Hotel Review: The Andaman, Langkawi

Over the last few years we have tended to stay in villas over hotels.  I was very excited for our Langkawi adventure with another family and booked The Andaman on the strength of its Tripadvisor reviews and family facilities.  I wrote my own lengthy Tripadvisor review following my stay which I will paste below.  The long and short of it is that the hotel has amazing leisure facilities - beautiful pools, beach and activities but is sorely let down by its rooms and service.

“Amazing facilities but let down by rooms and service”

Reviewed April 10, 2012

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person found this review helpful

I was looking for a 5 star hotel with great facilities for kids. The hotel bills itself as 'luxury' and I was very excited for my stay. Unfortunately as soon as I entered our room, my heart sank as I felt the room did not match up to its 5 star billing and price. If I was paying less money for this hotel then I wouldn't have minded but the fact is that the rooms are expensive and not up to scratch. Our room was dark, dusty with a musty smell. And we were in the more expensive wing. Our friends room in the slightly cheaper wing had a terrible smell, so much so we dubbed it the 'swamp wing'. We also bumped into a colleague who had found some knickers that weren't theirs under the bed and promptly checked out to the Datai.
The service was also patchy during our stay. It ranged from incredible individual staff like Rina, to staff who would just ignore you at the poolside restaurant, bring out drinks long after the food had arrived or forget simple requests.
My husband decided to complain to the GM Anne about the level of service and room quality. Whilst she made little apology for the room, she did offer us a free dinner and it also seemed like service for the following days improved dramatically around the hotel.
I would also say the food quality is good but not up to the standard of other 5 star hotels I have stayed in. If you want amazing food, head up the road for dinner at the Datai (the hotel offers a free car service)
I can't just talk about the negatives as there are lots of positives going for the Andaman. The pools are stunning and perfect for kids. The beach is beautiful and the gym is one of the best I have seen in a hotel. The free yoga classes were great and kids under 3 eat free which saved us a lot of money. They also cleaned and sterilised my baby bottles which saved me some work! The spa is also well worth a visit with breathtaking views and fabulous treatments.