Four Seasons Resort Langkawi, Malaysia — Hotel in Langkawi Island

We booked a week, after having the most wonderful time in Bali at Four Seasons Jimbaran Bay. ||I was expecting a similar experience but:||- terrible food, in every cuisine, which was shocking for the local cuisine options. I ordered a potato bread (aaloo paratha) and I’ve attached a video for its quality.||- Breakfast buffet: separate order and 25 minute wait for pancakes and waffles: why not include them at the egg station, was time taking and confusing! (They were amazing after day 3 when we complained to have waited 45 mins for my 2 year old’s breakfast- they made sure it came in no time the remainder of the days but the first 3 days it kept getting worse).||- second bedroom in the villa was a hole with no lighting other than day light and a lamp. 2 twin beds side by side with just enough space to walk around : asked housekeeping to join the beds they said it was too heavy so my nanny and I scoot the beds together: practically took us 5 seconds, very light. Even moved the nightstand with no trouble. It wasn’t a problem but it was their attitude: Sorry, it’s not possible. I would respect a “sorry we don’t move furniture around, pls respect the layout” but “it’s too heavy” was just a terrible cops-out.||- We did a yoga session where the coach was highly unprofessional, giggly, and said he could not do the poses because he ate too much at lunch and yawned about thrice while instructing. At one point when I was | thinking of my baby’s meal schedule, he saw me distracted and commented “oh someone is getting angry they can’t do a pose” : the pose was touching your toes fyi. Just very immature childish instructor with a non-serious attitude.||- We did a free lymphatic technique session, where it was meant to be a 2 hour session and the lady wrapped it up in 45 mins after not being able to read the printed instructions on the paper she handed us all. She kept getting confused and not being able to do the techniques as on paper. I don’t think it was a skill-set issue, just unprepared for the session and again disinterested attitude.||- Nobody comes to collect food from the villa - so it all piles up till the next morning and then house keeping says it’s the in-room dining’s job so we should call them separately. This happened for 4 days in a row until I complained but then they made extra sure to pick it up.||- At check-in, there was no tour provided of the premises and neither of the room and its features, especially the blinds/pool jets/etc. which were slightly different than standard.||- Room was fine but doors and flooring and windows all rusting and wood needs a polish, major upgrade required (video attached as well as of the broken mirror wall at reception).||- For an international chain of resorts, nobody could speak much English except for 4-5 people. None of the restaurant attendants, or the housekeeping, just maitre’d’s and reception. As in comprehension and spoken was 0, for a resort where almost everyone was a foreigner.||- No daily turn-down service pillow gifts which almost everyone does at 4S properties, especially resorts. Again at Jimbaran Bay we would receive certain small excitements for us or the kids. We just did Mandarin Orieintal in Singapore and even they did small stuff for the pillows every night.||- Major tech upgrade required, bad speakers and tv is not a smart tv to connect with apps like Netflix etc.||||Absolutely no attention to detail or knowledge of luxury service.|But VERY receptive to any complaints and immediate rectification.|||||Kids:||- kids club wasn’t very captivating, especially after Jimbaran Bay- this had a very exciting schedule but nothing for kids to do outside a group which most kids prefer when around strangers. Especially my young toddlers - my nanny said it was a world of a difference from Bali. The calendar was packed just like the adults’ options, but lacklustre enthusiasm and prep by the hotel ||- these guys weren’t interested in egaging the kids||- Nuggets were thick long fingers, anyone with kids knows how fussy toddlers can be about shapes of food they consider standard. Just small details||- No kids snacks available at all - nothing friendly to them anyway, very adult-meal offerings||- Not much available at the resort shop for kids swimming (needed a snorkel set, wide goggles, a nose-pin- nothing available)|||||||The pros can be listed:||- great wifi all over||- kids club did send over a framed picture of my son’s birthday celebration that we scheduled whilst there||- ⁠beautiful view and easy to navigate, private beach was phenomenal||- Spacious villa with excellent location of our villa so we lucked out ||- Staff very receptive to all communication on app and WhatsApp ||- Adult pool was very far and very nice ||- Poolside massage add-on option is genius as you can be near the kids/family and get a mini-treatment - the therapist Mui was excellent - she restored my faith in the spa to book it for the last day.||- Malik from the Kelapa Grill was lovely and went the extra mile worrying about what our next meals would be, and generally all the attendants were very polite and kind||- The mangrove tour was great, the guide was very good and has been with the resort since inception and was great with the kids too.||||||||I would not recommend the resort to anyone expecting Four Seasons standard of luxury - ||BUT||I would recommend it to someone on a budget wanting excellent views and a liquid diet.||I want to emphasize that almost everyone who tended to us was very polite and willing to adjust and if we complained about anything they absolutely made sure to make a note - there was a lot of cross-communication between the team. |Aom in mgmt was lovely and warm and also very concerned with everyone’s needs. |||The problem was not in the willingness, it’s perhaps a training or management issue where a luxury standard needs to be reinforced and maintained -||- food needs to improve: so many options and we tried EVERYTHING over our 7days. Only the Ruhu Bar menu lived up, which we sadly discovered on the last night.||• need better training and more toys for individual play at a kids club - most kids and young kids don’t like to do group activities with strangers. Also we are at a resort in a very hot and humid location: the outdoor monkey bars were isolated because of the heat on the metal and sand; come on now: make the slide end in plunge pool like your Bali location so it’s usable and...

TLDR: Service was awesome, staff courteous & helpful, and 90% of the time we were automatically addressed by our last names every time we interacted with them. Daily breakfast & in-room dining were amazing, sunset view on the beach when there's good weather is unbeatable. The rooms were clean with spacious double-vanity bathrooms & private outdoor shower, resort facilities well maintained. Water, mosquito repellant, umbrellas, free masks & hand sanitizer readily available for guests. WhatsApp concierge available at anytime I texted - night and day, and the buggy service very timely and convenient. We only left the hotel once for a half day tour (as per Langkawi travel bubble requirements - my husband flew in from HK to join my parents and I) & dinner on Day 4, and spent the rest of our stay in the resort itself with more than enough to eat & do.

We stayed 5D4N at 2 connecting garden-view ground floor pavilion. Farah and the team from reception/communications was very responsive in helping me with dining reservations + enquiries and the itinerary for our stay upon all reservation confirmations before our arrival. All of this was done 1 day before our arrival through WhatsApp.

The moment we stepped out of our airport transfer vehicle, we were immediately welcomed by attentive bellboys at the entrance who helped with our luggages and ushered us to the outdoor waiting area beside the reception for check-in, where we were served a welcome drink + cold lemongrass-scented towels. A buggy was then immediately arranged to send the four of us to our connecting rooms - standard check-in time is 3pm, though when we arrived at around 1pm, the rooms were all ready for us, each came with a fresh fruit basket, platter with a selection of local kuih, handwritten welcome card, and super cooling A/C. We were then offered a quick resort tour by Raj, which ended at the gym where he helped us rent the complimentary bicycles for our stay.

We thoroughly enjoyed the outdoor activities we went to i.e. free sunrise yoga session with Cha Cha, rock climbing with Atan and Nick & mangrove kayak tour with Amy :) Throughout the activities while we chatted with the staff, could really feel their passion for what they are doing, and most of them have been with Four Seasons for years. We would have appreciated more indoor activities for adults such as cocktail/mocktail classes / batik painting / pottery class / soap making etc. Massages at the spa was very relaxing!

The daily breakfast from 7-10:30am at Serai includes a wide buffet selection + a la carte pancakes / waffles etc. + a noodle soup of the day. On Day 3, when we were too lazy to get out of bed, the staff at Serai was able to arrange for full setup of a la carte breakfast orders to be sent to our rooms. Free welcome drinks at Rhu bar with Mario was great.

Serai private dining setup was done very nicely, love the background music played on the beach for us. Lobster ravioli, pistachio crusted chicken and the Tango dessert were our favourite highlights of the meal. There's a lot of fruit flies when dining outdoors, though the servers Nick and Harith was very thoughtful and lit candles for us to help alleviate that issue. There's room for improvement though, specifically when it comes to western steak orders, we found ours on multiple occasions chewy and dry - too overcooked on the outside, undercooked inside. Also, not sure if it was because of Covid, there's only one restaurant Kelapa Grill out of the 3 open for lunch, would have appreciated more options.

The whole of Day 3, we took pre-wedding photos after confirming that as long as we're guests, we're free to take pictures anywhere we like. Upon check-out, their director of guest experience also took the time to wait with us for our airport transfer to send us off.

Overall, we really enjoyed our stay, looking forward to an even better one when we return in the future for the relaxing seclusion, awesome staff, and fun...

This was a last-minute change on our 30 day trip to SE Asia, we were originally supposed to stay at Casa Del Mar in Cenang but because of a scheduling issue we decided to switch.

I can’t express how fortunate we were, our six days here have been extraordinary, from the property to the food to the amazing staff I honestly can’t say enough about this place. We booked a beachside unit (21) with a plunge pool, it was at a premium but if you’re coming all the way to Langkawi from Vancouver, you’re best to maximize the experience.

This place is like having your own private resort complete with a full staff all very eager to make your stay as pleasurable as humanly possible. They have adopted a communication system using Whatsapp on your cell which remains connected through the resorts highspeed wifi. From your mobile you simply type in a request and within 90 seconds someone will respond. You can request literally anything from a buggy ride to the restaurant, to fresh towels for your room, to ordering a gluten free pizza at the pool, the convenience is like nothing I ever seen before.

The property offers up a 2 km white sand beach, the ocean is as warm as a bath, a pool for families at one end and an equally large pool for adults only at the other end. Three dinning establishments as well as a bar that opens in the evening. The private villas are as big a house, well decorated and have a massive outdoor space to enjoy the ocean breeze or retreat under while enjoying a glass of wine while watching an afternoon thunderstorm storm roll by.

A ritually for us during our stay here has been at least once per day, often two of three times, a swim in the ocean first thing in the morning, literally 100 steps from your bed, then a dip in the plunge pool followed by an outdoor shower in the private Zen garden behind the villa. It’s like heaven.

Oh my god the food, we enjoyed a five-hour cooking class that included a trip to the local market, if you come here this is a must. Lunch was amazing, the class was fun and entertaining, cooking with a small group lead by one of the local chefs resulted in a very memorable experience and so much food that dinner was not required that night. The morning breakfast buffet is also a treat, make sure you book the bed and breakfast it’s worth every nickel. Dinner also extraordinary, lobster night was phenomenal, people say the food in SE Asia is fantastic, I can assure you without exaggeration, even with the burden of being Celiac and having to avoid gluten I’ve enjoyed food that’s I’ve never had before, rich in traditional flavours. The head Chef here is dedicated to guaranteeing that the guests here don’t miss out just because of a food allergy.

And finally, the people here are incredible, kind, caring, helpful, meticulous, diligent, they remember your name, what you have in your coffee, engage in conversation about the island, everything from its traditions, the history and what the community has to offer. Everyone says hello, if they don’t have an answer to a question they’re quick to get one. The resort is quite large and has a small army of people to serve you, they treat you as if you were staying at a bed & breakfast not a chain hotel. The hotel GM hosted a cocktail hour in which we had the opportunity to meet Michael and discuss the amazing work he and his team are doing. We also had a number of conversations with the head chef, who seeked us to discuss my gluten free meals. He’s has embraced the dietary challenge and offered up a number of options, including both local and western options.

If you are in Singapore, Thailand or even Vietnam and need an escape for a week, book a flight here and come indulge yourself. One suggestion though, and my only criticism of this place, stop at the duty free in town before coming here, bring a supply of wine because the cost of wine here is unreasonably insane. For an example we purchased four nice...