The Andamania once was - and could easily be again - a simply wonderful hotel. I am not sure of its history or the impact the tsunami had on its fortunes but from what we saw, this hotel is a shadow of its former self. If the management don't put in some investment soon then people will simply stop going there.
But it was not all doom and gloom. There are still signs of Andamania's former glory days.
We were upgraded on arrival to a Deluxe Garden View room on the 2nd floor of a somewhat functional but inoffensive 3-story block. The room was huge – with plenty of space to accommodate an extra bed for our lively 7-year-old daughter. There was a pretty balcony with hardwood deckchairs and table overlooking beautiful and perfectly tended gardens. The room itself was low-key in terms of the decor but the plain white bedding etc was nice against the darkness of the hardwood floor.
The wardrobe was large, there was a safe and small fridge containing soft drinks and beers. The bathroom was huge with separate rain shower and bath.
The hotel is located on an unspoilt and largely clean beach, which is free from hawkers and vendors and has no jet skis and four wheel drive beach buggies, though I'm aware some will not see this as a plus. Khoa Lak is like Phuket was 40 years ago.
Now for the bad bits:
1/ The whole hotel badly needs some money spent on it. The decking around the pool is so rotten that there are gaping holes in places and I put my foot through one section. In addition there were many broken tiles in the pool itself leaving sharp edges to slash toes.
2/ The thatching on the roofs of the beautiful salas and main accommodation blocks is literally falling off and a real eyesore.
3/ The service is quite poor and the staff are all in need of some training and professional development.
4/ There was no hot water in either the basin or the shower throughout our stay (although this was not a problem when it was so hot outside).
5/ The food served in the beach side restaurant was disappointing.
6/ Although we had booked through an agency, the hotel charged 650 THB per night for the rollaway bed for our daughter which is a little steep by Thailand standards.
7/ Many of the rooms on the ground floor had the canvas missing from the deckchairs - again making things look a bit old and tatty.
The pluses still outweigh the minuses at Andamania but the tipping point could come quite soon.

We stayed in this resort after reading all the good comments about it, also considering the price was a reasonable one in that area. We had our first meal at this resort and the thai food we had didn't taste good at all. The resort itself looked rather shabby, not to mention as well that the sunloungers were so stained that we did not want to sit on them. On one night, there was a cockroach crawling on our bed (nice!), but as soon as we called up the staff, he immediately came to rescue us.
If you are not planning to rent a car (bike could do in daytime but when it gets dark the route to the hotel could look dangerous), then you should reconsider other options for 1000thb more or so for somewhere centrally located. The hotel is situated in the middle of nowhere, not walkable at all. The buildings itself needed a lot of maintenance, from the pond to the walls.
One thing though i need to mention, is the wonderful staff service in this hotel. The staff were always happy to help out!

We started our two-week vacation with four days at this resort, and can really recommend it for anyone who want to just reset everything for a couple of days in a very nice location. The Phuket airport taxi driver went very fast through the Khao Lak village and overshot the left turn from main road with some kilometers until I pointed out we had missed it. The small dirt road the last few hundred meters made me wonder if really correct, but then it was there! We had a really relaxing and nice stay. The restaurant was quite allright, we had all lunches there, and the breakfast was absolutely good too. But for variety, I still recommend renting a vespa just for the freedom of going in to the village for alternative restaurants for dinner, and other small excursions in the area when staying longer than a couple of days. Spacious rooms, but the best part was of course the beach which was so quiet and beautiful. It was amazing to be sometimes the only one out there swimming, although in peak season.

On this holiday we were keeping to a budget but wanted a hotel on the beach so the Andamania fit the bill. As such our expectations were not high. Fortunatly the hotel exceeded them and we had an enjoyable stay.

We had a deluxe room on the ground floor (although we did ask for an upper floor room when booking through Sawasdee). The room was spacious with hardwood floors, though a little short on storage options. The bathroom/wetroom was adequate but came in a disturbing shade of brown. Air-conditionong was excellent. The bed was firm and comfotable and house keeping obliged when we asked for further pillows. The TV was a older flat screen CRT type, with a limited choice of channels - no movie channel or dvd player. Our terrace looked out onto attractive gardens and ponds and each room had a couple of oversize decks chairs to sit on - looked fun but not that comfortable.

The hotel is small (but larger than it looks on the website) with gardens, pool, restaurant and beach bar area. Wifi and a couple of computers are availabe for free at reception and while we were there further Wifi was being installed so we we could use my netbook all over the resort. There are also reasonably priced massages available within the hotel grounds.

The beach in front of the hotel was fine, but as with most other parts of Khao Lak the waters were not clear due to the amount of sand being stirred up by the waves.
Breakfast was taken at the hotel restaurant, adequate is probably the best description. Lunch and Dinner we had at the Beach bar area which meant you could eat with your toes in the sand watching the waves. Thai food was fine if a little toned down spice wise and fairly inexpensive for a hotel. The hotel is remote but turn right and walk a few hundred yards and you'll find local rustic beach restaurants by the J.W Marriott. Due to a sprained ankle we unable to make much use of these, though the two we tried were fine for Thai food.

The staff were very obliging and friendly but don't expect five star levels of service. The resort provides a transfer service to the main Khao Lak shopping areas for 90 baht per person. You have to make your own arrangements to get back.

All in all a simple three star hotel, comfortable with friendly staff and a great place to chill for a few days on a good beach.

Tip. There is an ATM at the J.W Marriott if you dare to enter the hotel - but no shop.