I'm a 30 something male who lives in Stavanger, Norway. I enjoy to travel and write about it on my h...
I'm a 30 something male who lives in Stavanger, Norway. I enjoy to travel and write about it on my homepage www.gardkarlsen.com. Apart from that I enjoy squash, watching movies, my watches etc
Member since:26.06.2003
Reviews:52
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When we were planning the trip to Langkawi we had trouble getting a grasp on where to stay on the island. In the end we decided to go for a hotel located on the beach know as Pantai Cenang. I guess Langkawi can be compared to the island of Phuket in Thailand but note that the price level of hotels seems to be higher on Langkawi compared to Phuket. After looking at reviews on TripAdvisor we ended up booking a room at the hotel Pelangi beach resort and we booked through their website http://www.pelangibeachresort.com/ . We had to pay 533 Ringgit (about 75£) for the room per night and this did not include breakfast.
On March 25th we went from Perhentian Island to Langkawi. It was a long day as we had to get up early, catch the boat to the main land, drive to the airport at Kota Bharu, go to KL and from there take the flight to Langkawi. Both Malaysia Airlines and Asia Air have flight from KL to Langkawi so getting
to the island is not a problem and the flight is only about 1 hour..
The hotel Pelangi beach hotel complex is huge. When we got there the check in was fast and efficient and we were driven to our room in a little golf car as the hotel is spread out on a fairly big area. We got room 3601 which has a lake view. Our room was located in house 36 and it contained 4 rooms on 2 levels. When we got in we saw that we had taken a step up in quality of accommodation compared to Perhentian Island resort. First of all the room was huge, the floor was made out of dark wood and the walls were a combination of dark wood and light wall paper. The center of the room was a huge bed. I don't think that we have had such a huge bed in any room that we have ever stayed in :-) As usual there was a desk with a chair, we had a small sofa with a little table where you could watch a small TV. The TV had channels like BBC, ESPN, Discovery etc. A door we thought led into the bathroom was a door to a walk in wardrobe I guess. It contained lots of drawers, places to hang clothes, place to store the suitcase, a minibar and a water boiler, a small safe, robes etc. The room has air condition and the temperature was controlled by a remote :-)
From this room there was a door leading into the bathroom which was fairly small. But it was nice with tiles on the floors and walls and it contained a bath tub where you also had the option of taking a shower. As usual there were amenities like shower gel, shampoo, lotion, sewing kit etc. But I think it is the first time I have seen a shaving kit.
There was also a door leading out from the room to our little porch. Here we had a nice view of the pond and a couple of fountains and there was a table and a couple of chairs. With a pond like this you would think that there would be a mosquito problem. Well, it seemed like they solved this with chemical warfare…a little gold car drove around one evening and sprayed out a thick smoke…I can not imagine that it is very healthy for humans either.
As I mentioned to start with the hotel covers a huge area. There are maps on the paths around the hotel area so you don't have to worry about getting lost :-). There are two pools to choose from and we tried the cascade pool a couple of time. You get a complimentary towel near the pool and then you can just jump in. The cascade pool had a couple of water falls, a slide for kids etc. Both of the pool areas were very nice as you can see from the pictures.
There are several restaurants on the hotel but I can only comment on the Horizon pool bar where we had a pizza on the first night. The pizza was OK and cost 16 RM and the half a bottle of red wine was 40 RM. We also had breakfast in the room one day. The breakfast itself was not great but the selection of fresh fruits that we ordered on the side was amazing :-)
Go to the hotel lobby to get more information about hotel activities. We rented a car through the hotel for a day for 160 RM. The hotel lobby can also arrange snorkel trips, mangrove trips, recommend restaurants etc. When it comes to activities it is probably cheaper to book elsewhere. We booked a snorkel trip from a local shop down the road and saved a bit of money. There is a fitness club at the hotel where you can play squash, rent a bike to get around etc. I was not very impressed by the condition of the minigolf course that they have on the property. It looks like it could do with a face lift.
Location The location of the hotel is quite good. Located on the north end of the beach Pantai Cenang it is easy to get to all the restaurants that are located on the beach strip, access to places like Underwater world and tax-free shopping. There is a taxi stand right outside the hotel so if you don't feel like walking it is easy to get a taxi.
The beach The Pelangi beach resort is a very nice hotel with a pretty good location. I think that there is only one problem…the beach itself is not very good. Yes, it looks pretty nice but very few people were swimming when we first came there. In the end I decided that I had to try the water to check out what the problem was. First of all it is very shallow so you can walk very far before the water gets beyond the knees. The second problem is that the sea bed is made up of lots of shell in addition to sand so it can be a bit uncomfortable to walk on it. So most of the people at the hotel seemed to prefer to relax at the pools instead.
Conclusion The Pelangi beach resort is a nice hotel to relax for a few days. The hotel has lots to offer when it comes to activities and it is located close to the rest of the shops and restaurants at the Pantai Cenang beach. The price level seems to be higher here compared to the islands of Thailand at least if you look at accommodation and alcohol and the beach is not that great.
Pictures of Pelangi Beach Resort, Langkawi
Bed in room
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
incl. Breakfast - HRS Rating: /10 - *HRS SGL DBL room = Superior Garden-view room ... more
only.*Compulsary Gala Dinner prices for Single and Double Rooms are included on Dec 24th and Dec 31st. Gala Dinner price for 3rd adult & children (age from 4-11years) per...