Pasir Belanda Resort — Hotel in Kelantan

Stayed for 3 nights and took their 4D3N Tumpat temple cycling package. Family of 2 adults and 2 children.

Room: clean and comfortable aircon works well, also has a wall fan. one queen sized bed, one single bed and one extra pull out single. very well-constructed wooden infrastructure and furnitures. has mini bar fridge, kettle, thermal flask with drinking water, coffee sachets & tea bags attached toilet has heated shower, shampoo/shower gel. WiFi was weak in the bedroom, stronger in front of our unit.

Common area: fun and lots of space for kids to run around. my kids loved playing on the 2 tyre swings, with the one tricycle and their badminton set. has one portable swimming pool.

Meals: Breakfast and dinner were not included for us, had to top up. We paid for one breakfast and one dinner, food was ok. Simple home-cooked local fare at resort-level pricing. We decided to take a Grab out for subsequent dinners to try the food in town (more tasty & variety at lower price), bought cereal & bread back from stores in town for subsequent breakfasts.

Location: Quite easy to get Grab to town/airport, except once when the distance was probably too short (we ended up cycling out after a few failed attempts to get Grab). No shops/eateries within short walking distance.

Staff: helpful and friendly, especially Yuki. not fluent in English, much easier to communicate with them in Malay.

Background: this resort was originally started by a Dutch couple, in a different site a few minutes drive away. bought over by current owner Mustafa (an elderly Malay gentleman) and shifted to current site in 2018. some chalet units were moved over.

Cycling package: these are SELF-guided. They provide the bicycles, basic printed instructions, and arrange the homestay. bicycles work well, they have child bicycles too. No baskets, but has racks for tying bags behind if you need, bring your own helmets and mobile phone holder, not provided. the printed instructions are in sentences, lacking in names of roads and landmarks. E.g. “Turn right at the T-junction with main road.” (Which T-junction?!). There were 2 columns of numbers on the left with no units/legend (0.0, 0.6, 3.4, …), which we later figured out on our own that it was the distance marker in kilometers, the staff did not explain before we set off. the printed map was merely one half of an A4 and lacking in details such as the small roads, road/ building names in Malay (e.g. “Krupuk” on their printed map turns out to be Keropok Cap Kapal building when I asked the staff). we had a major miscommunication/misunderstanding, thought it would be guided (their website did not specify self-guided nor was it informed to us via pre-trip email/WhatsApp) and got a shock on the morning of our cycling trip that we were to cycle 20km per day on our own with 2 kids. We managed to get past the first day but it was very frustrating when we missed turnings, having to keep stopping to figure out the directions. Thankful that the resort agreed to send one staff to accompany us (a very rare exception it seemed) for the day 2 & 3 rides to the next town. Even he had to ask around and refer to Google map, phone held in his hand. website states “visits to the local kite maker, fish cracker factories”. The resort does not help to communicate nor arrange with the local businesses to ensure they are open/ do any demo or explanations. E.g. Kite maker was closed, better to self-arrange an appointment beforehand. in summary, their 4D3N & 5D4N cycling packages can be challenging for those who: are not strong in navigating and cycling beside vehicles on roads (some were quite busy!), with children. Will also take longer to complete if can’t read/speak Malay.

P/S. Their in-house laundry rates are RM 3 per piece of shorts/...

Pasir Belanda Resort is located beside a small river between Kota Bharu and the beach area. Pleasant welcome by young Malay woman who provided lots of information. We could park our car on the property. Pretty yard with the main house, reception chalet and a few rental chalets of varying size. We had #2 a superior chalet which included (up three stairs) a nice veranda with table and chairs. The room is average size with simple furnishings and decor. The bathroom is also average but functional. Only a bathmat and 2 thin bath towels supplied but when requested I did get hand towels from the check-in lady. The room has a small fridge, small TV, kettle and coffee making supplies. Hand soap and shampoo are wall mounted in the shower area. The room is well lit and has a fan and AC unit. Only 2 hangers in the small closet area...sheesh. There is a small infinity pool infront of the owners house that guests can use from 9-1 and 2 to 6:30; pool towels available from reception - it's quite pleasant with a lovely view over the river in both directions. Also a deck where guests can have breakfast (8:30-9:30) if desired (18 MR pp). The property location is rural but still many other homes around so the little road has quite a bit of car and motorcycle traffic. Chalets 1 and 2 have the road directly behind the units so can be quite noisy at times. There are not many conveniences located nearby - we were happy to have a car while here. Had a pretty good sleep through the night followed by early morning call to prayer, then the local traffic starts. House keeping only makes the bed, replenishes the coffee station and sweeps the floor - no towels changed which I found disappointing for the quite expensive charge per night price tag. The offered dinner at the neighbours provided excellent food with an odd reception. The 'western' breakfast at the resort was good with the home made bread being the highlight, and a nice change from the...

Note that the description at the start of Tripadvisor is outdated. There are new owners and the resort has been relocated. |Now for the review... the cabin was comfortable, very clean and had everything you needed, but without all the things which you don’t need (clutter nick knacks etc). The gardens are beautiful with a good array of birds. The best part for us was the village. The locals (contrary to previous reviews) were extremely friendly. As a conservatively dressed western couple we felt very comfortable and were welcomed into local eating houses. We spent three days wandering around and found the atmosphere charming. Most authentic experience we have had in West Malaysia.|The ‘resort’ itself has about 6 units, we were the only guests. The family and staff made us feel very welcome without being suffocating.|We are at local stalls (although a challenge for vegans) and caught a Grab back into town for an Indian feed at the one and only Indian restaurant.|Can highly recommend staying at Pasir Belanda. The only recommendation I could make is that I think it would be nice to include breakfast in the room rate (as it isn’t...