Where to stay on Koh Samui?

Hello,

I will be island hopping in Thailand and am looking for some help with picking an area to stay in Koh Samui. I would like a beach area in which I can swim and that it not be too crowded. Any suggestions would be great!

My favorite would be Choengmon Beach

Maybe you could elaborate on your budget.

Lamai beach has a good balance with pretty good beach at one end, nice swimming and decent (not as good as chaweng) nightlife at the other end.

Thanks! I am looking to spend no more than 100 US per night.

That's very well possible everywhere you are on Samui, for some places this won't even be enough.
On Choengmon try the Imperial Boathouse or the White House.

I've just had 2 months at Lamai - it has everything there close by: beach, beer bars, exotic bars, disco, farang restaurants, local restaurants, street food. Chaeweng does not have the later two and is too spread out - I had one night there and started looking elsewhere.

Accommodation is very reasonable if you stay away from the beachside resorts but only 3 min walk to beach. I stayed at Umpai Luxury, very nice rooms with a 20 metere pool - think daily rate is about 1000 baht. I paid 15k/month.

I just came back from Koh Samui a few weeks ago with my hubby and we spent our full vacation at Sareeraya Villas & Suites in Chaweng. It's a great place, quiet enough to have a peaceful and relaxing holiday, but still close to the entertainment and action of the center (around 10 minute walk). We love shopping and eating and therefore we chose to stay in a walkin distance to those places. The service in Sareeraya is impeccable and the facilities and design second to none. Beautiful resort in all. The rates might go a little above your budget, but you can always send them e-mail or check their offers at www.sareeraya.com like we did. Definitely a place to stay even for couple of nights!

You could try Crystal Bay which is a small but beautiful beach between Lamai and Chaweng. Trip advisor has it as the top rated beach on Koh Samui. Its also known as thongtakian and silver beach.