We haven’t visited Pangkor for many years now – I can’t remember when the last visit was, actually. It must have been more than 5 years ago. Anyway, recently when there was a chance to take a short break, we were so happy to head north and this time, not to just any resort, but to the exclusive luxurious Pangkor Laut Resort!
*This is a long post with tons of photos, so sit tight for the ride ya!
“One island, one resort” – it’s the perfect tagline to describe Pangkor Laut Resort. The 300-acre island is privately owned by YTL and there’s only this one resort and several private estates there, besides the beautiful beaches and romantic secluded bays, that is.
Travelling by road, the drive from Kuala Lumpur to Lumut took about 3 hours. Well, it was a leisurely drive with a breakfast stop in Bidor. We reached Marina Island Pangkor just after noon. Service was attentive – we were immediately welcomed with cold towels and refreshing drinks upon arrival. We chilled out in the cool comfort of the reception while our bags were collected, tagged and sorted out for the boat ride to the island. All the speed boats are privately owned by the resort so there’s no fussy time schedules to stick to. Boat trips are all arranged by the resort based on guest arrivals.
The ride to the resort took only about 15 minutes in the neat speedboats. Even before we could get used to the sea rhythm, we reached the resort jetty where the welcome crew stood ready. We were amazed that they could immediately address us by names the moment they welcomed us at the jetty!
Registration at the resort was just a formality and it was done in a jiffy. Their guest relations crew then gave us a briefing on the resort – it’s a sprawling property with their outlets and amenities dotting quite an extensive area. As it was lunch time and we were ravenous, the obvious thing to do was to head for lunch before anything else. Besides, our Hill Villa was quite a distance off, so off we went to the Royal Bay Beach Club for our lunch.
Those are fruit bats hanging in the trees!
Royal Bay Beach Club
Overlooking the infinity pool and the sea, the Royal Bay Beach Club is a chic casual dining outlet. A bar dominates the centre of the outlet while comfortable wicker chairs and tables are arranged all around it. It’s perfect for lounging around all day especially when you are making use of the swimming pool too!
The postcard-like view from the restaurant
The menu features a good selection of Western and local favourites. We started off with their Mushroom Salad which featured a thick fat grilled Portobello mushroom underneath a pile of crisp garden greens. The creamy egg dressing that came with it was ridiculously delicious – it went so well with the sweet succulent Portobello.
DL had the Roast Chicken – it came with crispy golden skin and glistening juices but a little under-seasoned. We enjoyed the Fried Beehoon though – there were more seafood chunks in it than noodles!
The Resort’s resident hornbill (one of many!)
With full tummies, we were more than ready to take that long walk and hike up to our Hill Villa. From far, the hill villas nestling amongst the trees looked like they’re impossible to get to. But there is actually a lift to go up partially to the slopes and of course for the energetic, there are wooden stairs built all the way up. The lift goes up to the 1st level and from there, take a walk along the pathways to the villas.
How to get to the hill villas…
Our hill villa faced the sea, so we had the best of both worlds. We have the immense forest to cradle us and we also have the gorgeous ocean right in front of us! In the mornings and evenings, it’s just pure bliss to lounge on the deck chairs on our balcony and enjoy the sea breeze and stunning view. In the mornings we had to be careful though – a couple of monkeys tried to pry open our sliding door. They’re really smart and thank goodness we had latched the door, otherwise we would have had the pleasure of their mischievous company.
We loved everything about our spacious villa – the super comfortable king bed, the cosy wooden floor and panellings, the double-sink huge bathroom that housed a sunken bath tub in the middle, flanked by a shower compartment and WC on the sides. The range of fruity shower and hair toiletries under the “Mangosteen” brand were “deliciously fragrant” too – we smelled like delectable fruits after using them!
The sunrise, viewed from our villa
Pangkor Laut Resort is a perfect getaway if you are looking for some quiet (and romantic) time in an idyllic setting amidst a pristine two million year old rainforest. Life is unhurried here, just laze around doing nothing all day if you wish, go for a sunset cruise (depending on weather, the resort offers this complimentary cruise every evening), swim and sunbathe in Emerald Bay, pamper yourself with a spa session at The Spa Village or how about a guided jungle walk through the forest?
At sunset, the island becomes almost magical. The sky becomes God’s glorious palette as vibrant colours splash across the velvety dusk.
Feast Village
This is open for breakfast and dinner. The buffet breakfast spread here is pretty extensive. Like the name implies, this place is literally like a “village” with live food stations serving a huge variety of local and western fares.
Take your pick among the stations: the Chinese station serves hot soupy noodles, freshly steamed chee cheong fun and dim sum. I loved the Indian counter where a warm friendly Indian “ahma” was busy cooking curries in several pots. I just couldn’t resist ordering a puri and it was served with a big beautiful bowl of still-simmering fish curry.
Then there’s this counter where a young server was busy frying up Radish Cake – we had to stop ourselves from ordering more than a plate because it was so good! Crunchy taugeh and chives stir-fried with cubes of radish cake, flavoured with eggs, dried shrimps and chillies.
Another favourite of ours is the banana leaf-wrapped Nasi Lemak which we lashed on extra sambal and freshly-fried Pangkor ikan bilis – the best ikan bilis ever! We just had to have a packet of this every morning in Feast Village.
A perfect spot for breakfast, don’t you think?
PANGKOR LAUT RESORT’S SPECIAL PROMOTION
Starting from RM999 per room per night, Pangkor Laut Resort’s Residents Package includes accommodation, round-trip scheduled speedboat transfers from Marina Island Pangkor, a guided jungle walk through the 2-million-year-old rainforest, daily breakfast at Feast Village, lunch at Royal Bay Beach Club or Chapman’s Bar and dinner at Feast Village or Uncle Lim’s Kitchen, inclusive of an upgrade in the special Birthday Menu consisting of 8 dishes. The special birthday menu is available between 7 September and 31 October 2014.
Look out for my separate blog post on the special Birthday Menu at Uncle Lim’s Kitchen.
The package requires a minimum of 2 nights’ stay and is available to residents and expatriates of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei.
There are many more other very attractive stay packages at Pangkor Laut Resort – please check their website here.
Coming up soon:
*Uncle Lim’s Kitchen
*Chapman’s Bar
*Fisherman’s Cove
*The Spa Village
Here are a few night shots that I’d like to share with you. After dinner, either at Uncle Lim’s Kitchen or Fisherman’s Cove, we strolled back to our hill villa through the wooden walkway connecting the water villas…