Pangkor Laut Resort

I don’t normally write reviews, and definitely not of this length but I want to on this occasion. The reviews of this resort are mostly really good, but some are not, and this inconsistency almost stopped us booking what turned out to be one of the best holidays we have ever had. We’d thoroughly recommend Pangkor Laut to our friends, and hope this information allows others to have the confidence to decide it will suit them too. My husband and myself stayed for our honeymoon from the 8th- 15th January in a Spa villa on a full board basis which we booked with British Airways. We were picked up from our hotel at KL and dropped back at the airport in a private car, which was air conditioned and extremely comfortable and was included in the package. The check in process at the marina before the boat worked well. The resort is nicely spread out, and regular buggies ferry people around, so if you wanted to avoid walking that would be easy. For us, we enjoyed walking from the spa villas at one end of the resort to the Feast village and back for breakfast. This is just over 1km each way, and takes you all along the front of the bay, allowing for good Hornbill sightings, especially when we were there as they were nesting. Our villa was beautiful. A deck with two comfortable sun loungers looking out to sea. The bedroom was large, with a king sized bed, and the bathroom had a tub made for two with a rain shower above. For the brave you could open the windows and feel like you were showering outdoors. The villa had lots of hanging space, an iron and ironing board, hairdryer, a limited mini bar (but the staff will bring drinks to the villa, and also bought us milk) and ample English sockets and USB outlets. We found the concierge, Jeff, extremely helpful. We made contact with him in advance, and using WhatsApp made reservations for dinners ahead of our arrival. We could have booked excursions ahead of time, but we did this on the day of our arrival, again after talking with Jeff. Jeff stayed in touch via WhatsApp through out our stay, helping me retrieve lost property from Kuala Lumpur and get it to the resort with one of their drivers, and printing some papers I needed also. We couldn’t have asked for anybody more helpful. We ate extremely well at the resort. Our favourite restaurant was definitely Fisherman’s Bay, with outstanding food and a great outlook on to the bay. We enjoyed Uncle Lim’s, had some great lunches at Chapmans Bar and the Beach Club, and loved the incredibly varied breakfast options at the Feast Village. We treated ourselves to a private dinner on the beach, which was an unforgettable experience I would thoroughly recommend. We did the deep sea fishing experience, which we loved, helped by catching 18 fish. We dined at Feast Village that night and the chef took 1 each of the 3 species of fish we cooked and prepared 3 courses for us. There is nothing to beat tuna sashimi from a tuna you caught personally a few hours before! We did both jungle walks, the shorter one that is included, and a longer one that had a small charge attached. We enjoyed walking in the jungle, but more than that we enjoyed talking to the conservationists working at the hotel and hearing about the projects they are involved in. The island really is a special place and a haven for wildlife. We also had a wonderful 4 hour spa experience including a bath house experience, a head massage, body scrub and full body massage. We left extremely relaxed. Despite all this activity, we found lots of time to relax. As spa villa guests we got access to the spa area at anytime, which includes a beautiful 50m adult only pool, and bar. We enjoyed the loungers here, and swimming. Mizan, who supervised the pool area in the day and worked at Fisherman’s Bay at night looked after us so well, and made it a really special time. When we weren’t here we took the buggy to Emerald Bay and enjoyed the beach and swimming in the sea. The bar here is a little more lively too. We got loungers every day, except for the day we arrived after 12, when we had to take a cushion on the sand, but after 30 minutes or so loungers became free and the staff came and found us and moved all our stuff to the new location. Added to all of this we had wonderful weather too! With a fantastic storm during our first night, and after that hazy starts followed by sunny days. Nothing is perfect, and there are some small things that could be improved - the gym is looking a little dated and some of the equipment needs a little TLC. We did not try the water sports but again the equipment looked like it had seen better days. (We also wondered why the water sports weren’t at Emerald Bay?). We were not seeking ‘nightlife’ but there isn’t any - with the restaurants closing up at 10.30 or 11, so it isn’t a resort for anyone who wants a party vibe. For us we couldn’t have asked for a better honeymoon, with a wonderful resort, in the middle of nature, and staff, who without exception were polite, friendly and eager to make our stay as pleasant as possible.

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.