Relaxed pace of life, plenty to see and do, relatively cheap, friendly people, good standard of food and accommodation
Disadvantages:
none really
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
In 1997 my husband was offered a job in Terengganu, Malaysia. We were very lucky to be able to spend several years in a location that most people dream about. We had a penthouse apartment overlooking the South China Sea and the nearby resort hotel for leisure and entertainment.
The Awana Kijal Golf and Beach Resort can be found at the edge of the Malaysian kampong known as Kijal. This is in the state of Terengganu on the east Coast of Peninsular Malaysia, roughly opposite Kuala Lumpur. The nearest large town would be Kuantan, in the state of Pahang. I think that the hotel opened in 1995.
The hotel itself is owned by the Genting Group of Companies, a Malaysian conglomerate specialising in the retail and leisure market. There are other Awana hotels to be found in the Genting Highlands, (outside KL) and on the island of Langkawi.
We came to know the Awana resort very well during our time in Malaysia, it was a popular meeting place for many of the expats and their families. Most of us lived about 750m away in low-rise apartments and regarded the hotel as a second home. It is also a resort that seems virtually unknown in the UK and Europe and the guests are mainly Malaysian, Singaporean or an occasional expat family from KL.
First impressions are very important and the Awana has a very impressive lobby. You approach the entrance along a driveway festooned with fountains and decorative waterfalls, then you ascend a short staircase into an almost ‘hollow’ shell. You are able to look up 9-storeys into the wooden roof structure above. It is as if someone has sliced away half of the hotel and taken the back half away, very impressive and quite amazing. The Awana Hotel is also a very relaxed and almost rustic hotel, so there are lots of breezes and plenty of opportunities to savour the views. The accommodation is all at the front, but the rear is open and airy. This does lead to some dreadful problems during the monsoon, when the rain lashes in and floods everything.
In the lobby area you will find the atrium lounge, where you can eat and drink in total comfort and which has live entertainment on most evenings. The reception desk is also here as well as the business centre, tour desk, Spice Island Pub, small gift shops, the Kampong restaurant and the hotel’s fine dining venue ‘Window’s by the Sea’. The Spice Island Pub is a nightclub, where you can play darts or snooker, sing karaoke to your hearts content or dance the night away. There are lifts to all the floors, as well as down to the Golf reception. Wheelchair or pushchair access is good and there is a long ramp allowing access to the lobby area.
The hotel has 364 rooms of various descriptions. There are rooms suitable for disabled people, some with sea views and suites with open air jacuzzi’s. The accommodation seems to be a contradiction in terms of the location. The décor in the rooms is reminiscent of a business hotel, rather than a beach resort, with lots of upholstery and carpeted floors. There are not many balconies to be seen either, unless you have a non-sea view room facing either the golf course or the tennis courts. But the rooms are comfortable and clean and have all the mod cons such as TV, telephone, tea and coffee facilities plus ensuite bathrooms. The Awana hosts quite a few conferences and symposiums, in which case the businesslike rooms would be more appropriate. The best rooms would have to be the deluxe duplex suites, with an upstairs bedroom, private patio and outside hot tub.
The Awana has extensive leisure facilities. First and best is the swimming pool. It is a large freeform pool, the hotel claims that it is the largest on the east coast and this might well be true. There is a marvellous children’s area with a half sunken pirate-ship cum play station, floating turtles and crocodiles, a ‘stepping stone’ obstacle course, a mushroom fountain and lots of shallow areas for paddling. Next to the children’s pool was a well-designed play area but I think that this has now been moved away from the swimming pool. We spent many happy afternoons gossiping by the pool while the children splashed and swam around. During Fridays and public holidays, the pool area can get very crowded as people arrive for a weekend break or a day out. The depth of the water is very clearly marked. For the adults there is a section with marked lanes, two Jacuzzi tubs, waterfalls and a separate water polo area. The space surrounding the pool is grassy and there are usually plenty of loungers and seats. Quite often there was a shortage of umbrellas but the grassy area had some shade.
The second high point of the hotel has to be the beach. It is altogether about 7km of clean white sand. There are very well shaded areas between the pool area and the beach with fixed umbrellas and wooden loungers. The nearby Beach Bar will be a welcome source of drinks and snacks while you relax and soak up the sun. The sea tends to be quite choppy and this isn’t generally a good area for snorkelling, but there are lots of other things to do. You can hire jetskis or bicycles from the watersports hut, or take a walk along past the golf course to the nearby rocky headland.
A friend recently wrote and told me that you can now go horseriding along the beach as well. The hotel often has various activities available such as batik classes, portrait artists and a weekly craft market. There is a children's activity room that is staffed and babysitting is available.
If you are staying at the hotel between April and August, you may get a chance to see some baby turtles. Whilst we were in Malaysia, the hotel released a large number of baby turtles from part of the Awana beach, in the hope that they would return here and nest in the years to come. If not at the Awana, then you should be able to see this amazing spectacle at Cherating, a few miles away.
For the more active, there are two all weather tennis courts with lighting, a gym and of course, the 18-hole golf course plus driving range. Recently added to the Awana’s facilities is the Taman Sari Royal Heritage Spa, as this was added after we left I’m afraid I can’t comment on it.
With regard to food, you can take your pick from several different locations. Breakfast and assorted buffet meals are served in the Kampong Restaurant, whilst the Waterfall Café provides some interesting international and local dishes. Service in the fine dining restaurant left quite a lot to be desired, we often had to wait a long time to be served and then the meal arrived lukewarm. The Waterfall Café, on the other hand, provides such eclectic delights as nasi goreng, chicken fajitas or fish and chips (Malaysian style). They often have promotions when you can sample other types of international food and had a pizza oven installed just before we left. There is also a very good bakery counter, which sells a variety of breads and pastries to take away.
Friday night is barbecue night, lots of freshly cooked seafood, chicken satay, chargrilled lamb and beef, mountains of salads, fresh tropical fruit and Malaysian desserts. Delicious. You won’t find pork served here but there is so much else to choose from that it isn’t missed.
If you tire of the hotel then you can take a short stroll down to the main road. Here is a small complex of shops and restaurants, including a Dobi (laundry). Don’t get your clothes cleaned by the hotel! Just bring them down to the dobi and he’ll have your garments ready by the end of the day. There is also a Doctor’s surgery, several restaurants and a KFC. Don’t bother with the KFC; try out any of the restaurants but particularly the one on the corner facing the hotel – great Chinese style food but I’ve forgotten it’s name! You can buy souvenirs or groceries in the small shops but probably won’t be able to get hold of fresh milk easily, or other dairy produce. Beware of the water buffalos on your way to these shops…..if they’re around. The mothers are very protective of their calves and will charge if they feel threatened. Also, be careful walking along the pavements as these can be quite uneven and there are large open drains at the sides.
The Awana also runs several interesting tours; to a local village, night market, river trip, day trip to Tenggol island or Pulau Kapas and a few others. I really can recommend that you visit Cherating for a river trip. We saw a colony of enormous otters and lots of other wildlife. You should also go to Pulau Kapas……..great snorkelling on a small desert island, which is also quite close to the mainland. Take all your own refreshments, towels etc. because there aren’t many facilities here. Kuala Terengganu is another interesting day trip; the state capital has some historic buildings, attractive mosques and a fascinating indoor market. These tours really are an ideal opportunity to learn more about how the people here live their lives. You should dress relatively modestly when outside the resort and it is well worth learning a few simple phrases in Bahasa as English is not widely spoken.
The people of Terengganu are very friendly and welcoming. They are always happy to help and really like children. I remember being stopped many times during shopping trips because I was accompanied by a blonde, brown-eyed toddler, whilst some local grandmother made a great fuss of her! You’ll also see lots of animal life, from the brightly coloured birds to the monkeys sitting by the side of the road, snakes, goats, chickens, buffalo, cats and monitor lizards all wander freely around. You should also take a good insect repellent and use it during the evenings or on still days.
The best time to visit the East coast would be between February and November. Terengganu is affected by the northeast monsoon season which begins in November and brings high winds, thunderstorms, prolonged rain and stormy seas – it is quite spectacular, but obviously not holiday weather! It is usually over by the end of February but the sea can still be quite rough. Generally temperatures range between 25 and 32 degrees C and the humidity is quite high.
Rooms at the Awana cost between RM280 and RM380 per night for a deluxe room. The exchange rate is currently 5.8 RM to the £GB. It’s worth checking with the hotel to see if there are any promotional packages. You can get flights from KL to the nearby domestic airport at Kertih, or from Singapore and KL arriving at Kuantan International airport. Kuantan is about an hours drive from Kijal. If you’d like to know anything else, then please drop a message in my guestbook. Excuse me, I’m just going to pack my bags…..I’ll see you there!
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