As everyone said on the previous entries, the hotel has been completely refurbished lately and you can see this in most parts of the hotel!

First location: The hotel is up a road which is between Ao Nang busy "high street" and Noppharat Beach. It is 5 mns walk to the junction and then 10 mns walk to the first part of the beach -where most of the longtail boats are! We loved the location as it was far from the noise of the main part of town but close enough to walk there and pick and choose our restaurant. In the front of the hotel you have different restaurants (Carnivore was delicious), massage parlours (Feel good Massage was very reasonnable and clean), some laundry places (You pay per kilo instead of items!).

Grounds: The reception area is quite grand -just look at the pict from the website it's exactly the same. You have a bar there which does buy one drink get one free on special times, and also entrance to the main restaurant. The pools are lovely -three perfect circles. One with deep, one with the eye bar and one for small children shallow with some toboggans nearby. The staff is cleaning the place like there is no tomorrow -sweeping, washing the stairs and the communal areas all day! The atmosphere is very relaxed and the vegetation inside the hotel around the pool make it quite intimate.

Facilities: The pools as I already said, you also have 2 restaurants, 2 bars, a spa, a tailor, a gym (very small only a few pieces of equipment and weights), they also have some books at reception that you can borrow. We did not try the Spa as it was quite expensive, but the restaurant was good.

Bedroom: Lovely and airy , big and very clean. You have a nice bathroom with shower (powerful) and a separate bath, one sink. This room is screened with shutters so you can either close them or open them as you wish. The bed was very big (Queen, I could sleep on either way!), and you have some chairs and sofas. Tv and mini fridge ( a bit noisy at night) air con which works perfectly ( we were putting it before sleeping and switching it off at night for the noise and it was perfect). All of these are controlled from your bedside with a remote pad, you can choose to switch the tv, lights, air con as you wish). There is also a good size terrace with chairs for a nice drink in the evening. The windows got a mosquitoe screen so no need of net above your bed (we still did spray the room at night though!) My only grudge about the room would be the noise from next door! We had a room with a communicating door to next door bedroom (you could actually open it and see there side of the door), and as such you could hear everything! If there were early risers or late sleepers get ready to buy earplugs!!!!!!!! Of course if you go with your family this is perfect as you can go to the other room as you like but if you come as a couple please ask reception for a room with NO communicating door. We met other people who stayed there and did not have this problem!

Food: Huge breakfast! Very continental a couple of thai dishes and a cook there to cook your eggs as you like. Then a tremendous selection of bread, fruits, yogurts, cereals, salads, bacon, potatoes.......Very good except if you want only thai breakfast.

Conclusion: Great hotel to stay and very good value for money. Just remember to ask for a room without communicating door and if you are lazy you can still order a tuk tuk to go down the beach, but really you can easily stroll down (and yes it is lit up along the path!)

Impressive reception area. Staff helpful. Nice, good sized room, , very comfy beds. Efficient air conditioning (a necessity). Two complimentary bottles of water each day - very welcome. Balcony on the small size. Buffet breakfast with good choice - wonderful omlettes made to order. Shame the Thai's don't seem to be able to make a good cup of tea (ithe tea's very weak and the coffee is very strong). Not many people semed to use the restaurant in the evenings. Unfortunately, there is nowhere to sit outside in the evening to enjoy a drink and the warm evening air. There are outdoor theme nights a couple of times a week whcih include a meal but aprart from that ,no outdoor, evening seating. Hotel provides both pool and beach towels. The hotel was about 15 mins walk to the beach and centre of Ao Nang. Turn left out of the hotel and walk to the end of the road, if you then turn left you hit a good half mile or more of touristy gift shopsand it's very busy. If you turn right then it's a much quiter with some really nice restaurants and also a Bob Marley beach bar.

We spent a week at the Thai Village Resort in Krabi on our way back from Australia. The hotel was fine, with largish rooms, good balconies, pleasant pools and decent food, which was reasonably priced, though maybe a bit dear by local standards. The staff were always smiley, friendly and helpful and our room was kept immaculately clean and the bed strewn with flowers!

The worst things about the hotel were: 1) the sunbed situation, which was horrific, every bed reserved by breakfast time and people very selfishly not removing their towels when they left the pool area; and 2) the hotel bar, which advertised 'happy hour' two for one drinks, then served the smallest measures and weakest drinks ever. The wine was expensive and they ran out of the only decent white. However, there was a very good musical duo performing nightly. 3) There are no lifts (we were on the third floor!)

The hotel was a good 15-20 minutes walk from the seafront, with its many shops and restaurants, but there were quite a lot of restaurants nearby, There are also mini-markets and massage parlours, where manicures and pedicures cost the equivalent of £1.50! Transport around the resort is simple and cheap; tuk-tuks and communal 'taxis' cost 20 Baht per person anywhere (about 40p). In fact, it is a very cheap place to visit all round.

One of the nicest things to do is to take a long-tail boat to one of the islands or to a different beach (the Ah Nang local beach is not that great). The prices are fixed and they take upwards of eight people at a time, which is usually fine when going but can be a nuisance coming back, as they insist on waiting until they have a full load! To solve this, we hired a 'private' boat for the day for about £35, which was great. We went out to Chicken Island, which had quite good snorkelling, if rather busy. There is a restaurant on the island and a sand causeway where you can walk across to another island. The coast is very attractive, with strange rock formations. Of the beaches, Pranang was the nicest. The boatman was very helpful and took us wherever we wanted to go. I must say, however, that it is not too easy to get in and out of these boats!

The elephant trekking was worth doing, if rather expensive.

All in all, a very pleasant place to break the journey to Oz; hot weather, lovely people and reasonable prices. But I would choose a hotel a bit nearer the main beach next time.

N.B. A word of warning about Bangkok Airport. We were given our boarding cards for the London flight in Krabi and wore a sticker saying 'International'. When we got to Bangkok's new airport, we were directed to a place where there were probably five hundred people trying to get through passport control. There was no organised queue, just a mass of shoving bodies and ONE MAN checking passports. It was horrific. Hopefully they will sort this situation out eventually. Otherwise, I would suggest ignoring that exit, go to the departure desks then through Departures in the normal way.

Stayed at KTV for 7 nights with family of small children. The hotel is good standard: nicely landscaped grounds (with inner garden protecting from street noise etc), lovely Thai architecture, large and well equipped rooms, airy public spaces, good pools etc. Breakfast was a little disappointment, as was the service, which varied a lot.

The hotel is located away from Ao Nang center, so you have to walk by the road side or take a tuk-tuk (20 THB per person) to get to the beach front and shops & restaurants at the main drag.