d stock up at 7-Eleven first. At The Retreat it’s easier to keep your costs down, because the street stalls are two minutes up the road. We ended up paying 6,000 baht for our two night stay on food and drinks at The Retreat.
The food at The Retreat vs Sol Beach Koh Chang
The Retreat has the better breakfast deal, but I think Sol Beach has the better food overall.
Breakfast
Breakfast at The Retreat is amazing, because it’s included and it’s à la carte, so you can order anything off the massive menu. Steve ordered about four dishes, and we sat there for an hour and a half looking out at the water.
Breakfast at Sol Beach was really good too, but you have to pay for it.
Lunch and dinner
The Retreat is known for its Japanese food, from its Zojima restaurant. I had the Japanese and Steve had the Thai, and I turned to him and said, “I’m guessing this will be the best food we have all holiday.”
I was wrong. The food at Sol Beach is exceptional. It feels very, very fresh and clean, which is very noticeable coming from Australia, and there’s a huge mixture, from poke bowls to acai bowls to Thai food. I don’t think we’re going to get better food than what we had there.
What The Retreat and Sol Beach Koh Chang feel like
The Retreat
The Retreat Koh Chang is very much a boutique hotel, part of Small Luxury Hotels of the World, and it feels very upmarket. I felt like the staff were a bit too over-attentive at times, and they did mess up Steve’s breakfast order quite a few times, but it felt a lot more luxurious.
It was way calmer there, and I felt like I could literally just sit on the sun lounger all day and chill out.
Sol Beach
Sol Beach Koh Chang feels like the type of place that’s run by people our age, who have been in Thailand from back in the day when it was very much about partying. But they’ve brought it up to date with a more grown-up approach, so it’s about healthy food, a gym and an ice bath. There are a lot of very fit people, which I thought would feel a bit intimidating, but it’s a relaxed sort of space.
Sitting on the sun loungers at sunset with an Aperol and the DJ playing chill-out Ibiza music was a proper pinch me moment. What surprised me is how subdued it is. No one was dancing when the DJ was playing, and people just carried on having dinner during the fire show. As someone who backpacked around Thailand 15 years ago, I remember everyone having the best time.
It did take me a little bit of time to get used to it after The Retreat, but by the second day we both said it was really growing on us.
Noise
The biggest downside at The Retreat was the noise of people working, mowing and fixing boats next to the restaurant, although I think we only noticed because we live in the country in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland.
We nearly didn’t book Sol Beach because the rooms looked right next to the bar. But the DJ is only on between 4 and 7pm and the bar closes at 10pm. There’s music on the beach during the day, which feels different coming from Australia, but by our second day they’d got it really right.
Kids and smoking
The Retreat is adults only, so there are no screaming kids anywhere. If you’re travelling with kids, look at its sister hotel, The Chill Resort. Sol Beach had families staying while we were there, and it has family rooms. But they were the type of families that didn’t have screaming kids and were actually really sweet and well behaved.
Even though Sol Beach is health conscious, they still allow people to smoke in the public areas, which really surprised me. The Retreat had no smoking or vaping at all.
Facilities and activities at each hotel
The pool or the beach
The Retreat doesn’t have its own beach, but it’s got a beautiful deck that flows out from the restaurant to the ocean, and the pool is great. They bring you free water, you can order food to your sunbed, and we spent the whole of our second day there.
Sol Beach has no swimming pool, which the hotel says is by design, so it’s all about the beach. There are really beautiful sun loungers just for guests, and it’s the coolest pontoon I think I’ve ever seen. It’s got chairs on it and you feel like you’re on your own little pirate ship. It’s about a 3 minute swim, or you can pretty much walk out to it at low tide. There are sandflies around though, and a bit of sea lice occasionally.
Wellness and activities
The Retreat does Pilates, yoga, sound healing and walks up to Kai Bae waterfall, and there’s a spa and a fitness centre. We went to the sound healing and it was so good.
Sol Beach has a gym, massage, a sauna and an ice bath, and the hotel says the sauna, ice bath and 9am yoga or Pilates class are free for hotel guests. They’ve even got slacklining between two trees, and juggling. They also do stand up paddleboarding, snorkelling and private boat trips, so check your travel insurance covers them.
Massages are 450 baht at Sol Beach, but they’re 280 baht next door. I had one and it was definitely worth it. Near The Retreat, they were 300 baht on the main road.
Which is better, The Retreat or Sol Beach Koh Chang?
I would definitely choose both to stay in, with The Retreat Koh Chang first and then Sol Beach Koh Chang.
The Retreat is perfect for when you first arrive. We had a terrible time getting to Thailand, with cancelled flights, lost luggage and all that stuff, and it was the perfect stay to decompress.
Sol Beach is great when you’re ready to be around people, as it was busier than The Retreat. I liked it for the package it offers, with amazing food, an incredible sunset on the beach with a DJ, and access to the gym, classes, sauna, ice bath and massage.
I did feel more like I wanted to spend money at Sol Beach, because the food was good and it reminded me of old Thailand times, so I wanted to drink cocktails. I kind of almost felt, what should I get from the restaurant next? What should I get from the bar next? I didn’t feel like that at The Retreat.
The Retreat is perfect for:
- Couples who want to switch off
- Anyone into yoga and meditation
- Anyone who wants breakfast included
- Walking out to shops and street food
- Watch my Instagram reel review
Sol Beach is perfect for:
- Anyone who wants to walk straight out of their room onto the beach
- Anyone who cares about really good, healthy food
- Using a sauna, ice bath and gym
- Families who don’t like resorts and are happy without a pool
- Watch my Instagram reel review
You can also see what each one is like in our reels on Instagram at @itsannieandsteve.
See prices and availability at The Retreat Koh Chang
See prices and availability at Sol Beach Koh Chang
If you’re booking a trip to Koh Chang, sort your travel insurance when you book your flights.
Which one would you pick? Let me know in the comments below.
