We booked this hotel through agoda.com (a priceline subsidiary). We wanted a somewhat secluded hotel where we wouldn't be pestered or overcrowded during the days on the beach, but could easily reach the nightlife on Koh Phangan. This hotel suited us perfectly. The beach this hotel is on has very few other hotels, and none as "big" as mandalai. That said, Mandalai is a 12 room boutique hotel. It is very new, and quite nice. Our room had a jacuzzi in it. The shower was large and enclosed. The entire room was extremely clean and well built (no cracking walls, mildew, etc). The lighting of the room was the nicest I've seen in any hotel in Asia. In other words, they really took the care to design the rooms very well, and they are well appointed. This is as close to 5* as you're likely to find on Koh Phangan. The service matched the rooms as well. The front desk was very helpful with whatever we needed. They helped us book a ferry ride, and when we missed our ferry, got us a taxi right away and got us a private speed boat to Samui so we wouldn't miss our flight. While the hotel is away (about 30 minutes) from the raucousness of Haad Rin, there is still everything you need within a 5 minute walk of Mandalai. This included a 7 Eleven, 2 internet Cafes, 3 scuba shops (we used Sail Rock scuba and recommend them), and a number of small shops. For our meals, we ate exclusively at our hotel for two reasons. The first is that every meal we ate at Mandalai was really good. Breakfast which was included for us was delicious. We also really liked the Penn with Prawns, which between 3 travelers we ordered 12 times in 5 days. The bruschetta and garlic bread were quite good as well. We didn't eat anything at Sheesha Restaurant (the hotel's restaurant) that we didn't like. The drinks at Sheesha were quite good as well. We should note our disappointment that while the restaurant is called Sheesha and they have Hookahs, they do not sell Hookah service, as the required molasses tobacco is now illegal in Thailand.

Pros:
Very nice rooms
Great service
Friendly staff
Great food
Beautiful beach and beautiful water

Cons:
Miniscule pool
Not much to do on the beach (that's what you get for wanting seclusion, and we were happy to make the trade off)

Overall, we were very satisfied with this hotel and would enthusiastically recommend it to others.

this place is a gem!
in a really quiet place in chaklolum north west of koh phan gnan you will find this hotel
a small boutique hotel I could qualified as a 4 stars one
I was supposed to stay two days and stayed a week instead :)
the staff is brilliant always helping and so nice and smilling especially the charming hostess pop who will nearly speak french too!
I think a had the smallest room of the hotel into feet my budget but everything was so clean and decorated with a real good taste.
I will definitly come back but not alone because this hotel is just perfect for couples !
Hope been there again another time!
Thank you for all the kindness

What an amazing experience!
If you're looking for a quiet, elegant, small and classi place - this is the place. We stayed thier for 5 nights, and enjoyed every minute of it.
The room is big and comfurtable, with private jaccuzi in the room, amazing view to fisherman villege.
Great breakfest, ever to your room if you like. small and very nice swimming pool.
The stuff were very attentive and help in any way.
It's the perfect place for romantic, private vacation.

We've just come back form thailand and I was a little doubtful about the mandalai as there were few reviews on trip advisor. Anyway we arrived at the hotel and from a boutique hotel I expected a little more to look at. however.... as soon as we set foot in room 7 I knew i'd booked the right place. The view was spectacular and the room was lovely... bed comfy, nice bathroom with really good adjustible lighting to set the atmosphere. Jacuzzi bath in the room with an amazing view again over the sea. Only thing i'd grumble about was the colour of the floor which was a weird mustard colour! Maybe i'm just boring and don't appreciate modern tastes. Anyway..... there is a bar/ restaurant with the hotel which is cool with day beds and some good cocktails. (Mas and Sak the barman and chef are great. We loved them!) David, one of the owners was extremely helpful and wants all guests to have a great time on the island so will tell you where to go and arrange whatever you want or need. the island is fab and we loved the laid back relaxed atmosphere. Chakolum is run down but typically Thai which we grew to love very quickly. It was great to see some proper Thailand that didn't totally rely on tourism. Beach isn't great but it really doesn't matter because the pool is nice but more importantly there are loads of beautiful beaches really close by! A very plesant and relaxing stay!