Stayed here for 1200 baht the cheapest room they have. Room faced out onto the back wall of another bungalow. Very dated interior - think1970s. Not enough loungers by the beach and these too are not well maintained. Service friendly. I would not stay here long term. It is okay for one or two nights but the beach water is not clear like on the photos, The beaches on Lanta farther south looked nicer from the speedboat snorkeling tour I did but if you go further south you will need a motorbike or pay taxis to get around.

Golden Bay Cottages is a decent place to stay that is not too expensive. The rooms are pretty good, the service is good and the pool/garden area is very nice. The restaurant is pretty average and knocks up standard food for tourists with little adventure. There are nice places nearby though. Service at the restaurant is at times sloppy; totally different to staff at the resort who are helpful, plesant and friendly. Beware that around 7am the Swedes who dominate the resort start to put their towels out and take over the pool. I would not mind if they actually used the pool but quite a few just leave their towels out all day on the loungers just in case they fancy using the pool. Scooter hire is cheap and a great way to see the island. There are loads of Swedes there but they are a pleasant bunch who offer a friendly 'good morning' unlike any of the French guests.

Located right on the main tourist beach of Klong Dao, Golden Bay is well worth considering if you're on a budget. The grounds are lovely and well maintained - much better in real life compared to the website ! The pool is also very pleasant, in fact we spent most of our time lazing around the pool cause the beach wasn't to our liking. Klong Dao beach looks nice from a far however during the day the tide recedes significantly revealing a what appears to be green and black slit on the sand. We found it quite unappealing and difficult to swim in (have to walk out very very far to get to deep water) however if you just like walking along on the beach then it's ok, it's just not as picturesque as we imagined it.

We stayed in a deluxe bungalow paying approx AUD$60/night. The standard/superior bungalows are much cheaper. As expected for that price the room was fairly basic, no duvet or pool towels but it was clean and surprisingly large. The bathroom however was a bit disappointing, it was in desperate need of renovation and it was a mozzie hideout !

Breakfast was ok, it was a buffet breakfast with eggs to order. We didn't eat at the restaurant cause we went to the pier for all our meals. The pier is about a 10min drive, it's also cheap, tasty and has some good food options.

Overall we had a very enjoyable stay at the Golden Bay, it was much busier than other parts of Lanta but not overwhelmingly so and the ambience was lovely.

Tip: hire a motorbike from the hotel (same price as elsewhere 250 baht/day). If you want to eat off the resort there are other food options which you can access by walking along the beach however they're simply restaurants of other resorts. Otherwise with a bike you can go to the pier or find something on the main road. Golden Bay is 300m-400m off the main road down a side street. It's possible to walk but there's no footpath and gets very dark at night.

Walk in rate was 500 baht p/night when we stayed going into low season for a standard room. The room was basic but cannot complain for the price! Would be a bonus to have a safe in the room, and we had a towel type thing on the bed rather than duvet or sheet to cover us, which was a bit odd. Rooms set in lovely well kept gardens and are on the beach at Klong Dao. Cannot agree with previous reviewer about state of beach/sea - it was clean and quiet (maybe due to the low season of course) and the sea was like bath water...so warm! We loved swimming there...it may not be quite as nice as Long beach but its no Blackpool! We hired a motorbike so used that to get about the island which was great fun. Would recommend for cheap and cheerful accommodation.