Our first trip to Thailand so we didn't know what to expect. Visited several locations including Ao Nang. GB Resort definitely has one of the best spots on the beach in Ao Nang. Ao Nang itself is very touristy but there is so much to do in the surrounding area you don't really need to spend much time downtown. We had a group of 7 including 3 teenagers. We booked 2 villas which are very nice, spacious, and unique.

We booked our villa rooms through Andaman Adventures, a local tour agency. Simon, Vimal and team were very helpful in recommending and booking resort stays and excursions and taking care of ground transportation (and in our case local airfare). They not only recommend certain resorts but also will do their best to book specific rooms/villas which are more appealing vs others. Thailand has so many options for tourists and while tripadvisor is a great resource having a local travel agent made a huge difference in the overall quality of our trip. In fact we ended up connecting with one of the tour guides and his wife, who we met thru Andaman, with whom we went rock climbing a few days later. Fabulous memories Vinnie and Judith!

Negatives about GB Resort: as others have said, service has room for improvement. staff isn't overly helpful nor responsive but perhaps they can rely on their location to attract business. our biggest gripe was the fact that they double booked us for the first night of our stay and had to put us up elsewhere. Andaman played a key role insuring we ended up in an even nicer hotel, didn't pay anything, and aided with ground transportation. Based on the lack of sympathy from the check-in staff when we arrived the next day (it was as if they had no idea anything had gone wrong!) I'm confident it would have been an even worse experience had Andaman not been involved. We had to lobby hard just to get an offer of free internet access as compensation for the inconvenience. One last negative is that the pool officially closes at 6pm, crazy considering many people aren't ready to leave at that time. In reality though almost every day someone remained in the pool well after 6. And since the staff generally isn't that responsive anyway no one seemed to care.

This is our second stay at Golden Beach resort. in 2009 we stayed there and enjoyed the best of our holidays there, and this time we had stayed in their newly renovated pavilion suite. And definitely this is better than the last time we stayed at the suite at the building. These pavilion suite are very spacious and very comfortable with 3 beds. our 8 year old kid could sleep very comfortably in the extra bed attached in the room, these rooms are overlooking the very best swimming pool. Last time my son enjoyed most at this swimming pool and this time also the same. In the evening the blue lights in the pool makes the place even better, you can see frogs around, hear the cricket and can enjoy nature at its best. although we went there in july when it was raining, but even with the rain the place was even more beautiful. However you can not see the sea very clearly from your room, but you can just step down the room and in half a minute you will be in the beach. This beach is only good at low tides as in high tide there is hardly any beach to enjoy as sea comes very near to the road. This hotel is conveniently located to the shops at Ao Nang. I had stayed at many hotels in this area as almost every year we come to visit this place because of its serene beauty - and this is the best of all the hotels we stayed. Their massage is also one of the best in the locality - do try their foot reflexology.

We weren't completely impressed. THe location is fantastic - right on the board walk at Ao Nang, but the service was mediocre (the woman at the desk was'nt able to tell us how to take a boat to Ko Yao Noi, nor was she particularly helpful with anyting else we asked). They also don't have free wireless, which is surprising given the cost of the rooms here. The rooms themselves are OK, we had a poolside room. It was a bit dark, but very big and the bathroom was nice and clean. The buffet breakfast was quite good and included in the price of our room.