We spent a week here and could have stayed longer. If you don't want to be caught in the hustle bustle of Patong, but still like to wander down occasionally, then this is the place for you. The resort itself was beautiful. We were lucky enough to have a pool-side room. step outside your door into a beautiful lagoon pool. The grounds were immaculate. The restaurants catered for different tastes (Thai or Western) and the service was pretty good. Photos don't do this place justice. It's even better in real life. The beach is beautiful here to wade in, but is too rocky for a good swim. There are hidden beaches across the road from the resort, though...and you will find nice little restaurants for lunch or dinner. Watch what you eat everywhere in thailand. I did have a bug for a few days and I think it was from bircher muesli or milk that sat in little jugs in the heat for too long (Hotel restaurant). Just be wise and all should be fine. Internet access is good. You pay a small amount for half hour, which was very handy. I would love to return here with my whole family. A beautiful, relaxing holiday. Tours can be arranged without a hassle. Don't miss staying at Merlin Beach Resort.

We found the Merlin Beach almost exactly like it was on our previous stay in September 2009.
The fact that we returned to the same hotel in Dec 2011 will give you a clue as to whether we liked it or not.
You sometimes worry about returning to a place you enjoyed before, in case there's been change, or indeed your fond memories may have expanded your expectations.
I'm pleased to report, we were not let down.

We had 2 connecting rooms, which we shared with our teenage kids.
The rooms were well maintained, and the lady who came every day to tidy up did a great job.
We had told her that we didn't mind if she only came every second day, but she was happy to tidy up every day, and always greeted us warmly whenever we met her in the hallway. She even quietly knocked on our door to say goodbye at the end of her shift on our departure day.

The cleaning lady was fairly typical of most staff we came into contact with, in that those with a little bit of English were quite happy to greet and chat, but those who did not, were more likely to avert their eyes. Probably a shyness thing.

Buildings, pools and grounds were nice and clean, perhaps the swim-up bar could do with a spruce-up (a bit grotty).
Breakfast was great, and we found them quite flexible with times. ( we wanted to leave early a couple of times, and managed to get a nice breakfast before leaving)

Room service and poolside food was great. The restaurants were pricey by Thai standards, but not by Australian, and the food was of excellent quality. Perhaps the only thing we had a little bother with (but not to the point it was annoying) was that if we wanted to slightly change something in a particular dish (dietary), it usually required us to explain it to three different waiters to make sure the message got back to the kitchen.

So, all things considered, we were very happy with our stay, and would not hesitate to recommend the Merlin Beach Patong to anyone.

Now, to the surrounding area, and Patong in general.
Even though the Merlin Beach is a little way out of Patong (as we like it), the area is starting to change.
There is a large development under construction next door, but, other than some banging sounds early one morning did not disturb our stay.
Tri Tra Beach now has permanent cottages, and a couple of bars, so is not quite as "serene" as we remember it from a couple of years ago.
Windsurf Restaurant (south end of Tri Tra beach) is still a magic place for dinner, with the over- water views of Patong quite stunning, however, the previous owner "Tat" is not there now, and the restaurant has lost it's charm. ( it's been extended, has tablecloths, quite loud background music, and a huge menu). On our previous visit, it was a one person operation, with amazing food, and we ate there 5 nights out of 10.

This visit, we bought snorkeling gear in patong, and spent a lot of time in the water of Tri Trang Beach (Merlin Beach), where we found the snorkeling as good as anywhere else (Phi Phi included).

If you want a beautiful, white sand, idyllic beach, jump on a long tail boat, and spend the day at Freedom Beach (the next beach south of Tri Trang). We walked there, around the rocks, but it's quite strenuous, and we were glad we had just enough cash with us to get a long tail back!

Little Tiger restaurant, just on the hill next to Merlin Beach is quite good, and the bloke on the beach has decently priced beer during the day.
By far the best meal we have had in Thailand was at Sea Hag in Patong, thanks to the reviews on Tripadvisor. An absolutely stunning meal with great service. (try to sit on the street side tables)
Sea Hag, and the beach food vendors were the highlight of "town", I think it's too crowded there to bother going back, (just my opinion) there's plenty to see without Patong.
Enjoy!

We were looking forward to coming to this resort. The stay was a bit disappointing. Firstly we booked a pool access room. They did not have this room available for the first night. They put us in a superior room and it felt dirty and it was not a nice experience. We were offered vouchers to use at the resort but decided to ask for a refund after reading other reviews on this website. We then had to more rooms, it was just annoying when you think you have had the accommodation booked and confirm though a travel agent. The staff appeared to be unhappy and not that helpful or friendly. (except for the first person that check us in). In say this the pool access room was good and a lot cleaner but I must say for the amount you pay rooms were not at high standard in my opinion. The taxi or tuk tuk fare was 300 baht. The courtesy hotel bus was handy. I am sorry to say I would not stay here again.

We stayed at this hotel perhaps five years ago on our first family trip to Thailand.
To be fair, the adults suspected that returning with older kids (12, 14) was not a great idea, but our children’s memory of the gorgeous Merlin pools have become the unreachable benchmark against which any other pool area is measured and found lacking so we let them convince us to go back.

On the plus side, the average English language skills of the staff has improved a lot and the service from the reception girls was actually very good. The pools are still gorgeous and the rooms were redecorated in lighter colors. Since so few Thai hotels have suites or apartments, these interconnecting rooms are very practical, much better than the Mediterranean hotels’ apartments with uncomfortable extra beds for the kids

Now to the rather long list of negatives. Our rooms and even beds were inhabited by tiny ants – not that many, when looking around on the floor you would see one or two, but when looking around the king size bed, there would be at least one there as well. It does not take more than one or two crawling around on your skin each day for a very uncomfortable itchy feeling to develop. Fortunately, they only seemed to like the adults bed, the children’s’ queen sized in the adjoining room were completely ant free. For some reason, they also loved our laptop (this has happened several times before - perhaps there are tiny cookie crumbs accumulated among the keys). The cleaning lady only emptied the trash can every third day or so, thereby providing plenty of food for the little house guests.

Then there were the different kinds of noise. A new hotel is under constructed next door, providing the usual banging during working hours (starting 7 a.m. or so). This is a family hotel so one must expect noisy children, but there were ALWAYS several of them screaming at the top of their lungs within a five meter radius. There is a large gap below the doors from the rooms to the hallway, providing absolutely zero sound isolation, and there was constant yelling, screaming, running, banging on doors etc. in the hallway from 6 a.m. to well past midnight. The family wing also houses some kind of luxurry suite used for weddings and in particular late night wedding after-parties, often filling the potentially silent gap with the lovely sound of drunken Australians in their 20s shouting outside the door. Finally, the hotel has up to four sources of music at night that appear to compete to be heard by increasing the volume. Thank god we brought good earplugs.

As mentioned, the staff speaks better English now and the average service mindedness has generally improved in my view, but the staff at the children’s pool bar was invariably unpleasant and occasionally outrageously rude. Some Bhukit restaurant staff were also awful, while reception, main pool bar, and sports bar staff were generally good.

The hotel has greatly strengthens its control over nearby alternative sources of beer, snacks et; expect to pay exuberant hotel prices or make major shopping trips to Patong fo supplies.

The beach across the road was almost deserted last time we were here but has become rather developed now (strange since it is not a good beach, very rocky). Paradise has also expanded a lot and no longer feels like the untouched paradise its name suggests (still nice unless the tide is very low). Freedom beach however remains the best beach in Phuket in our view, especially if you go to the far end and/or stay after most Patong visitors leave at 3-4 pm. Walking there is probably not allowed but the sign on the gate were in Thai so we decided not to take the subtle hint of barb wire (there are paths around it). Snorkeling outside the hotel beach (given that you manage to get across the rocks and into the water; bring suitable shoes) is still among the best in Phuket, for some reason especially at low tide.

Given that there are plenty of much better hotels right on gorgeous beaches in other parts of Thailand with much more interesting things to see and do, we are not returning to Merlin (or to Phuket for that matter). It is a safe bet for a first trip to Thailand with small children, but so is Lanta or Khao Lak and they are much nicer.