Kunang Kunang Heritage Villas — Hotel in Langkawi Island

EXPECT RAT, dead bugs, dirty towels and bad service!!! Since the moment I arrived at Kunang Kunang Villas, I started noticing serious issues. When I first checked in, I left my bags and went out for my morning activities. When I came back and wanted to take a shower, the bathtub was disgustingly dirty. You could literally swipe it with a towel or even a finger and it would turn black from how filthy it was.

Then I realized the towels themselves were dirty, full of stains and looked like they hadn’t been properly washed in a long time. While I was still trying to shower, a rat suddenly came into the bathroom. I panicked and immediately called the lobby for help. The staff on the phone started laughing while I was explaining what happened.

When two guys finally came to my villa, I had to quickly wrap myself with something since I hadn’t finished showering, and they kept laughing at me even though I was clearly panicking and crying — I have a serious phobia of rats. Even tho I told them twice that it wasn’t funny, but they just ignore me and moved on, not even a single sorry, long after one of them ask if I was okey, I said no I’m not, and ignore me as well.

Inside the bathroom, I could hear smacking noises — they were trying to kill the rat — and they even brought a rat cage, which made me realize this probably happens often. When they came out, they were still laughing and didn’t take me seriously at all. As a solo traveler, I felt completely disrespected, unsafe, and humiliated.

They eventually transferred me to another villa, but the second one was just as bad. The bed was full of dead bugs, spiders, worms, and bed mites, and the sheets were filthy — covered in hairs and greenish-brown stains. It looked like the bed hadn’t been cleaned in a long time.

I asked for a refund since the place was in horrible condition and the experience was traumatic, but they refused to refund the night that it all happened. Once the hotel received a message from the booking app about my refund request, they started kicking me out immediately for cancelling the other night I had (2 in total) they wanted me to leave in 30 minutes until I said something and gave me an extra hour…

The Wi-Fi barely worked, the service was awful, and overall it was one of the worst hotel experiences I’ve ever had in my life. For such an expensive place, the quality and cleanliness are absolutely unacceptable.

I will never recommend Kunang Kunang Villas to anyone. Save yourself the stress — there are much better and cleaner places to stay in Langkawi. For some reason it’s not letting me put all the photos and videos I took but I promise I’ll make sure I post them in other websites such as Trip.com and so on, this really upset me so I really don’t wish this on anyone. Hopefully...

This was a such a beautiful place to stay! They've perfected what you would expect from a secluded, traditional island paradise.

Vibe: small, intimate and surrounded by lush greenery. It felt really private as each villa was raised from the path and surrounded by plants. There are only 18 villas so you only ever encountered a few people at breakfast and the pool. The lobby and restaurant were in a beautiful, large, wooden bungalow and overlooked that stunning sunken pool that's surrounded by lotuses that flower most of the year round! Also, the staff were all absolutely lovely!

Villas: these were stunning! Spacious with high ceilings and multiple windows to open and look out over the greenery. There were fans and good cross breezes so during the day you could open all the windows and sit back and enjoy the view, then at night close them up and use the air con. All the gaps between the wood had insect mesh and the large bed had a big mesh net to surround it. Recommend wearing their cute dressing gowns when using the outdoor bathroom to avoid being bitten during a midnight toilet break though! When choosing a villa, the pool/lake front villas don't actually have views of the water due to all the trees so the villas in the back row were actually my favourite as they were more private.

Food: incredible, give that chef a raise! A wide array of options at the buffet breakfast with some basic western options (toast, spreads, and some people ordered scrambled eggs) but mostly delicious Malaysian food: nasi lemak, curries with roti or pancakes, samosas, curry puffs and dumplings, a noodle soup option with diy accompaniments, and a range of sweets and fresh fruits. The a la carte lunch menu was also excellent for the days you want to spend relaxing around the villas and pool, but they're huge servings! They also made delicious juices and smoothies that were perfect to sip on the sun beds overlooking the pool.

Location: it's in the middle of nowhere (which helps with the isolated feeling) so you'll need to get a Grab/taxi whenever you want to go somewhere, but they're affordable (~8RM to Pantai Cenang) and quick to get. It's very close to the airport and you can hear the aeroplanes overhead, but there's only 15 or so a day and generally only from 10am-10pm so they don't interrupt your sleep (though the nearby roosters and loudspeaker prayers start early, but you get that everywhere).

Overall: highly recommend if you're keen to avoid the hustle of the touristy beach areas and experience a secluded and traditional Malaysian villa (with an awesome...

It's more than an accommodation, it's an experience... and a truly unique and exquisite one, staying in a wooden kampung house - one of about twenty 100-200 year-old Malay traditional houses that were transported from various parts of Langkawi and Perak and reassembled and restored in Kunang-Kunang with a great amount of love and pride. There are so many things we love about it:

The beautiful architecture: The design of each kampung house is different and aesthetically pleasing, each with its own wood carvings adorning its doors, windows, and balcony. I enjoyed taking a shower in the lovely outdoor bathroom, under the sky and treetops (felt somewhat liberating, I must say!)

The surroundings: It’s lush and green outdoors, with a little path that meanders around the grounds, shaded with coconut trees and bamboo. A resident cat sunbathes along the path, while a slender skink dropped by to say hello while I was lounging at the pool deck. Oh, and you do not need an alarm clock here, you’re awaken by the melodious dawn chorus of birds, cock-a-doodle-doos aplenty and the morning azan call to prayer.

The pool: We enjoyed a relaxing and rather magical morning dip in the turquoise pool, that floats like a jewel, inset within a pond of lotuses and water lilies. Dragonflies hover around. It’s quite the secret spot, surrounded by a screen of shrubs and palm trees on the periphery.

The dining: The food is exquisite. We savoured a finely prepared set breakfast of nasi lemak, kuih-muih and cut fruits (portions are huge). The kuih ketayap, a rolled pandan crepe filled with grated coconut in gula melaka was heavenly!

All in all, I would describe Kunang-Kunang as an excellent preservation of Malay cultural heritage that also serves as an enchanting and peaceful sanctuary to...