FazWaz Rentals & Villa 14, Kanda Residences, Koh Samui
The photographs sell paradise. The real test starts after they’ve got your money.
Luxury infinity pool villa overlooking the ocean at sunset
There are bad property experiences.
And then there are experiences that become a public-service announcement.
My six-month rental of Villa 14 at Kanda Residences in Koh Samui falls firmly into the latter category.
This isn’t a story about one broken appliance or a temperamental tropical villa.
It’s about rats. Flooding. Failing appliances. Neglected maintenance. Dangerous coconuts. A landlord unexpectedly walking into the rented property while my guests were staying there. Months of chasing. Endless WhatsApp messages. Promises that seemed to evaporate into the Gulf of Thailand.
And above all, it is about what I experienced as the extraordinary lack of meaningful after-rental service from FazWaz once the transaction had been completed.
So if you’re thinking about renting a villa in Thailand, particularly for an extended stay, pour yourself a coffee — preferably from a machine that actually works — and read on.
Because this experience taught me one very expensive lesson:
Never rent the photograph. Rent the management behind it.
Paradise, Apparently.
Villa 14 certainly knew how to make an entrance.
Magnificent views.
Private pool.
Tropical gardens.
An impressive address.
The sort of outlook that makes you think you’ve cracked the code to island living.
And to be fair, the view was spectacular.
Unfortunately, you cannot live in a view.
You have to live in the building behind it.
And once I did, the glossy façade began disappearing remarkably quickly.
The property was tired.
The kitchen was deteriorating.
Basic utensils and equipment were falling apart.
Furniture was stained and worn.
Netting was damaged.
The television and internet were unreliable.
The shower repeatedly flooded.
The gardens and lawns were inconsistently maintained.
Even the washing machine flooded within the first few days.
And sitting proudly in the kitchen was an expensive built-in wall coffee machine.
Very impressive.
Very luxury villa.
Very Instagram.
It never worked during my tenancy.
Not occasionally.
Not badly.
Never.
There was also the separate saga of the green coffee machine — a relatively trivial object that somehow became the perfect metaphor for the entire experience: report something, explain the problem, be told everything is fine, explain again that it isn’t, exchange messages, wait, chase, repeat.
After a while you begin wondering why you’re spending portions of your life arguing about a bloody coffee machine in a supposedly premium villa.
But it was never really about coffee.
It was about attitude.
Paint Over the Cracks.
Bright modern kitchen with white cabinets and stainless steel appliances
That became my metaphor for Villa 14.
Paint over the cracks.
Because from a distance, everything looked magnificent.
Live there and start actually using the house, and a rather different picture emerged.
Things broke.
Things flooded.
Things didn’t work.
Things weren’t maintained.
Things were promised.
Things weren’t done.
And the tenant chased.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Luxury isn’t an infinity pool photographed at sunset.
Luxury is everything working when you arrive.
Welcome to the Tropics Mind the Coconuts.
Lush tropical garden with tall coconut trees
Then there were the coconut palms.
Falling coconuts aren’t some charming little tropical eccentricity.
They can be bloody dangerous.
I repeatedly raised concerns about trees around the property needing to be de-nutted.
Promises were made.
Time passed.
More chasing followed.
Eventually something was done.
But why should a tenant have to repeatedly chase something involving basic safety?
It became another entry in what felt like the Villa 14 operating manual:
Chase. Promise. Wait. Chase again.
And Then Came the Rats.
Yes.
Rats.
Nothing punctures the luxury-villa fantasy quite as efficiently as discovering you may apparently be sharing paradise with rodents.
This wasn’t some bargain backpacker shack down a dirt track.
This was a villa being presented within Koh Samui’s premium rental market.
And serious problems are where you discover the true value of both landlord and agent.
Because anybody can collect rent when everything is going beautifully.
The test comes when it isn’t.
And that was the moment I discovered just how alone a tenant can feel once the transaction has been completed.
Then the Landlord Walked In.
Of everything that happened, this remains one of the incidents I found most unacceptable.
While I was away on one of my world tours, guests were briefly staying at the villa, including my best friend and business manager.
According to them, the landlord arrived and simply entered the property.
My guests were sufficiently startled to ask:
“I’m sorry, but who are you?”
The response?
“I’m the landlord.”
Well, yes.
But it was also my rented home.
Whatever the precise contractual or legal position, I found the apparent disregard for the privacy of a tenant and their guests astonishing.
Owning a property does not, in my view, mean forgetting that somebody else has paid to make it their home for the duration of a tenancy.
My guests should never have been placed in that position.
For me, it encapsulated the wider problem perfectly.
Rent appeared to be understood.
Responsibility rather less so.
I Am a Landlord Too.
Perhaps that’s why the whole experience irritated me so much.
I understand property ownership.
Things break.
Buildings deteriorate.
And tropical Thailand is brutal on property.
Heat.
Humidity.
Salt.
Rain.
Vegetation.
Insects.
Things require constant attention.
I understand every bit of that.
What I don’t understand is collecting premium rent and then appearing reluctant to spend money maintaining the property to an appropriate standard.
If the plumbing needs fixing, fix it.
If furniture is filthy or deteriorating, clean or replace it.
If kitchen equipment is falling apart, replace it.
If an appliance doesn’t work, repair it.
If coconut trees present a concern, deal with them.
If rats appear, address the problem urgently.
This isn’t complicated.
If you charge premium rent, maintain a premium property.
A spectacular sea view cannot indefinitely compensate for everything deteriorating behind you.
And This Is Where FazWaz Rental Gets a Very Large Black Mark.
A difficult landlord is precisely one of the reasons people use an established rental agency.
The agency is supposed to be the professional intermediary.
The grown-up in the room.
The organisation with local knowledge, relationships, systems and leverage.
When something goes wrong, that is when the agency should become valuable.
In my experience, FazWaz Rental became remarkably less impressive once the deal was done.
There were messages.
There were WhatsApp exchanges.
There was talk about meetings.
There was discussion about bringing everybody together.
I missed one proposed meeting, which I freely acknowledge.
But by then there had already been extensive communication about the problems.
I didn’t need another bloody meeting.
I needed things fixed.
I needed somebody to take ownership.
I needed an agency prepared to say to the landlord:
This isn’t acceptable. Sort it out.
Instead, my overwhelming impression was of a business exceptionally geared towards getting the transaction across the line, but woefully inadequate at dealing with what happened afterwards.
Get the listing.
Find the tenant.
Sign the agreement.
Collect the money.
Transaction complete.
Next.
That’s certainly how it felt from my side of the table.
Commission Isn’t the Finishing Line.
FazWaz is highly visible in Thailand’s property market.
Big presence.
Big marketing.
Plenty of people working to generate transactions.
But size isn’t service.
Marketing isn’t management.
And closing a deal isn’t customer care.
I formed the impression of a business heavily focused on transactions, with plenty of energetic people at the coalface getting deals completed.
Whatever FazWaz’s internal commission arrangements may be is their business, not mine, and I won’t speculate about them.
But the customer’s question is much simpler:
What happens after the commission has been earned?
Who answers?
Who takes responsibility?
Who follows through?
Who has authority?
Who fights the tenant’s corner?
Because if nobody does those things, then you’re not really receiving meaningful rental management.
You’re receiving an introduction.
And there is an enormous difference.
Six Months’ Rent Up Front.
Close-up of a person signing a contract with a pen
To secure Villa 14, I paid six months’ rent upfront.
I agreed to it.
I’m not rewriting history.
But having experienced what followed, would I ever enter a similar arrangement again without considerably greater due diligence and protection?
Not a chance.
I’ve subsequently heard differing opinions about the rules governing deposits and advance rental payments in Thailand.
I’m not a Thai property lawyer, so I’m not going to declare something legal or illegal based on hearsay.
Instead, I’ll give you much better advice:
Before handing over a substantial amount of rent upfront in Thailand, get independent advice and understand exactly what your lease provides.
Know the landlord’s obligations.
Know the agent’s obligations.
Know who manages the property.
Know what happens if things aren’t repaired.
Know what happens if promised standards aren’t delivered.
And never allow somebody telling you that you need to pay immediately to “secure the property” to replace proper due diligence.
Once months of rent have left your bank account, the balance of negotiating power can feel rather different.
I learned that one personally.
Now, Let’s Be Fair to Kanda.
Modern resort architecture amid lush palm trees in a tropical setting
This is where an important distinction needs to be made.
I did not rent Villa 14 directly from Kanda management.
I rented a privately owned villa within the development through FazWaz.
That matters.
And I absolutely do not want this review interpreted as an attack on the people working at Kanda.
In fact, Bruce, the General Manager, was excellent with me.
He listened.
He understood my frustrations.
He aligned with many of my grievances.
And he bent over backwards to help wherever he reasonably could.
The problem was that much of it wasn’t his responsibility.
He couldn’t force the private owner of Villa 14 to spend money.
He couldn’t suddenly become my rental agent.
He couldn’t take responsibility for a transaction conducted between a private landlord, FazWaz and me.
He could help.
And he did.
The Staff Were Wonderful.
The Thai and Burmese staff at Kanda were absolutely delightful to me.
Smiles every day.
Warmth.
Kindness.
“What can I do for you, Mr Lyons?”
They were terrific.
They aren’t going in the Black Book.
Quite the opposite.
They deserve recognition.
Kanda, However, Needs a Serious Facelift.
Serene tropical beach with palm trees and turquoise water
Being fair doesn’t mean being blind.
Kanda itself needs investment.
It occupies an extraordinary location.
The views can be breathtaking.
The bones are there.
But parts of the development feel tired.
The restaurant was frequently closed.
Facilities and services didn’t consistently live up to the initial promise.
The whole place, in my view, needs substantial reinvestment if it is going to fulfil the potential of its extraordinary location.
But you cannot ask a general manager to perform miracles without resources.
You can’t repair buildings with goodwill.
You can’t renovate a resort with smiles.
And you cannot maintain a premium development indefinitely without owners collectively investing in it.
That’s a completely different criticism from my experience with Villa 14 and FazWaz Rental.
And it’s important not to confuse the two.
The Golden Rule I Wish I’d Known.
Here’s perhaps the most valuable lesson from the whole debacle.
If you’re considering a long stay in a resort or residential development in Thailand:
GO DIRECT.
Before renting somebody’s privately owned villa through a third-party agency, walk into the management office.
Meet the general manager.
Ask what they have available directly.
Ask about long-stay rates.
Then negotiate.
And negotiate hard.
Because I subsequently discovered that, had I arranged an extended stay directly with Kanda management rather than renting privately owned Villa 14 through FazWaz, I believe I could potentially have secured considerably better terms — possibly 30 per cent or more, depending on the villa, availability and duration.
But price isn’t even the biggest advantage.
Responsibility is.
Rent directly and the relationship can be beautifully simple:
Guest. Management. Responsibility.
No tenant chasing an agent.
No agent supposedly chasing a landlord.
No resort manager wanting to help but having no authority over somebody else’s privately owned villa.
Cut out unnecessary layers wherever you reasonably can.
And to Be Equally Fair to FazWaz…
My experience with the sales side was different.
The representative who showed me properties for potential purchase worked hard, spent considerable time with me and showed me plenty of options.
I didn’t find anything I wanted.
That’s property.
But I have no reason to criticise that individual for doing his job.
This review is specifically about my experience with FazWaz Rental and the after-rental service surrounding Villa 14.
And that experience was, in my opinion, dreadful.
The Question FazWaz Rental Needs to Answer.
When the washing machine floods within days…
When the shower repeatedly floods…
When expensive appliances don’t work…
When furniture and equipment are deteriorating…
When maintenance isn’t happening…
When safety concerns are raised…
When rats appear…
When the landlord unexpectedly enters while guests are staying…
When a tenant who has paid six months upfront is repeatedly asking for assistance…
What exactly is the rental agency doing?
That is the question.
Because I didn’t need another WhatsApp message.
I didn’t need another discussion.
I didn’t need another proposed meeting.
I needed an agency prepared to manage a problem.
The reason you use an agent is for everything that isn’t easy.
And when things became difficult, my experience of FazWaz Rental fell dramatically short of the service I expected from such a prominent property brand.
The Great Koh Samui Rental Checklist.
So here’s my advice to anyone renting in Thailand.
Don’t fall in love with the photographs.
Run every tap.
Turn on every shower.
Flush every toilet.
Check the drains.
Test every air-conditioner.
Test the washing machine.
Test the kitchen appliances.
Test the Wi-Fi.
Test the television.
Sit on the furniture.
Open the cupboards.
Inspect the kitchen equipment.
Look behind the fresh paint.
Walk around the gardens.
Look above you at the coconut trees.
Ask who maintains the pool.
Ask who maintains the gardens.
Ask how frequently.
Ask who pays when something breaks.
Get promises in writing.
Photograph everything before moving in.
Read the lease.
Get independent advice where substantial money is involved.
And then ask the most important question of all:
“WHEN I’VE PAID MY MONEY AND YOU’VE EARNED YOUR COMMISSION — WHO IS STILL LOOKING AFTER ME?”
If you don’t get a convincing answer, walk away.
There are thousands of villas in Thailand.
There is only one of you.
Escape From Villa 14.
When I finally left Villa 14, I wasn’t sad.
I was relieved.
Enormously relieved.
I’ll miss the magnificent view.
I won’t miss the rest.
Moving out felt less like leaving a luxury villa and more like being discharged from a very expensive tropical maintenance programme I’d somehow accidentally enrolled in.
And perhaps that’s the greatest indictment of all.
A property that looked so beautiful when I arrived became somewhere I couldn’t wait to leave.
Mr Paparazzi’s Black Book Verdict
Villa 14 — The Private Landlord
BLACK BOOK.
A magnificent location comprehensively undermined, in my experience, by inadequate maintenance, recurring problems, reluctance to address issues promptly and an approach to tenant privacy that I found completely unacceptable.
Premium rent demands premium responsibility.
FazWaz Rental
A VERY LARGE BLACK BOOK.
Excellent at getting the transaction done.
In my experience, profoundly disappointing when the transaction subsequently needed meaningful management.
The glossy marketing and scale of the organisation created expectations of professional backup that my rental experience simply did not deliver.
Getting the tenant through the front door isn’t the job. It’s the beginning of the job.
FazWaz Sales
NOT BLACK BOOKED.
My individual sales representative worked hard and showed me numerous properties.
This review concerns the rental experience and should not be interpreted otherwise.
Bruce & the Kanda Staff
ABSOLUTELY NOT BLACK BOOKED.
Bruce did everything reasonably within his power to assist with problems that frequently weren’t his responsibility.
The Thai and Burmese staff treated me wonderfully.
They deserve praise, not criticism.
Kanda Residences
INCREDIBLE LOCATION. SERIOUS INVESTMENT REQUIRED.
Great views and enormous potential, but in my opinion the overall development needs substantial reinvestment and rejuvenation.
The Final Word
Thailand remains one of the most extraordinary places in the world to live.
Koh Samui is paradise.
But paradise still needs plumbing.
Paradise needs maintenance.
Paradise needs accountability.
And occasionally, apparently, paradise needs pest control.
So don’t rent the infinity pool.
Don’t rent the sunset.
Don’t rent the drone photograph.
Rent the people who are going to answer the telephone when the washing machine floods.
And above all:
NEVER RENT THE PHOTOGRAPH. RENT THE MANAGEMENT BEHIND IT.
Because the deal isn’t finished when the commission is paid.
For the tenant, that’s when it begins.
