Cox’s Bazar

Green – Abakash Resort
Kalatali Road
Atomic Energy Campus
Cox’s Bazar
Phone: 0341 – 4744 / 4745
Stayed there: January 27th – 29th 2007
Rates: We paid 650Tk per night for an executive room

Very close to the sea and with spacious rooms, this place isn’t too bad for a beachside resort in a Bangladeshi holiday resort. Our executive room had two beds (one single, one double), lukewarm shower, western toilet and TV. Oh, and exactly one cockroach.
There are plenty of restaurants within walking distance as well as handy shops. The restaurant on the premises didn’t look much cop when we popped our heads in so we ate elsewhere, though it was pretty crowded by the time we got back.
We had a power outage on the first night, but the hotel has a generator to power the lights and plug sockets. Sadly, they didn’t start up the satellite feed so the TV was useless and I missed the footie!

Dhaka

Hotel Ramna (Res.)
45 Bangabandhu Avenue
Dhaka 1000
Phone: 9562279, 9563174, 9563175, 9562640, 9555637
Stayed there: January 23rd, 26th and 30th 2007
Rates: 550Tk for a standard or 700Tk for a deluxe non-aircon

The reception area of the hotel raises expectations sky-high, but the rooms don’t match up. They’re not bad – in fact they’re pretty good – but they’re not up to the tile-clad, gold-edged poshness of the downstairs area.
We checked out two rooms – a standard and a deluxe – and settled on the pricier one for our first night; the cheaper for our subsequent stays. The only real difference was the inclusion of a western-style loo instead of a squat in the deluxe. Given the state of my stomach when we checked in for our first stay, this was worth the extra 150 Taka a night.
The beds were fairly soft, certainly the best since we arrived in South Asia (except for the ones at Indy’s parents’). The TV worked and had a gazillion channels with decent reception, the door had two locks on it, and the reception staff were very helpful.
The only quibbles are ones I’ve had with many places in Asia – the shower is cold and it’s noisy outside. So you use the bathroom at the end of the day when you’re hot, and you put earplugs in to sleep.

Mongla

Hotel Pashur
Phone: 801698
Stayed there: January 25th 2007
Rates: We paid 600Tk for a non-aircon room. Aircon ones are 1200Tk

As Lonely Planet says, this is the best place in town to stay although the choice is severely limited. It’s on the opposite side of the river to the village itself, though that’s easily crossed by boat. Conversely, the main bus “depot” is right outside the gates.
Staff are welcoming and they’re only too happy to hand out a bunch of leaflets about Bangladesh, in particular those places with other hotels in the same chain. I think there’s only one TV on the premises and it’s in reception, but the staff liked to tell us what was going on in the Indian film we sat and watched with them.
The room we got was spacious with two comfy beds complete with mosquito nets. Towels, Soap and loo roll was provided and we had the first hot shower in a week. Not piping hot, but certainly well above “warm”. Three plug sockets in the room, bizarrely, had three different shapes – one Indian, one UK and one combination Indian/US.
Food in the restaurant was pricey by Bangladesh standards, but good and came in large portions. The rice and dall that Hans ordered, he couldn’t finish. By Hans’ standards and the amount he can put away, that’s a hell of a sized portion!