Spent our second week in Thailand on the amazing, quiet island of Koh Kho Khao at the Amandara Island resort. We booked the grand deluxe bungalow which was set right on the beach...I would highly recommend the extra cash and try and get in a bungalow on the beach (ideally 110-114-we were in 111).
As Grahame, the other review said, a few seconds walk and you have your own private bit of beach!! The Amandara itself is right next to the Koh Kho Khao Island resort which has lots of facilities on your doorstep including a tour centre, spa and mini market...all very reasonably priced.
We bought all our drinks from here and kept them in our mini bar fridge for drinks throughout the day and night!! The restaurant at the resort was very varied, Thai & western food available and we ate at the Amandara & next door, but the menu's were similar. The resort next door was a lot bigger so seemed to have more of an atmosphere.
be aware that the Amndara is mainly a german resort and next door is a Scandanavian resort, but this suited us perfectly as it was nice to get away from it all!! The only problem with it being a German resort was the towels issues!! I thought this was a thing of the past but there were german towels on the beach sunbeds every night!! Well, if you can;t beat them...join them...so we did!!
The sea was warm, the weather was great and whilst we were there we did a few days scuba diving. Highly recommend a guy called Nui, who is based at The Lazy House bar/restaurant which is about a 15 minute walk down the beach. Walk to the sea from your bungalow and turn left and just keep walking down the empty beach and you will eventually find him! 2500 bhats for 2 dives and you have him to yourself as a guide and there was lovely diving on your doorstep!!
We hired the speedboat and staff from the resort next door (KKK resort). this was a splashout and cost us around £700 but we had the most amazing day around the Similan Islands with great staff and the most beautiful surroundings I have ever seen!
We had a few niggles...the bungalows are pretty basic but we paid £70 a night and were right on the beach so this wasn;t a problem. the problem was the bathroom....this led off from the bedroom and it had an outdoor shower. A nice touch but just had a glass door with no seals so every morning we woke up to thousands of dead bugs/spiders/insects all over the floor and in the bath!!!! I guess it just wasn't practical but nice to have an open shower! The cleaning wasn't the best so just be warned!
Don;t bother with your tesco's/Boots mossie spray...it just isn;t strong enough and I found the cheaper thai stuff to far more efficient...and you will need it!!!
If you need a good cab driver we found a guy called Mr. Navee & his friend Mr. Jack who drove us from Phuket to Kata (ourr first leg) picked us up and took us to the island, and then picked us up and took us back to the airport, all at the exact times we organised on our first day in Thailand!!
Scooters available for mooching about for 350B a day and long tail boats run all night off the pier if you want to mooch about on the mainland or have a nigt out in Khao Lak. I actually highly recommend the Andaman Princess for dinner one night, located on the island near the pier and we had lobster (£14) and sea bass (£4) (chosen ourselves fresh from their sea pools!!!) with wine, beer etc i think it was around £30 and service was fab!!

So in a nutshell:

Pro's: Paradise island for me.....perfect location and get there before it gets built up...this is real Thailand!!

Con's: Staff...although very friendly, they were a bit useless!! Cleaning needs to be better and we had inportant documents delivered that the hotel never informed of us until we were off the island and they had to bring them to us!!

This is definitely a place for romantics and couples and although there were children around I think it is limited in activities. if you want total rest and relaxation then this is the place for you!!!