Pangkor Laut Resort

We stayed for three nights at the island. I found very little evidence that it is a five star resort. We had an aging cabin in the woods that would be spacious if the bathroom, toilet and hall were not oversized. The bedroom itself is very small. We went with two kids and they can convert the sofa to a small single bed, leaving three people in the queen sized bed and someone on the sofa. The air conditioning, which is as old as the house, sounded like a misfiring tractor which we reported far too many times before it was eventually fixed on the second night. Two stars because the staff in the restaurants were all lovely. The food was decent and if you are resident of various countries you get all your meals for free. We are not from such a country.

Should you come? Yes, if you get a good deal and enjoy the resort atmosphere. Will we return? No. The good: idyllic location, quiet rooms, good food options, many smiling staff The bad: consistently missed service expectations (although management's efforts to correct some of them is noteworthy) The ugly: insincere sustainability efforts - extensive use of disposable napkins, ubiquitous use of plastic bags, significant food waste, clean up only where visible to guests. We expected our stay at the Pangkor Laut Resort to be a memorable, "Small Luxury Hotel" experience - and were disappointed even before we arrived. - Long wait upon arrival: in spite of notification 48h prior to our arrival, a reminder 24h and 4h before our arrival to the Marina Island Jetty to book the boat transfer, we were made to wait 1.5h before being taken to the Resort. The experience was worsened by being repeatedly told by the staff at the jetty that it would only be a "10 min wait". - Delayed departure: we arranged our departure transfer at the time of check-in, confirmed it the night before departure, and yet due to the hotel's disorganization they delayed our departure by 30 minutes - inducing stress for catching our flight. - Wait staff attitude: At dinner, we ordered a bottle of wine which was unfortunately corked. We pointed it out to the waiter upon tasting it, and after trying to insist it was ok (without so much as smelling the tasting pour), snapped at us. - Insufficient sun-beds: You have to 'race' in the morning to secure your lounge chair at the beach, or risk ending up on the sand for the day. - Dangerous driving: There are buggies to move around the resort; unfortunately the drivers pay more attention to the YouTube videos playing on their phones than on the road. - Unresponsive staff: It takes around 12 hours for the spa staff to respond to WhatsApp messages, which is their preferred booking method. - Absent staff: They offer kayak rental at their Ocean Activities Centre; after calling and asking for assistance at the nearby restaurant and waiting for half an hour, the attendant never showed. This happened both times I attempted to book during our stay. - Inattentive room cleaning: from arrival the room cleaning was adequate but not thorough (sand in the bathtub upon check-in, inconsistent amenity/towel replacement, ...) - Privacy... interrupted: while the staff makes a point of saying the Resort only allows staff and registered guests on the island, privacy is constantly interrupted by the regular passage of tourist speedboats gawking at guests - especially those in sea and spa villas. - No in-room dining: they do not offer in-room dining, and have only the main buffet as a breakfast option. Many of the staff have a great attitude, and managers do their best to catch and correct - but there comes a point where apologies, no matter how profuse, do not make up for consistently missed expectations. It is also embarassing as a guest to bring up issues, so after a while we just let everything go and lowered our expectations to enjoy our holiday in this fancy resort.

I have been raving about this resort since my first visit in 2018 so I was really excited to return. By the end of my 5 night stay I remembered why it was so special. Admittedly, this resort is old. It looks tired and the fittings in the older rooms (i believe some have been renovated) are tired. So if you want 5* luxury this isn't it, however everything else makes up for it. Emerald Bay is stunning and just very chilled. Just make sure you get their early (before 10am) as they don't have enough sun loungers for guests so you'll be on a towel. A lazy lunch at Chapman's bar where the burgers are really good. They are missing a trick by not having an evening option here on the sand, we've just been to the Caribbean and they have many casual beach restaurants that would work really well in emerald bay. Uncle Lim's was exceptional and fisherman's cove was good if you want something finer. What really makes you love this place are the staff, they are really lovely and kind people. A particular thank you to Jeff on the concierge desk who helped my partner when he needed some medicine. We stayed in a hill villa and it is like sleeping in a tropical forest with all the bird noises, something really special. Tips: at breakfast go and ask for a coffee from the machine rather than the coffee they pour. Happy hour 6-7.30pm at Chapman's bar but also at the Straits bar which is in front of Uncle Lim's (2 for 1 on drinks) also applies in UL's restaurant and in Feast (buffet dinner). Email the hotel before arriving to reserve restaurants for the first couple of nights, especially if like us you prefer to eat earlier as the restaurants do get booked up. If you are flying from Ipoh airport as you leave, you really don't need to arrive more than 2 hours early as it is a very small airport so don't panic about boat timings. We decided to leave a larger tip at the end rather than to individuals. You'll notice all of the staff and how they keep things running on the island rather than just the guest facing staff. If you don't mind a slightly more rustic hotel (and by that i mean it's just a bit tired in parts) just go, it's a really special place.

A beautiful island resort. Transfer from KLIA was on time in a beautiful clean air conditioned comfortable car. Check in and boat transfer was efficient. Staff greeting and explanation of resort was just fabulous, with humour and the genuine willingness to help. Seegar was amazing and attentive. Room was available early which was a huge bonus, after a long flight and transfer. We had a hillside villa, which was perfectly adequate. We had a problem with the fridge, it was leaking but was replaced a few hours later. Beds were very comfortable with crisp clean linen and you could get a linen /towel change every day if you wished. Loved the thoughtful and complementary mosquito spray and after bite balm which was replenished when requested. Air conditioning worked well. Great wardrobe space and large double sink bathroom and powerful shower. The room and dressing area/ bathroom felt very spacious. Food, buffet breakfast was excellent good choice of European and Malaysian food, husband very happy with chilli noodles each morning! We stayed over New Year and have to say the New Year’s Eve buffet was something very special, so much choice, oysters, lobster, prawns, beef I could go on but the standard was amazing. No cheese but I asked and 5 minutes later a large cheese plate arrived with chilled grapes, delicious. We also ate at Chapmans beach bar, great views, attentive service and excellent food all served with beautiful smiles. We also dined at Fisherman Cove and Uncle Lim’s. Again food was amazing and the price in all restaurants was reasonable and not as expensive as we were anticipating for a five star private island. Wine was on the expensive side but great choice. Happy hour was great! Pool staff were very attentive and special thanks to Mizan at Spa Villas for looking after us so well. My only slightly negative observation was that the rooms were looking a little tired and could do with a little investment. We also stayed at peak time during New Year and quite a few families with young children. This by no means affected our stay. The incredible helpful and smiling staff are a credit to the resort, they made our stay one we will never forget.

Incredible holiday on a proper paradise island. Staff were all so helpful but special mention to Michael in Royal Palm and Jeff as Concierge. We had a Sea Villa (no. 119) and the deck over the sea was super relaxing. The beach is the other side of the island but the buggy ride there is easy and frequent. The food in the restaurants was excellent with Fisherman's Cove being our favourite. Loads of wildlife to see - Water Monitor Lizards the most impressive but the Flying Foxes were pretty impressive too. It's a quiet, relaxing resort that was impressive in so many ways. if i had one issue it was that i would have loved to be able to get in the sea from our sun deck but the beaches on the main side of the island were not open to swimming due to sea urchins