Construction
We were there at the very end of October 2012 and I can say that this hotel will be under construction for quite some time. However the noise while we were there was negligable, and the construction areas are all separate frm the completed areas. At the time we went, the spa, shared pool, and other restaurants were not open yet. So we had just one restaurant for all our meals, whcih was okay for a short trip. The front desk right now is a table in the only restaurant. So currently this is a very small hotel, which is very relaxing, but does not offer any variety.
Beach
The beach is small in front of the hotel, but great with amazing sand. There are some rocks which are perfect for snorkelling around, we had more fun snorkelling here than on our actual snorkelling trip. What they dont tell you on the website is that there is half a mile of perfect, untouched beach to the left of the hotel that is completley sandy. You cant find a better beach to hang out at, it was heaven. Tip: Snorkel around the pier & at the rocks on the far left/end of beach. Snorkel fins and ocean canoes are laid out to make use of at will.
Room
The rooms look exactly like the photos on the website and they are great. We had probably the best one, right on the beach front and with a fairly private pool. I agree with other posters here who say the architects got it wrong - some people's pool areas are very (wierdly) public, which defeats the purpose of a private pool. The room and bathroom were great, so was the private pool, which was bigger and deeper than expected (read: awesome!). My only gripe was that the bed is in the middle of the room and has a wicker headboard around it with electronics and stuff built in. The problem is that nothing is bolted to the floor, so attempting to sit up in bed pushed everything apart. The bathroom is huge and although it does not have aircon, it does have a huge bath tub open to the air.
MiniBar
The minibar has prices relfecting how far you are from any other choices :-) It was acceptable. However, we had persistent problems getting it refilled again, which I could not understand.
Internet
Might as well not exist. The coverage is only in the restaurant area and the connection is tenuous and slow. Best to relax and forget about the interwebs.
Restaurant
The chef does fusion very well. We enjoyed the thai dishes, which are very hot, and rely mostly on amazing shrimp and squid. The beef was also good. Chicken in various forms was really not good. Some classic thai dishes, like pad thai, were not good, which I found confusing. I would avoid the western side of the menu (in all of thailand) but this hotel seemed better than most at western food. The prices are expensive compared to the rest of thailand, but hardly prohibitive. Average dinner for two was running around 1800 THB with drinks. It does get boring eating at one restaurant, if I was there for more than a couple days, I would start wantng to try other resorts. Tip: the manager can organize a beach-side BBQ for your dinner.
Bar/Cocktails
The staff seemed to panic when we ordered a cocktail from their list, they are not trained on them. One time it took 30 mintes to get our drink made, and a couple times they were really heavy handed. With such a small group of guests, perhaps dedicated bar staff isnt posibble, but until it gets sorted out, I would avoid cocktails there.
Breakast - included
On the first morning this was off a menu, and the next it was a buffet, but I still saw people ordering eggs (which we were not offered). The buffet was not impressive, so I would have liked the menu back on the second day.
Service
I think the staff is just being trained up.. they are very nice and eager to please, but lots of strange things happened. It was a bit annoying not being able to call them from the room. The hotel was so quiet, sometimes the staff would just disappear for a bit. One night someone turned up at 7:30pm to clean our room, right after sunset. At table service, on turning down a juice refill, I had my half full glass removed immediately. The font desk person asked me if she could present my bill the night before we left, after dinner, which I thought was not at all suitable on a 2 night stay (and i dodged it). They obviously need training, but they were also very, very nice, speak english well and went above and beyond at times, doing things like bring us a glass of water at the beach without us asking.
Service Oddities
There was no garbage can in the bathroom, and no Telephone in the room whatsoever. We ran out of toilet paper and when we notified the front desk, they told us that it would be replaced in due course and to please enjoy the beach. I think that most hotels would act with proper urgency on this report. Later that day I reported the issue again. Magically a kleenex box appeared on the TP stand in the bathroom. My theory is that the entire hotel was out of toilet paper, which should really never happen.
Spa
They dont have one yet! You can organize a massage on the beach, which is not overly expensive (700 THB) but the quality was not awesome compared to the others we had in thailand, both at spas and on the beach.
Koh Kood
Is a relaxing island with immaculate beaches, crystel clear water, wonderful snorkelling, and very little else. It is a wonderful place to relax, but do not expect easy access to lots of restaurants, I dont believe this island even has a bank machine or a grocery store. The roads are rough and only a few are paved. This is a secret Thai getaway, highly reccomended for enjoying some downtime.
Travel Tip
Call the hotel and tell them how you are arriving. We went by speedboat from Koh Chang and ended up being dropped at a pier where no one picked us up, which was very stressful and required a long adventure to get to the hotel. If you arrive at the main terminal this shouldnt be an issue, they will put you on the list for the shuttle. We did see some people arrive via a pier almost at the beach, that is the way to go. No idea how to organize that.
Conclusion:
This is a 5 star hotel on a gorgeous, remote island and there is every reason to think that a short holiday here will be extremely relaxing and enjoyable, especially if you enjoy gorgeous beach and ocean and are looking to relax. It is expensive for thailand, but cheap from a western perspective. We would love to go back.