Pros:
Location is exceptional in the heart of a national park, surrounded by spectacular limestones karsts and flanked by beautiful beaches (which are lively during the day, but deserted and serene morning and evening when they are closed to the longtails)
Food: exceptional in all restaurants
Service: Very well trained staff with excellent language skills. As 5* service really should be: speedy, attentive but not intrusive or overbearing. A lot of hotels could learn an awful lot from a visit here
Spa: Very serene, very relaxing and a must to kick off your stay
Other facilities: The pool area is superb, a massive freeform pool, with a dedicated pool staff who ensure you don't have to lift a finger if you don't want to

The exquisite attention to detail shown throughout the resort is what sets this hotel apart.

In summary, the benchmark against which all other hotels on the west coast of Thailand have to be measured against.

I cannot recommend it highly enough.

We stayed at the Rayavadee for three days. This part of Krabi is breath taking. Too bad so many others have fund that out.
The Rayavadee has wonderful grounds in the best location in the area. The staff is friendly and helpful. They do not seem very well trained for a 5 star experience. The rooms are really dated. I think the TV was 20 years old. The rooms are dark and not designed very well. There is no place to put stuff or to really unpack. We had a two room villa with a small pool. We paid more than $1,500 a day for this. The restaurants we ok and the food was average. The prices were very high However the sea bass at the thai restaurant was exceptional.We ordered it twice.
Transportation to and from the airport was flawless. It is a combination of limo and boat and takes about 40 minutes. Arriving by boat was wonderful.
I had a excellent 75 minutes massage. The fitness room is ok but a bit too hot to work out for long. But since the property is very large (I think 26 acres) you get a lot of exercise. Swimming at Railay beach is impossible during low tide. The water is about six inches deep and there are rocks. The other beach (forgot the name) that is adjacent to the hotel is a bit better. But there are tons of people on both beaches during the day. The pool at the hotel was very nice.
We did not take any excursions but I would guess going out to other beaches by boat would be a good thing to do.
We could get wifi internet in our room but they charged about $15 a day for it. This always gets me mad. Why charge $1,500 and then charge $15 for internet. They also had a 1 gig a bit limit on bandwidth per day.
The biggest problem with the hotel is value. It is just too expensive for what it offers. But with a bit of investment and better management it could correct this. I would still recommend this place if you are going to visit Krabi. Besides the Rayavadee, I can recommend the Railay Beach Club (http://www.raileibeachclub.com/) which we visited.. There are a number of other cheaper hotels but I have no knowledge of them.

I have been in this hotel with my wife in february last year and I can say that evrything was wonderful. It is a very peaceful place in a natural environment. You enjoy the presence of monkeys on the trees outside the restaurant and many other species in the park. Your accomodation will be a pavillion set with all you can need and in perfect modern luxury. There is a first level for aliving room and a bar area and an upper floor with bedroom and bathroom. Gorgeous view from your bedroom of lush tropical setting. Wonderful swimmingpool and beach. Do not expect azure water of the sea which is instead quite green maybe due the green nature reflecting. Excellent cuisine even for a such set aside resort.

The place was superb. The villa and lanscape were well designed and maintained. You'd feel the privacy and enjoy the atmosphere.

Breakfast was incomparable - all dishes just cooked and serve hot.

Dinner or lunch - if you want to have local taste food which so yummy, ask for local menu at Raitalay Terrace.

It's pricey but you'll get the best of service and offers in all aspects.