We stayed at the Ocean Paradise Resort for two nights. Overall it was a very pleasant experience.
Room: We had asked for a Deluxe Sea View room with a balcony. The room itself was great. Comfortable bed and pillows, clean sheets, small but decent bathroom (the Superior rooms come with bath tubs, these do not), nice 32" flat screen TV. It was a bit of a stretch to call it a 'Sea View' room because when you step out onto the balcony you can just see the road and you have to crane your neck to barely see the sea. The room was on the second floor so the trees along the beach blocked most of the view. We asked for a room with a better view and were moved to a room a floor above closer to the sea. Couldn't really complain because the hotel was booked out. However, the Superior Deluxe rooms have a MUCH better view of the Sea and they should mention this at the time of booking (when I asked over the phone the difference between Deluxe and Superior Deluxe they said it was a little bigger and had a bath tub - NOTHING about the view being better). Other than that really enjoyed the room and found it comfortable and homey. One word of warning about inconsiderate local guests with children who talk loudly in the halls late at night and slam their doors when entering their rooms. Also they don't provide complimentary water bottles!! This is the first I have seen at any hotel I've stayed at.
Food: Dining experience was disappointing. (i) The Sea Grill restaurant on the roof has a limited selection and the preparation of the sea food dishes were very disappointing. Ordered the snapper and pompfret and the quantity was little and they overdid it with the hot sauce topping. (ii) The Curry leaf restaurant (which serves breakfast, lunch and dinner) was not much better. (a) Breakfast items are ridiculous. Only a selection of bangladeshi food (i.e. lunch time and dinner time food) like khichurri, chicken curry, etc. How is that breakfast?? They should have a selection of eggs, sausages, waffles/pancakes, selection of juices (were offering just ONE), cereal, etc. (b) Had lunch there one day and the beef burger was decent but the chili lime prawns were not very good (again overladen with sweet and sour sauce). (iiii) Ordered the late night room service one night and was (unsurprisingly) disappointed. They were having their 'monthly' kitchen maintenance and so the burger and sandwich items would take an HOUR to serve. They suggested we choose the local items like rice with chicken curry and beef curry as they were 'ready' and we had those but the chicken was hard and the beef was rubbery and it tasted a little stale.
Services advertised on website but not active: This was particularly annoying. The hotel claimed to have a bar and a sheesha lounge on their website (www.oceanparadisehotel.com) but in reality they have not started these services yet. Then why advertise it??? Write 'Coming Soon'!! They also advertised 'Free Shuttle to Himchori everyday at Sunset' services but again they have stopped providing this. Quite ridiculous.
Staff: The staff were very friendly and helpful in general. However, the concierge did not appear to be all that informative.
Location: The location is great and very near to Sugandha which is where the beach and where Mermaid Cafe (recommend going there for every meal) are. Rickshaws, CNGs are available outside the hotel. The hotel does not have its own accessible private beach yet but we were told that this would open 'soon'.
Rates: We got a corporate discount so the rates ended up being very reasonable but without discount it can be a bit pricey.
In general, a trip to Cox's bazar is always great so the little issues I mentioned above won't really ruin your trip. But I would recommend eating out when possible.
