Coral Reef Resort & Spa, Havelock

Outstanding resort with 2 swimming pools, great breakfast and other food options. Generous portions. Excellent service from the team. Rooms are big and comfortable. Every room has a balcony Not too close to the market and not too far from the market. Perfect location to easily access from a cycle or a motor bike Local shops for basic needs just opposite to the hotel Many restaurants on the road just outside the hotel if you prefer to eat out sometime

I stayed in the property with my wife and my 3-year old daughter from January 19 to January 21, 2025. We were accompanied to the room by Ms. Shaheen, the front desk manager. The room was spacious, clean and was the best among the ones we stayed at in the Andamans. The private beach was a major highlight and was very well maintained. There were two different swimming pools that were also well maintained. The property overall was managed very well. However, the main laggard in this entire experience is the restaurant. We had a candlelight dinner by the beach on the 20th. of January. The starters were nicely made but the chicken tikka was very dry inside. We observed the same trend across different chicken dishes where the chicken was overcooked and was not moist at all. Chicken Dijon tasted a lot bitter than expected. Towards the end of our meal, we were told that the restaurant had run out of caramel custard which we ordered at least 7 hours before our meal. Surprisingly, the Greek salad (a vinaigrette based one) appeared just before the dessert whereas these types of salads generally appear as appetizers in the Western world. The restaurant here needs serious improvement and it's important considering the few choices of eateries outside the hotel. I will specifically mention Mr. Ravi Chhetri for his impeccable service throughout the dinner. He also took some good photographs of us and strived hard to make the dinner experience enjoyable for us. While checking out, I was initially asked for the payment of the candlelight dinner which I had paid even before arriving at Havelock. Hence the billing system needs an upgradation too.

Very nice. I have stayed on 3 of the Andaman Islands and this is by far the nicest hotel. The staff, many of whom are from Sikkim, are welcoming and helpful and speak enough English to make this easy for a non-Indian guest. The buildings are 2 stories. My room was upstairs with a balcony overlooking one of the two pools. It was well set out, very clean and well lit. There was a big comfortable bed, coffee table and chairs, minibar fridge, the usual kettle and tea/coffee plus jars of sweet biscuits. The bathroom was a little cramped but the shower was big and had reliable hot water. There is a restaurant and a café, the latter with a real coffee machine which seems to be pretty rare. The food was okay, not super gourmet but good enough, and the wait staff went out of their way to be helpful. There is a bar serving a wide range of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks at reasonable cost. I also had a good massage in the spa again at reasonable cost. I would be very happy to return to the Coral Reef in the future.

It is a good resort on the beach. 2 swimming pools, live music in evenings, good breakfast spread, lavish rooms = good holiday! The resort seems to have space crunch yet they've managed to give good experience to travellers. It is at reasonable distance from major attractions. Although the restaurant takes longer time to deliver the food order, it was delicious. The beach is at walkable distance and the entire stretch (including for resorts nearby) have wonderful view

Thankfully - the island and the property have enough to offer that in spite of all the team's missteps, we had a great weekend. If you're scuba diving (or otherwise looking to spend most of your time outside the resort) I'm sure you'll be okay. Unfortunately we had a lot of trouble with the service from the hotel management and poorly trained staff. 1. When we checked in, our room still had sand everywhere. In the 5 days we were there, housekeeping didn't get our room properly cleaned even once. Many days they entirely forgot. If they did, they did a really shoddy job (only doing the bed, not replacing the towels or anything in the bathroom. Not cleaning sand in the rooms. Not taking away dishes). 2. At the restaurants - they never got my partners order right even once in the 5 days we were there. Orders came incorrectly and/or over 45 minutes late. One morning we came to the cafe that opened at 11 am. We sat there until 11:20 before someone took our order. Seems the chef only came by 11:30, our first order came by 12:15 pm. And again, my partners order never came. This was a pretty standard experience for our days there. 3. Airport pickup/drop off was really sloppy. For the pickup, I think 4 different drivers contacted me about my airport information. Ultimately, the contact information they provided wasn't even the driver at the airport it was some other guy. Who also wasn't waiting for us - we had to call him and wait. For the drop off, the hotel was really not on the ball about arranging the full trip for us. We had to be be all of over them - especially for the Port blair jetty to airport piece. The hotel thinks that they're done after arranging a ride to the Havelok jetty from the hotel (i.e. calling the 1 driver they have on staff). 4. Finally - incredibly hard to get in touch with any hotel leadership or management. 90% of the staff there are trainees with less than a year of experience. If you want to speak to the hotel manager, you'll need 30+ hours of notice and have to stubbornly wait at the reception in order to get seen. After speaking with other staff on the island, it seems the resort has a reputation for poor management.

1 pro and many cons. Pros: 1. The ambiance and facilities are magnificent with private beach, 2 pools etc. But given the cost it was expected. Cons: 1. The staff is not at all capable to handle the guests requests. They are just inexperienced. 2. The sliders to the room were without locks. Could be opened from both sides. When requested for maintenance staff, One person appeared but then disappeared for a full day. When complained again, another person came after 24 hrs but at least the provided the keys. 3. Requested for room cleaning, but when we came back, it was not done and no one was available to clean at night. 4. The food was not at all worth the hotel. 4. When we checked in there were no towels, no mats etc. had to specifically request them. Not sure how they prepared the room.