The Datai Langkawi — Hotel in Langkawi Island

My family and I recently when on a trip to The Datai, a supposedly family resort. As a family of 22, it truly isn’t easy to find a place to suit everyone’s needs but Datai seemed to have it all. And for the first few days we were there, they did. The service was top notch, the food was brilliant, staff were attentive etc etc. The weekend brought with it an ocean of new guests, mostly tourists. We continued enjoying our holiday as we had done three days before but this time, some guests were “unhappy” at how much noise our kids were making. There are 9 kids in the family, ages ranging from 4 months to 10 years, but other guests felt that their laughter and excitement were just too irritating and bothersome. We can’t control what other guests say or do but what disappointed me was how the staff catered to those guests and expected my nephews and nieces to compromise their holiday by quieting down. During BREAKFAST, my family sat outside on the verandah, very far away from the other guests. A couple complained the kids were making noise and the staff shut the door on us, making us take the long way round to go to the buffet. This was extremely infuriating because the kids were so confused at what was going on and as paying guests of the hotel, I don’t understand why the staff felt it was okay to cater the couple and not to the 22 members of my family. On our last night, we had dinner at The Beach Club. It was an early dinner as, again, the kids sleep early. We were the first guests at the restaurant. This was our LAST day there, and suddenly the staff was “unaware” that there were 22 members of the family and only set up enough places for 15 of us. They also didn’t bother hiding their annoyance when they had to quickly set up another table with 7 more seats. Throughout my stay in the Datai, the staff were attentive enough to ask me “still water or sparkling? Would you like a slice or lemon or lime with that?”, but on our last, horrible night, NONE of us were given the option to choose what we wanted to drink, we were all just given normal water. Fine. I just assumed the weekend staff were new or inexperienced, but they suddenly became so professional and experienced the minute the other guests came in. I got annoyed because that was when I realised that we were just a burdensome group for them to deal with, and the other guests were the ones they needed to take care of. Within half an hour of the other guests arriving, our family received yet another complaint about how noisy the kids were being. Now this was just plain ridiculous and whoever made this complaint obviously just dislikes children. By the time the other guests arrived, the kids were done with their dinners and extremely worn out from swimming all day. The most noise they made was TALKING to each other. The staff essentially told my sister to ask the kids to keep quiet as they were bothering the other guests. The kids talking were too much noise but yet, their loud drunken laughter was absolutely fine? It was obvious then that this was a race thing. There we were, a group of 22, made up of Malays, Indians and Arabs and we DARE have a holiday at the all Caucasian paradise of Datai? No way, Jose! The reason why I can confidently say this was a race issue was because the manager of Datai himself admitted that two Caucasian couples complained to him and he said that they were “borderline racists.” Again, while the disgusting behaviour of other guests is not the responsibility of the resort, I feel disappointed that the Datai prioritised their Caucasian guests in their good treatment. We thought Datai would be our new regular family holiday destination, but it is not kid friendly and I would NOT want to put my kids through a holiday where they have to control the volume of their laughter and excitement. And on a personal side note, to the guests of our country, it’s bad enough that you treat us like second class citizens when we go visit your homeland, so please don’t come to Malaysia and think you have the right to make us feel unwelcome in...

Where do I start ! This was the end of an amazing trip around Malaysia & Borneo to see the Orangutans. Having seen the hotel on the tv my wife decided that we had to go. Booked for 5 nights and quite honestly could have stayed for a lot longer. The meet and greet at the airport and transfer in a quality car was superb. Lovely check in with so many staff and a cold glass of bubbles. We had an amazing room and every thing was well explained to us by one of the reception team. Restaurants were all excellent but our favourite had to be the The Dining Room, outstanding food, service and worthy of a Michelin star in my opinion, but certainly very relaxed and not at all stuffy. The charcoal bread and my wage beef were the highlights. The service by Dinesh and Michelle was outstanding. Also excellent service from Shaiful & Navila. Dinesh explains every dish in detail but he has a lovely friendly manner and just a genuinely nice guy. Michelle was bubbly, friendly and happy to talk to us first time visitors. What is nice is being asked your names so they can refer to you personally, not many restaurants do this. Also nice to see the same staff at breakfast and Chef Chai came to speak to us on several occasions to enquire re our previous nights dinner. Really nice person and I was pushing him to get some recipes :) Also really enjoyed the Pavillion, my wife declaring that the soft shell crab was the best she had ever tasted. Highlight of our visit to the Gulai house was the service from Adam, what a character he is and his photos he has taken around the area are outstanding. The setting of this restaurant is fantastic with all the jungle noises around. We also tried the beach club a few times and the Nasi Goreng was exceptional. We had another excellent interaction with Azhari, who when we were kidding him on that there was no squid for the second day in a row he went away and managed to get some from somewhere, what a star and we were not expecting this. The lobby lounge was our go to place for pre dinner or after dinner drinks and we had excellent service from Angel who looked after us so well. What an incredible setting and the huge lily pond with all the frogs is stunning. My wife wasn’t too sure on the first night when having a cocktail to see a large green snake at the adjacent chair 😂 easily dealt with by the staff, we have to remember that we are living in their home. |We both went to the spa for a massage and I have to say we have been lucky enough to have experienced many massages and spas across the world but never have we had one in a setting like this, wow, absolutely magical listening to the sounds of the jungle while lying getting your massage. An exceptional massage and was so good my wife returned for a second massage a few days later. I also did the early nature walk and this was great and I learnt a lot. What is good is the passion and knowledge of your team of naturalists on site and their love of the job.|We also played golf as this is my main passion, fantastic course with lovely staff, and course in excellent condition. 2 lovely caddies added to the experience. Nice touch with the coconut drinks at the turn. |A pleasure to be invited to the Managers cocktail reception and meeting Stephane, what an incredible team of staff he has, some have been there for over 30 years, and you can see why you wouldnt want to leave. The staff are what makes the hotel as good as it is, they are friendly, attentive, and there for everything you need without being in your face.|We were extremely sad to leave after our amazing stay and being sent to the airport in the Bentley was A1 👌 also at the airport staff seeing you all the way through passport control. |If you want 5 star ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐️ + then do not hesitate to book a trip to the Datai, you will not be...

My husband and I stayed at the Datai as part of our honeymoon and we couldn’t have asked for a better visit.

The service is exceptional, along the best I’ve experienced anywhere in the world. A special shout out to our butler Asyraf who was absolutely amazing. Nothing was too much for him, he was so organised and made our visit so easy and stress free. His service felt truly natural and not at all forced, his calm personality really shone through and we got on with him really well, I would definitely ask to have him as our butler again if we visit again. All the staff we were served by were lovely, they all spoke very good English, were very polite, helpful and represented the hotel perfectly.

The accommodation we had was beautiful. We stayed in a beach villa and I’d highly recommend booking this. The location was private and secluded, we experienced the joys of the rainforest as well as the beach. The villa is massive with a lovely big living space to enjoy. The perks you get being in a beach villa also make it worth while, such as the mini bar, afternoon tea, butler, snacks etc. Although you are quite far from the main building, it’s a lovely walk along the beach and through the butterfly walk, or you can arrange a buggy with the butler which was always with us within minutes.

The food: Breakfast was amazing, you could stay for two weeks + and still try something new each day! We had breakfast in our room which was always great, but the buffet is the best as there is so much choice as well as an al la carte offering.

Afternoon tea served in our room daily was lovely and just the right amount to keep us going until dinner.

We were lucky enough to have the chef series whilst we stayed so we experienced an amazing tasting menu which is a meal to remember! Our favourite meal was at the Gulai House, the beef randang was out of this world! We were slightly less impressed with the Beach House menu and food, it seemed quite plain and simple, I personally preferred it for breakfast or lunch over dinner. The Thai was good, especially the Tom Yam Soup, but the main courses didn’t blow us away.

The spa was excellent, the treatment was fantastic and the setting is incredible and so calming. Well equipped gym for its small size and staff were once again lovely in there. Water sports were good with a fair bit on offer!

The general setting of the hotel is so beautiful, the nature is like nothing I’ve experienced before. We were lucky enough to have a family of Dusky Leaf monkeys visit our villa a few times, and we saw the illusive flying lemur just outside our villa! I would definitely recommend the guided walks with the nature experts as they are so knowledgeable and interesting.

Overall we had the best time and completely fell in love with the hotel, we...