My Stay at Pangkor Laut Resort

It had never occurred to me that the day would come for me to set foot on Pangkor Laut Resort.
Eight years ago,while I was having a course in Pangkor Island, we would take time off to walk along the beach in the evening before dinner to look across the sea, at a distant island. I was amazed to see a succession of yellow lighted bulbs lining the wooden houses which were built on stilts above the sea water at the waterfront. It was the Sea Villas which was the signature feature of the resort.

My classmate told me that it was a restrictive area known as Pangkor Laut Resort and it was owned by YTL Hotels & Resorts , built exclusively for the rich and famous to stay in luxurious suites. At that time it was inconceivable for us to even dream about staying there.

Recently,my elder daughter chanced upon an offer from AF Travel Sdn Bhd of a holiday package for a three-day two-night’s stay for Malaysian residents.The offer came with different tiers of accommodation rates; the cheapest one was RM 800 per person with a twin sharing unit at the Garden Villas of the resort and the packages came with full board meals in selected restaurants. Under normal circumstances it would be rather expensive for ordinary people like us to stay in the resort．With the RM 800 we had paid, it would only pay for a person to have FOUR meals at the restort without accommodation.

We reached the front office of the resort, opposite of Lumut Jetty at one on Sunday, 14 November 2010. Upon registration, we were served with a welcoming drink while our luggage was being handled by the staff. It was to be transported straight to our apartments at the resort . We were then ferried by a speed-boat to the resort jetty. The ride took twenty five minutes。Waiting at the jetty to greet us were the Rooms Division manager，Mr。Von Go and his staff. After a short briefing by Mr. Von Go at the Reception, we were ushered to our apartment units at the Garden Villas before we adjourned for our lunch at the Royal Bay Beach Club. In the evening we went for a swim at the pool and had our dinner at UNCLE LIM’S KITCHEN at 8.00 pm. Next morning, after our breakfast at the Feast Village, we went for a dip at the Emerald Bay.

Emerald Bay is “a beautiful half- mile long beach with emerald clear waters”. ‘It is surrounded by 300 acres of tranquil tropical rain forest with white sandy beaches.’ I could see very few tourists and not a single motor boat within the vicinity of the bay. One would feel the quietness, peacefulness and serenity either resting at the beach reading books, or immersing in the water under the tropical sun when the bay was not infested with tourists or motor boats. It was no wonder people would prefer to pay more for the exclusiveness of the surroundings.
At noon,we had lunch at the Chapman’s Bar at Emerald Bay before we retired in our room for a nap. That evening we headed to the pool site to enjoy a session of water spa. In the evening, we once again opted to have our second dinner of our stay at UNCLE LIM’S KITCHEN.
On the third day morning we check-out at 11.30 am and reached home four hours later. It is quite true that “Dining at Pangkor Laut is a culinary adventure across cultures.” The four restaurants that we patronised, namely, Feast Village, Royal Bay Beach Club, Chapman’s Bar and Uncle Lim’s Kitchen, provided us with either Western or Eastern dishes of excellent quality; I would say it was “ a class of itself, second to none.”
You would not be surprised that many of the staff have worked here for a long time, with Uncle Lim being the longest serving staff, who has worked here since the inception of the resort twenty five years ago. He is still holding the staff registration number of ‘0001’. It seems there are more than twenty people who has worked here for more than twenty years and Mr.Megeswaran of the Chapman’s Bar being one of them. Even our Malay friend, Mr.Sham, a van driver for the shuttle service, has been working in the island for more than eight years, driving eight hours a day, along the narrow trails of this small island. The high staff retention rate of this resort speaks volumes of how much the employees cherish their job. I believe this is due to the fact that they are well paid and their welfare are well taken care of by the management.

Indeed, I share the sentiment of one of the tourists in his customer review that, “ I can’t wait to come back again!”. And this is especially so if I can get someone “to sponsor” for the trip when there is a holiday package for Malaysian residents.