6-star services with great environmental stewardship. Will definitely return.

We had a 3-day stay on this island-getaway resort. We were truly happy with the services and how much attention in detail the staff and the owner of this resort put. We stayed at many other 5- and 6-star resorts, but we were most impressed by the sincerity and the level of detail that the staff at Andalay Beach Resort gave us.
We were greeted by our first name by all the staff even though we never met them before from the pier on the mainland side all the way to the first step into the resort. This is a pleasant surprise as most Thai business would greet us as "Mr. Customer" in Thai. We were impressed by the very friendly and peaceful vibe and smile everywhere including the gardeners and cleaning staff. The staff are also knowledgable and helpful. The landscape is very well kept. You can see the grooming marks on the sandy part and no fallen leaves. They use native plants to decorate the yards and to protect the sand from wind erosion. The beach is so lively, especially during low tide and after the sun set. We were greeted by so many crabs and hermit crabs. Low tide is really low and you can walk to another small island nearby where locals go there to dig up some clams. You could imagine marine lives we saw when the tide is back by just snorkel out from the beach. The architectural design of the buildings blends very well with the surroundings. We kayaked parallel to the beach to the northern part of the island. We could not see any of the resort's buildings. They are well hidden and not creating visual conflicts compared to the other resorts along the same beach. The villa we stayed is very cute and spacious with a deck and big bathroom built-in. The food and drinks are good and at a reasonable price even though hotel restaurant is more-of-less your main choice. They did not jack up the price at all. We got Kayak and bicycle free of charge to travel around the local community. We can rent scooters or arrange a pickup truck from the hotel as well. We had an excur