Khaolak Merlin Resort

Our stay at Merlin Khao Lak was pretty great. We had a week there, and sincerely enjoyed the feeling of staying in a contained and nicely taken care of rain forest by the beach. The location was nearly perfect, but the beach itself wasn't very swimmable (beginning of rain season, to be fair). Fortunately, there were other beaches on the same coast that were nicer during the same time of year, so we did get time in the sea water. Even without sea swimming, the ambience from the waves and the sunsets made the beach plenty nice for us at Merlin. There is also a variety of nicepy kept pools to enjoy, though I typically don't enjoy pools personally. Service/food were both nice as well. The staff was pleasant enough, but it did feel weird that an ecologically minded resort had the least meat/dairy alternatives of any of the several resorts/hotels we stayed at. I found ordering curries with no seafood or meat simple though, and they were mostly still good. The massaman curry was a miss, but everything else I tried was quite good for resort food! We really loved the touch of the room's default tv channel being an info channel about the resort's wildlife and maintenance. That, plus the several info booklets allowed us to have a more guided and knowledgeable experience while sightseeing on the exceptional grounds. It was really fun running into others who were also just having a look around and waiting to see a different animal pop up. We enjoyed our stay. Next time we'd likely come back, while also spending some time up the coast a bit.

What can I say…. This hotel is one of the best we have ever stayed in! If you are thinking of booking, please do! You will not regret it. Here are a few of our comments : We booked direct with hotel and communication was excellent and really helpful a huge thank you to Krisda for all of your help on the run up to this holiday. We had interconnecting rooms a double and twin for us and our 2 children aged 16 and 10. The rooms were beautiful and kept impeccably clean! We went all inclusive and the food is excellent. Plenty of choice and HUGE portions! Staff in the restaurants are also so amazing and helpful a special thank you to Mai, who was so lovely! He really does deserve a special thank you. Drinks were also good on AI. The grounds and pools are just beautiful. Everyday we kept saying how stunning that hotel was and the eco friendly side of it was so good! We did the night walk which was also interesting. The one thing this hotel had done well (apart from being is such a beautiful setting) was the sunbed situation! It made such a nice change to not have that horrible rush every morning to get a sunbed. The hotel was full but there were plenty to go around, still empty beds available after breakfast and all day. It made it a proper relaxing holiday…. The one and only thing I would say could have been better was the shower room for when you check out. We were unable to get a late checkout so used this facility but it is so hot in there and after a few have used it, it really was unbearable. But to be fair - this is minor in such a wonderful hotel. Thank you to everyone for such an amazing holiday!!!