Our first impression of Saladan Ko Lanta was that it was a lot more touristy than we expected, but we adjusted pretty quickly. The Aloha Lanta is a short (5-10 minutes depending on our motivation) walk to the ferry dock. We mistakenly did not include air conditioning when we booked but, after the first night, adjusted pretty well with a room fan.
There is a beach of sorts 30 meters from the hotel, but there is a huge sand bar that limits swimming to high tide or the channel where power boats go in and out of the docks.
Getting to and from the hotel took us past dozens of seafood restaurants and the main road (#4245, never found a name for it) has more restaurants and street cafes, our preferred places to find real Thai food (rather than DDTT, dumb-downed tourist Thai meals). There is the Lanta Mart for food and drinks (large Chang beer for 57 Baht compared to 100-130 Baht in a restaurant), lots of dive shops, a 7-11, Lanta Massage (10% off with card from hotel).
The best thing about the hotel was Peter, the host who opened the hotel at 7-7:30 a.m. and closed it at 9 p.m. He was friendly, willing to talk with us (and interested in us), quickly worked to fix a noisy fan, and just an all around great person. When I came down with a 36-hour gastroenteritis illness, he helped my wife cancel our kayaking tour and get a half-day tour for her, provided me with a case of water, and offered to get me electrolyte powder from pharmacy. Can't say enough good things about him.