I'm having a really hard time deciding where to spend 4 days in mid-April; Phuket or Krabi? Both seem to have their advantages and disadvantages I don't know which would be better for us.

Here's what I'm looking for:
A bungalow on the beach, preferably with a balcony and view of the water.
Proximity to things to see and do (we'd like to do a canoe trip among the Karsts and some snorkeling).
Ease of transportation to/from an airport (because we only have 4 days, I don't want it to take forever to get to a more remote island like Ko Lanta, Ko Lipe, or even Ko Phi Phi)
Ease of transportation around the area (is there anything within walking distance? will we have to take a boat to get anywhere? can we rent a scooter to get around?).
Not too isolated so that we have to eat every meal in the hotel.
Not in a highrise hotel.
Under $100 per night, preferably under $75.

I've spent so much time looking at hotel booking websites my head is spinning. I've said in another post that I've been looking at two hotels, Baan Krating in Phuket and Sunrise Tropical near Krabi. While the photos look lovely, neither hotel can guarantee a "room with a view" so i'm still open to other recommendations.

Thanks!

Ok, so now I'm complicating things further by considering Ko Lanta instead. Overall, the prices there seem to be lower, I've found some places with bungalows on the beach, but it seems harder to get to.

Also, I did a little flight research and it looks like it's a lot harder (much less choice) to fly to Krabi than Phuket.

Come on, where to go for those 4 days? Or maybe I should split it 2 and 2?

Thanks!

Koh Lanta is harder to get to, part of why it's cheaper. Remember that it's also the place that had the most devastation from the tsunami, so I'm sure they are hurting and wanting to encourage visitors to come back.

It's very hard to find bungalows on the beach in Phuket; almost everything is across the road from the beach.

With a mere four days, don't waste your time moving from one place to another - stay in one spot and you'll have more time to relax.

Thanks for the response Kathie.

Here's the place I'm currently considering:
http://www.narima-lanta.com/

It looks great and has very good (albeit few) reviews on Trip Advisor. Most are post-tsunami.

Waiting to hear back from them on availability. Any savings we might have from lower per night cost will be eaten up by higher transport costs however.

Koh Lanta did not get too badly affected. There are lots of new places. The advantage on Koh Lanta is easy to find places that are right on the beach, the road/track to the places might be a bit rough but at least they are right on the beach itself.
www.beachsiam.com/koh_lanta.html gives you ideas, also reviews.

Krabi area for on the beach, well that realy means outside of Ao nang area, perhaps Railey beach but then you have to boat to and from the town. If you want absolute beachfront on Phuket at a reasonable price and get a seaview room then try the Kata beach resort or Karon beach resort, these are 2 of the few absolute beachfront places ( i.e not having to corss a road to get to the beach ), fairly quiet but at the same time local restaurants and shops walking diatnce and not too far from Patong if you wish to go in the evenings, they are easy to remmeber, Kata beach resort and Karon Beach Resort, one has 'all seaview' rooms, I think it's the Kata one but you can check it out, those are excellent value for the price.
Do note Thai New year price supplements usually between about 12th and 20th, that does shoot up the prices for about a week.