Khao Lak Merlin Resort
This deluxe resort offers a relaxed Thai design and is located on Khao Lak beach front surrounded by 15 acres of lush tropical gardens, access from Phuket International Airport by approximately 50 minutes car transfer.
A choice of cuisine is on offer at the resorts 2 restaurants; enjoy Asian classics and full breakfast buffets at 'The Garden' and seafood dishes overlooking the beach at 'The Veranda Restaurant'. Refreshments are also served at the Lobby Lounge and Sanook Lounge & Bar. Resort facilities include a Spa, 4 swimming pools, fitness centre, tennis court, kid's corner, babysitting services and beauty salon.
Tastefully decorated and spacious guest rooms, all are well equipped with air-conditioning, satellite TV, minibar, tea/coffee making facilities and private balcony. Rates are not valid for nationals or passport holders of the following countries; Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden.
Special Offers
The earlier you book the more you save on your stay!
15% Early Bird Reduction Save up to 15% when you book 90 days or more in advance.
10% Early Bird Reduction Save up to 10% when you book 30 days or more in advance.
Valid for stays until 15/04/2024, if booked by 15/04/2024. Valid for stays 16/04/2024 – 15/04/2025, if booked by 15/04/2025.
Not combinable with Long Stay offers. Not applicable to extra bed or meal supplements.
22% Long Stay Discount Save an additional 22% when you stay 14 nights or longer.
20% Long Stay Discount Save an additional 20% when you stay 7 nights or longer.
Valid for stays until 31/10/2023. Valid for stays 16/04/2024 – 31/10/2024, if booked by 31/10/2024.
Must be booked 90 Days Before Departure. Not combinable with Early Bird reduction offers. Not applicable to extra bed or meal supplements.
Holiday Deal Finder
Prices in the calendar are based on the cheapest room(s) available and your search criteria
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Facilities
- FREE Wi-Fi
- Bars including outside pool bar
- Restaurants#
- Selected watersports*
- 4 Swimming pools
- Fitness
- Spa centre
- Sauna
- Kids’ club
- Parasols
- Please note some facilities may incur an additional fee
- # Some restaurants and bars may incur an additional charge. Some restaurants and bars may enforce a dress code and may require a reservation in advance
The Local Area
Tripadvisor Reviews
Great Resort & Service
It was our first time in Thailand for my wifes 60th birthday , We arrived at the Merlin from the airport & where swiftly checked in & shown our room which was lovely & very comfortable & well kept, The grounds are very lush & beautifull with lots of mature trees which give a tropical feel to the place with pools all around the grounds , The ground lead onto a sandy beach with warm sea which is very relaxing The food is excelent with lots of choice & good quality & well cooked As are the drinks , As it was my wifes birthday the staff made a real effort to dress our table & make the meal special . Outside the hotel there are a few bars & shops including The elephant bar if you fancy some Thai boxing live in the bar , Lots of trips to be had from going to James Bond Island , or a massge on the nearby beach ,. A big thanks to all the staff for making our holiday special especialy Cookie at the beach bar who made us very welcome . We will retern.
Nice hotel in a quiet part of Thailand
This is a very ecological hotel with nearly 300 trees within the ground, which does a good job of hiding how much of a concrete jungle this hotel actually is. We did the “night walk” organised by the hotel one night, which is basically a walk around the hotel grounds to see wildlife such as crabs and bugs and if you are lucky a “Slow Loris”- a primate. After searching the trees for a good 40 minutes, we did finally see one, but according to the guide that was only the third successful spotting in the last few months.
Rooms are very good and clean, as are the pools ( the ones you can go in) , but the water is cold- far cooler than the sea.
We made the mistake of going all inclusive for one week, after two weeks of travelling around Thailand- lesson learnt- never go all inclusion in any hotel in Thailand, when there is so much good quality and choice of food outside hotels- wherever you go. However, the odd thing here, was that all inclusive had a different, inferior food and drinks menu to paying customers- no branded spirit drinks, no proper cocktails ( just mixers) and limited food. It was like going to the supermarket and being told you can only buy the basic/ value range whilst everyone else can buy what they want. The quality of the all inclusive food was good, but you should not feel second class as an all inclusive guest.
The hotel lacks any atmosphere at nighttime- activity focuses on the lobby bar, which is more like a library. It would be far better if they kept the beach bar open until 11pm as a place where guests would socialise, rather than closing it at 8pm. Oh- and the WIFi is surprising slow and can’t handle much bandwidth.
Other than the above, it genuinely was a nice hotel, but could be so much better. The local village is worth a visit for food and a drink, but would not describe it as “buzzing” and neither is Khao Lake town compared to Phuket or Krabi. However, Coconut beach and White Sand beach ( 10 miles up the coast) are worth a visit- lovely beaches with sun-beds, restaurants and bars on hand.
Loved it!
Wow! Our first time to the Khao Lak area of Thailand and we loved it. Very peaceful location with a wonderful beach and many beachside restaurants. We had a Deluxe Pool Access room so our pool was only shared between 2 rooms - 2 steps from our little private balcony into the pool - wonderful! Breakfast was good with a great selection on b offer. Gorgeous resort lots of trees and stunning gardens.
Wonderful Merlin Resort *****
What a very special place the Merlin Resort is. We went for half term UK family of four, children aged 14 & 11 and we had one of the best holidays we have ever had.
We had two adjoining superior rooms, which were not the plushest of rooms, slightly dated but very clean, spacious & plenty of storage and we were hardly in there, so they were fine for us.
The breakfast buffet was wonderful, we enjoyed the omelette station very much, staff so friendly and plenty of coffee offered along with latte machines inside if needed.
We went half board plus which was a very good package (2 meals a day with 2 free drinks per person at each meal) however we would only do bed and breakfast next time as we love Thai food and there are so many lovely local places to eat out at.
We mostly spent time in Nana's next door to the Merlin a short walk up the beach if you turn left out of resort. Also, if you keep going and round the corner there are some other lovely beach restaurants that do amazing food, cocktails, ices latte / ices teas etc. along with massages! I had 2 massages at Nana's and one at Leo's which was about 1K up the beach.
The facilities were fantastic at The Merlin, we used the gym every morning opens at 7AM and closes at 8PM, we didn’t have time to use the tennis courts, but they looked great.
All staff were extremely friendly and helpful, and we will be coming back next year!
The only negative we found were some of the guests, we weren’t there to make friends however a smile and a good morning is usually standard manners, but we encountered a lot of sour faced, misery guts, no buffet etiquettes and que jumping!!!! Makes me wonder about the few reviews complaining about Merlin staff being unfriendly is most likely due to the way in which these guests behave towards them!
Similan Islands – DO NOT DO IT!!!! If you want to be packed in a catamaran / speed boats like sardines and being among the masses arriving at this wonderful nature reserve with self-sticks and screaming while jumping off the top deck at snorkelling sites, then this is the trip for you. However, we couldn’t wait for the trip to be over sadly! The staff at Seastar were great, but it's like being on a school trip! You are there 9 – 5, split into groups, being called here and there and be back in 5 minutes its just not what we hoping for sadly.
Coconut Beach and White Sandy Beach – MUST DO !!!! This beach is stunning. Mr Panu will arrange a taxi for you at the front desk and drop you off and says to message him an hour before you want to come back to The Merlin and he will come and collect you. Beautiful white sand, you can't work out where the sea meets the sky the colour of the water is phenomenal, lovely bar, restaurants, massages, spotless toilets it’s a beautiful place to spend the day, good alternative to the Similan Islands, we wished we had done this twice instead of that awful trip!
We also booked Pam's cookery class what an amazing set up and a lovely lady, was a pleasure to meet her and learn from the best. We all did the class and cooked a meal each Pad Thai, Chicken Panang, Red Thai curry and our youngest made ham and cheese spring rolls as she's a fussy eater which Pam found very amusing! Find Pam on Facebook and book in advance. Have a meal there beforehand to meet her and decided what you want to cook.
A huge thank you to everyone at the Merlin, we will see you again soon!
Never again.
The hotel is a nice place with a lot of plants. We had a pool access room,what is normally nice. But we have haevy noises from a construction opposite of our room. After one week we get another room on the other side of the hotel. Thr staff at the bar and the reception are unfriendly and not helpful. Sorry, its a nice place, but never again. Peter and Andrea from Germany.