Our stay at the Andaman was absolutely magical. We stayed there for 5 nights, but wish we were there for longer! It's a big call, but it is by far the best resort experience that I've ever had. The location is amazing, staff were friendly and helpful, and there was a great variety of high quality food choices.

Nestled between the rainforest and the sea, the Andaman's location is unique and simply breathtaking. Nature seems untouched here - birds, animals and lizards roam the resort on their own accord and are welcomed by the guests. With the beautiful canopies of the rainforest outside our bedroom window, over the lagoon pool, and throughout the resort, I could gaze in fascination for hours! Dusky Leaf monkeys, as well as the more cheeky brown variety, sat within metres of us and even up on our balcony. We saw squirrels and flying lemurs, a huge tokay gecko, green lizards, and our friend even claimed that he saw a wild boar. What an experience!

Snorkelling equipment is provided by the resort free of charge and kayaks at a very low hourly rate, allowing you to explore the beautiful beach and coral reef for hours. We lost count of the number of colourful tropical fish we saw, an amazing experience. The sand is like powder and sea is beautiful and clear.

In terms of food, there was always so much choice on offer that we were never bored! The buffet breakfast was huge, so many options and great quality food. Dinner times were always exciting - we enjoyed a fresh seafood buffet on the beach, a private birthday dinner in the Japanese restaurant, and plenty of meals from the Beach Bar. The prices are fairly steep by Asian standards, however by Western standards were still fairly reasonable.

The view from the Spa was amazing - definitely an experience to remember (although we think we heard the monkeys stalking us!!). Kahuna Wave massage - wow!

During our stay we met the General Manager of the resort, Anne, who popped over to say hello. A nice touch! The staff at the Andaman were all so friendly and happy - they all went out of their way to make our stay a great one. Three of us were celebrating birthdays while we were there - and we all received complimentary birthday cakes (so delicious!).

The highlights:
- Experiencing the beauty of the rainforest, and all that comes with it.
- Snorkelling in the Bay, one of the best things that you can ever do for free! AMAZING!
- Breakfast variety - everything you could dream of you can have (except for real bacon)
- Theme nights on the beach - you don't only get the food, but also the best entertainment
- The bathroom - that shower is sensational!

The only downsides to our stay (while I say downsides, they really didn't bother us hugely and the positives by far outweighed them):
- We were told that we'd have a Nespresso machine in our room, but we only had a plunger.
- You can only get a private car to take you to outside locations, no taxis. To give you an idea of the difference, we paid RM105 to drive to Kuah, but it only cost us RM60 to get back by taxi. The quality of vehicle and driving was quite a bit better by the Andaman staff however :)
- There are some pretty huge spiders around the place, interesting when you have a spider phobia! However they were all in the forest, we didn't find any nasties in our room (phew!).

Overall - a fabulous experience, and we will definitely be back!!

Just returned from a stay at the Andaman with my family. This is a really special place.The setting is incredible - set in the rainforest with the most fantastic beach just a few steps from your room.

We arrived mid-morning after travelling through the night, expecting not to be able to get into our room until 3pm. However, we found our rooms had been made ready for us to access straight away and all my requests regarding the rooms had been provided - a very rare occurrence in my experience.

Rooms are of a high quality and extremely well maintained. I guess the only downside is the lack of a real balcony in the majority of rooms - however, with the monkeys being so active in the trees directly outside the window, As a result time spent there may have been limited as the monkeys have no fear of humans and are extremely aggressive. We saw a number of people on the beach have there bags and possessions stolen by the monkeys which was amusing whilst it was happening to other people but not quite so funny when it was your own camera or ipod that was being carried off!

The beach and bay are absolutely stunning and well provided for in terms of sunbeds and shade under the trees should you want it.

I guess the only real downside of the location is that you are very much captive and it does feel the hotel takes advantage of this in their food and drink prices. The closest options for eating outside of the hotel is at Telaga harbour which is a 20 minute drive away and the restaurants here are relatively upmarket.

It is worth getting breakfast included in your room rate as this is expensive otherwise and as mentioned there little real alternative.

In addition to the location and high quality rooms, it is the service and attitude of the staff which really makes this special. This was always kept low key, but you felt that every member of staff wanted to ensure your stay was as happy and enjoyable as possible with nice touches such as iced water being served on the beach and by the pools.

I would return to The Andaman without hesitation.

We spent 4 very relaxing days at the Andaman at the end a 12 day visit to Malaysia. Datai Bay is beautiful, secluded and away from the real world. A fantastic place to relax, where it is easy to do nothing apart from swimming in the Andaman Sea and the lagoon pool under the rain forest canopy. The staff are very laid back and made our stay enjoyable. The complimentary iced water, cold face towels and frozen melon delivered with a smile while we were laying back on a lounger was some of the extras we came to expect. This along with fresh fruit and Nespreso coffee pods replenished in our room daily was a treat.The cheeky monkeys were entertaining. Breakfasts and all meals were of a high standard. Champagne at breakfast always gets the day off to a good start.

Our whole experience of the Andaman was fantastic. Although the room wasn't ready when we arrived, we were given a welcome drink and a bowl of fresh fruit in our room as soon as it was available and it was no hardship to wait in the magnificent lobby! The staff were very friendly, polite and helpful, even when we had to cancel at the last minute, a trip we had booked due to my husband not being well. The Spa goes out of its way to provide a relaxing and beneficial experience and the prices were similar to home. The food was at the top end of the price range, but not out of the way. We certainly enjoyed the peace and quiet and the family atmosphere and would return without hesitation.