Lighthouse Family Retreat

Lighthouse Family Retreat is in Sugandha, Cox's Bazar (Lighthouse Road House No. 84 Block A, Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh), close to Cox's Bazar Beach.

Prices are set live by the hotel — check the booking page for a real rate for your dates.

Lighthouse Family Retreat is a 3-star hotel in Cox's Bazar.

Guests rate it 4 across 718 reviews. It's a midscale choice for Cox's Bazar.

Three nights covers it properly, and four is comfortable. You need one day for the town beaches at Laboni and Sugandha, one for the Marine Drive run to Himchari and Inani, and one for a boat day to Moheshkhali from 6 No. Ghat. Two nights only works if you fly the one-hour Dhaka–CXB route rather than taking the 8–9 hour train. Add a fifth night if you intend to reach Teknaf, 80 km south, or Dulahazara Safari Park, 50 km north in Chakaria.

Cox's Bazar Airport (CXB) is inside the town at Jhilongja, so it is only 3–4 km and about 10 minutes to Kolatoli and 5–6 km to Laboni or Sugandha. A hotel pickup or booked microbus costs roughly $6–$12; a CNG auto-rickshaw from the gate is $3–$5 if you agree the fare first. Resorts at Inani are 32 km away and will quote $20–$30 for the transfer along Marine Drive. If you arrive by rail instead, the Cox's Bazar Iconic Railway Station is about 9 km from the beach hotels.

Not for the town — tomtoms and CNG auto-rickshaws cover the Kolatoli–Sugandha–Laboni line for under $0.50 a seat and run late. You do want a vehicle for the south, because there is no useful public transport along the 80 km Marine Drive to Teknaf. A reserved CNG for the Himchari and Inani loop is about $15–$22, a car with driver $35–$55 for a full day including Ramu or Dulahazara. Self-drive hire is not standard here; cars come with a driver.

Both work, but they want different addresses. Families do better in Kolatoli, where larger family rooms and buffet breakfasts are common and the beach entrance, pharmacies and food are within a few hundred metres, with the Dulahazara Safari Park 50 km north as a rainy-day option. Couples usually prefer the Marine Drive resorts at Sonarpara and Inani, 28–32 km south, where the beach is emptier and the boulders make for better sunsets. Note that the marked, lifeguard-patrolled swimming zones are all in town at Laboni, Sugandha and Kolatoli, which matters if you have children in the water.

Book four to six weeks ahead for the Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Adha weeks, the 25 December to 2 January stretch and the Durga Puja holiday in October, when the town effectively sells out. Outside those windows, two weeks is plenty, except for Thursday and Friday nights, which are the Bangladeshi weekend and always the tightest nights. Sea-facing rooms in Kolatoli and the small resorts at Inani go first at any time of year. Boat trips to Moheshkhali or Kutubdia are better left flexible, since they depend on tide and weather.