Mermaid Eco Resort

Très bien, je reviendrai

We tried to book directly with the resort by email but they failed to respond so then resorted to booking via a 3rd party booking site. Unfortunately this resulted in our initial booking of a 2 bed family villa (Crab Dreamer) for 2 nights becoming a 1 bed studio villa (Green Morning) and 1 bed bungalow (Pink Ice Sugar) for the first night and then transferred in to our original booking for the second night. Whilst we were informed of this overbooking prior to arrival by email and by the heartfelt apologies expressed by staff upon check-in; and that Green Morning was given to us as an upgrade (and very nice it was too!); and the sum of the 2 x 1 bed were greater than the 2 bed in value terms - it was somewhat inconvenient not be able to unpack for the first night and split our family comprising of 2 adults + 2 children between the 2 residences in different parts of the resort. Moreover we felt that Pink Ice Sugar being an attached bungalow provided very little noise insulation between the adjoining villa’s bathrooms leaving very little to the imagination lol. However we liked and would definitely recommend Green Morning for couples and / or honeymooners for its space, luxurious bathroom, privacy and close proximity to the restaurant. Our second night at the Crab Dreamer was everything as described on their website (although we could not find the day room?!) with a private garden and close proximity to the reception desk. The complimentary breakfast was nice with a vast array of both hot and cold items, and for the first night we’d ordered dinner from the A La Carte menu. The food was OK but a bit pricey for what it was and by local standards. Unfortunately the 2 desserts that we wanted were unavailable but the Calamari Rings (800BDT) and Pizza Bolognese (1300BDT) were particularly nice. There is also a 4 x set meals which present much better value for money but the wording on this menu suggests that they are only available for lunchtime. Not true! 3 are available for dinner too! We opted for the Coral Station Restaurant at nearby Inani (400BDT each way by CNG) on our second night which was fantastic and highly recommended! We would have liked to have explored their sister Mermaid Beach Resort for a future trip and understood there to be an hourly boat shuttle from Mermaid Eco to Beach but alas this is now no longer running?! The only excursion now offered is an hourly private boat trip around the lake (3000BDT) and another out to the sea (5000BDT). Kayaking is also offered by an independent company a short walk away off-site beside the bridge but time did not allow us to explore this option further. I’m guessing that in coming to an eco resort you’ll be wanting to switch off from the outside world but if (free) wifi is essential for you then the signal is best around the reception desk and restaurant areas. So 3* from me but could have been 5* if the above issues were overcome. Overall we enjoyed our stay here, with some nice touches such as

Although we didnt stay here but we went in for dinner one night. It was by far one the most excellent meals of my life. The food was coocked to perfection and the service was outstanding. We had two servers that night Mr. Mong and Mr. Robi, both were great especially Mr. Mong. Mr. Mong made some amazing suggestions about what to order and he even got us an amazing seafood starter which was not on the menu. Really amazing service. The ambiance is also very relaxing and nice. We had a really great time. If you ever go to Coxs Bazar and have time to only do one thing then just go to Mermaid and have dinner, it will be completely worth it.