I'm a tight wad too, that's why I stay at Ban Phe and just go to Samet for the day, then back to Ban Phe in the late afternoon. I can't afford the prices they charge at Samet. We (my Thai wife and I) both love Samet and go there often. In fact last year we made our first trip to Koh Chang and stayed 1 night, we weren't impressed at all, so we cut the stay there short and went to Koh Samet instead on the way back. In our opinion Samet is way better than Chang. There are many things I don't like about Samet (all the things Fio has mentioned) but warts & all we like the island and feel it's the nearest best place for us. We usually walk down the beach to Tok Little Hut and rent a couple of deckchairs there, under the trees, with an esky of beer. No complaints from us.