Khao Lak is where we are going, that is what we told everyone, and no one had ever heard of it. Why? we wondered? because it is the German place to go on holiday...
That does not mean we didnt enjoy our time there, Merlin is about an hour away from the airport and an hour and a half away from Phuket Town if you plan your holiday for sitting on the beach and looking through a few souviner shops and maybe buying a tailored outfit then Khao lak is definately for you as there is not much else around but it is beautiful, there are elephants that you can ride (if you like that kind of thing) places to walk, and beaches to explore. Many trips are extremely expensive here such as trips to Phi Phi at 3000 Baht! - we decided to stick with the beach we had.
The food at Merlin is boring, its ok if you want lunch after spending the day on a beach but the room service, bar and restaurant menu are exactly the same and the choice is limited.
they were doing work to the hotel while we were there, they did the best to make sure this did not disrupt anything.
my partner was stung by jelly fish - not the merlins fault of course - but be wary - also remember the sun is much much stronger than it feels.
as I said earlier its a very German area, each morning the Thai staff greeting with Guttenmargen or however they spell good morning in Germany, and they all spoke very good German, their English is poor. although I cant complain too much - my Thai is not great either!