Inani Royal Resort
Inani Royal Resort is a 3-star hotel in Inani, Cox's Bazar, a sensible choice for sightseeing around Cox's Bazar Beach without overspending.
Guests typically choose Inani for its balance of location and price; Inani Royal Resort is a good fit if you want to be near the action in Cox's Bazar.
Key facts
What’s included
Getting around Cox's Bazar: from the airport, along Marine Drive and between areas
Cox's Bazar Airport (CXB) sits inside the town at Jhilongja, so the transfer to Kolatoli is 3–4 km and around 10 minutes; Laboni and Sugandha are 5–6 km, and a hotel car or a booked microbus costs roughly $6–$12 for the run. Since December 2023 the Cox's Bazar Iconic Railway Station has taken trains from Dhaka Kamalapur on the Cox's Bazar Express and Parjatak Express, an 8–9 hour journey, with the station about 9 km from the beach hotels — budget $4–$7 for a CNG auto-rickshaw into Kolatoli. Long-distance coaches from Green Line, Shohagh, Hanif and Saudia take 9–11 hours from Dhaka over the 400 km via the Chattogram–Cox's Bazar highway and drop at the Kolatoli and Jhilongja counters. Inside town you rarely need a car: battery-run tomtoms run the Kolatoli–Sugandha–Laboni line for under $0.50 a seat.
You do need wheels for the south. Marine Drive runs 80 km from Cox's Bazar to Teknaf, and the usual half-day loop of Himchari (18 km), Inani (32 km) and back takes three to four hours; a reserved CNG costs about $15–$22, a car with driver $35–$55 for the day. Ramu is 16 km east on the Chattogram–Teknaf road, Dulahazara Safari Park in Chakaria is roughly 50 km north on the highway, and Magnama Ghat in Pekua, the crossing point for Kutubdia, is about 65 km north. Moheshkhali is reached by speedboat from 6 No. Ghat on the Bakkhali river in around 30 minutes, or an hour by wooden trawler; Sonadia is a further short boat from Ghatibhanga. Self-drive hire is not a normal option here — everything is hired with a driver.
How many nights in Cox's Bazar, and what a first trip should look like
Three nights is the sensible minimum and four is better, because the town beach and the Marine Drive south are two separate days and the islands need a third. A two-night weekend from Dhaka effectively gives you one full day once you account for the 8–9 hour train or the 9–11 hour coach; if you fly the one-hour Dhaka–CXB route, two nights works but leaves nothing spare for weather. First-timers usually base the whole stay in Kolatoli rather than moving hotels, since the drive from Kolatoli to Inani is only 40 minutes. Anyone adding Teknaf or a boat trip should plan five nights.
A workable shape: day one for Laboni and Sugandha, sunset on the town beach and seafood at the Sugandha stalls; day two for the Marine Drive run to Himchari waterfall and Inani's boulder beach, ideally leaving by 08:00 to have Inani before the tour buses; day three for Moheshkhali by speedboat from 6 No. Ghat, taking in the Adinath temple on Mainak hill and the betel-leaf gardens. With a fourth day, choose between Ramu's Buddhist kyangs 16 km east and Bangabandhu Safari Park at Dulahazara, 50 km north in Chakaria. Keep the last morning free — the beach is at its best between 06:00 and 08:00, before the day crowds arrive from the hotels.
What hotels actually cost in Cox's Bazar
Off-peak, a clean budget double with a fan behind Kolatoli or around Nuniar Chor runs $10–$20 a night, and the same room in a basic AC guesthouse near Laboni is $18–$28. Mid-range three-star hotels with AC, hot water and breakfast sit at $30–$60 from May to September and $70–$110 through the November–February peak, with a genuine sea-facing balcony adding $15–$25 over a road-facing room in the same building. Four- and five-star resorts in Kolatoli and along Marine Drive towards Inani are typically $90–$180 in winter. Rates in Teknaf, Ramu and Chakaria are lower across the board, usually $12–$35, but the stock is thin.
Rates spike in three predictable bursts: the Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Adha weeks, the 25 December to 2 January stretch, and the Durga Puja holiday in October, when top-end rooms can ask $250–$400 and mid-range doubles $150. There is also a weekly rhythm that catches foreign visitors out — the Bangladeshi weekend is Friday and Saturday, so Thursday and Friday nights carry the premium and Sunday to Tuesday are the cheapest nights of any week. In July and August, discounts of 40–60% off the winter rate are normal and a sea-facing three-star can fall to $25–$35. Published rack rates on hotel boards in Cox's Bazar are routinely inflated; the online price is the real one.