4-star hotels in Laboni

Laboni is the beach the country actually goes to: the closest sand to the town centre, a jetty busy with speedboats, and a beach entrance road that works as the region's promenade. Beach shacks sell coconuts and fried fish, stalls offer shell jewellery and Burmese slippers, and photographers, horse handlers and kite sellers work the same kilometre of sand. On a Friday evening in December there can be tens of thousands of people here, and it is one of the great sights of Bangladeshi public life.

The 4-star hotels on this shortlist sit along Kolatoli Road and the Hotel Motel Zone streets that run back towards the town centre rather than in a single beachfront wall. That means fewer sea views but shorter walks to everything else — the main market, the bus stand, the banks, the pharmacies and the Burmese Market are all within ten to fifteen minutes on foot. It suits families wanting the town at their feet, couples on a short break, and anyone who would rather walk than ride.

Getting there and around

Laboni is the closest sand to the town centre, and the entrance road onto the sand doubles as the region's promenade — the market, bus stand, banks and pharmacies sit within ten to fifteen minutes on foot behind it. Two of the hotels here, Hotel The Cox Today on Plot 7 Road 2 and Royal Pearl Suites on Kolatoli Road, list shuttle service, which helps for the runs that are too far to walk. Kolatoli is two kilometres from Laboni and shares the same beach, so the two strips are easy to combine. Outside peak season, rooms can often be booked on arrival.

When to go

Time a visit around the cooler months, when the sunset crowd on Laboni peaks about twenty minutes before the sun reaches the water and thins fast afterwards — the following half hour is the nicest time to be on the sand. Shopping streets are at their best between five and nine in the evening, after the heat, and the fish market moves early in the morning. Laboni fills first in peak season because it is closest to the bus stand.