i stayed at Pakasai for New Year holiday. The resort was full house but still give very realax atmosphere. The staff are so friendly, helpful and feel like home. There are not many Thai guest. During the Gala dinner we had blend in with full entertainment and great food till countdown. Its interesting that the staff are so multi task we met them at reception, breakfast and during Gala dinner, and most of them can remember us (and most of their guest) as we can give us the rom key without asking our room number. The resort is setting alog the hillside our room located in the Chalet wih large space and balcony facing garden very peaceful but only few minute walk to center of Ao Nang. Reasonable price. We will go back for Songkarn holiday again :) Oh my favouritie place is pool on rooftop.

Pakasai was very very disappointing, especially for the money. The design of our Superior Room looked old and cheap. There was a continuous sewage smell coming from the bathroom (same in the room of our friends). Rooms near the front desk are noisy (because of the road), rooms in the middle face the concrete structure of the elevated pool, rooms higher up are nicer but require some climbing efforts. The front desk staff was barely able to speak English and they weren't helpful at all. Contrary to what their website says, the pool does NOT offer views on the sea (OK maybe if you stand up straight you'll see a tiny blue strip), it is surrounded by white plastic chairs that all face a large ugly building situated directly next to the resort. The breakfast is decent but nothing special. I haven't tried the Spa since it was charging at least 5 times the rate of the massage places in town.

Particular comment related to New Year's Eve: we found out that since we had booked our stay over New Year's Eve, we were being charged 130 USD (4000 Baht) per person for a mandatory New Year's Eve Gala around the pool. Anyone who has been to Thailand knows that you will have a hard time to find ANY restaurant that charges such an amount unless you go to 5 star resorts. But this was even excluding a single drink (not even a glass of water), just a buffet with some dance shows. Utterly outrageous. There was no way escaping this scam, despite hours of negotiation with the Resident Manager, who didn't show the slightest sign of understanding.

Seriously, I wouldn't recommend anyone to go here. Especially not around New Year's Eve.

Not everything was bad, so to close with a positive note:
- Free (almost free, 100 Baht for your entire stay) WiFi everywhere
- Breakfast area has nice view on pretty garden
- Central location if you fancy the main tourist area, 5-10 minute walk to the Beach

I stayed here with some friends over the New Year period and can't fault the resort. The staff were friendly, rooms were great, pool (and pool bar) were excellent. Sometimes language can be difficult (e.g. when asking what's in a cocktail as it wasn't listed on the menu), but that's typical of more remote areas.

I agree with the suggestion that you should ask for a room near the restaurant/reception, there are A LOT of stairs. Lovely set up though.

One tip: this resort and Ao Nang in general are overrun with families. If you're not a family and are looking for anything resembling nightlife, look elsewhere!

You are warned. Stay away! This pretty much sums it up, Ao Nang= Thailand for beginners. The whole area has a sewage problem, Pakasai got a big sewage problem.
Pakasai hotel = for beginner personnel and who does not speak english, they pretend to. I tried my best not to deal with them.
Overpriced tourist junk was the only things on offer, exceptions was 2 jewelry shops, but they were heavily overpriced. I am sad to say, there were no highlights.