Century Pines Resort Cameron Highlands — Hotel in Pahang

Stayed 4 nights in June 2023 and it was comfortable stay. This is going to be a long review.

Location - very well placed at Tanah Rata. Lots of shops and eateries along the road to the town centre, and easy to get to any location and attraction. Over the hill behind the hotel is the town's main mosque. You can hear the prayer calls (Azan) and prayers being recited 5 times daily. There is also a school to the left of the hotel, and a small park right in front of the property. It can get noisy in the afternoon when students may have activities at their large school field adjacent to the property but that's a nice glimpse into local life. Interestingly, at the end of the park is a booth where you can find books to read at the park for free. The park also connects to the main road where you can walk to the shops and restaurants around the town.

Exterior: really beautiful if seen at night from an angle, looks like a mountain resort in Interlaken or Vail. Large parking space in front of the property and also an indoor parking on its right side. Lots of pine trees around the compound. It's the only hotel along that small road so you won't miss it.

Interior: grand design and looks good. Nothing much happening at the time I stayed. There's the main lobby for check-in, and some pool tables to the left and a seating area.

Our room: we stayed at A218. View overlooking the parking area. Spacious and well furnished. Tiled floor at the doorway but the room is carpeted. There were 8 individual lights so the room is well lit if all were turned on. We loved the bed and pillows! One of the best we've had as compared to many hotels we stayed at. Just forgot to see the brand in case we want to get the same type for our house. TV works well but it seems to not be connected to the internet so I can't cast from mobile. Wifi connection is so-so, sometimes you get it sometimes you get disconnected. The kettle is large, larger than most hotels would provide. Complimentary coffee, no tea though. Hair dryer in the drawer of the study table. Mini fridge under the wardrobe.

Bath: large bathroom, with two shower areas. The vanity in the middle is quite small. On the right side is a shower head on the wall that blasts a single flow of water. On the left is a manual shower with a low wall. That might be useful to sit while showering and also for the elderly and children to sit while they shower. All in all, we had great showers there, the hot water works very well too. Toiletries provided. What I also liked was the water drained quickly down the gully trap. A common problem with hotels in Malaysia is where even high end hotels suffer from ponding in the bathroom because the water drains very slowly, not this property.

Water: tap water is not potable and the hotel provides no bottled water. However you will have access to Coway filtered water at the dispenser near the lift lobby. It's a way for the hotel's sustainability efforts. Use your kettle or water bottle to fill up cold or hot water. It's great because the if you want a hot drink simply pull it from the dispenser, no need to boil water. Only thing is the dispenser is out of sight: it's located near the exit door behind the lift, and it's not well lit. Hotel should place it at a more accessible area where guests can see it at the lift lobby.

Ironing: none provided in rooms but it's a shared facility located in a room at the lift lobby. Two irons and ironing boards. Irons were good, but the boards weren't. Hotel should really do something about that, getting bigger, proper boards would be great. You can fill up the water cups from the Coway dispenser, it's opposite the ironing room.

Food: we had 4 breakfasts. They were generally tasty serving local dishes. We had Nasi Lemak for our first breakfast. The next day was Nasi Minyak, and the next two days were Nasi Tomato. They also have noodle soup which was very tasty and refreshing. Others include sausages, toasts, bread but no spread at all. I found it strange that s place renown for strawberry jams, the spread were...

Overall: A nice hotel, cheaply maintained. Since it seemed to have a lot of guests I can only presume that management are pocketing the profits and ignoring the investment it needs.

Staff (4/5): Not luxury level, but very good for mid-range. Desk staff always available, good English and helpful with simple tasks such as baggage, booking taxis... Breakfast staff are hardworking and always on the move to keep the restaurant clean. The egg man NEVER STOPS.

Room (3/5): Nice but dated. It clearly needs a deep clean and maintenance. The fixtures (wooden frames, luggage rack, bathroom taps) tell you that 30 years ago, this was a premium hotel. But it hasn't been maintained. Safe was broken, the bath is yellowing, the plug was on a bit of fishing wire, the towels were old, no hand towel, shower curtains (!), the cheapest toilet paper, the cheapest slippers... Under the bed is a graveyard for lost slippers. There was a communicating door to the next room which is bad for both noise and security. The Aircon system brought smells of cigarette smoke from who knows where. On the plus side, we had some armchairs and a view out the back of the hotel of nearby forest.

Breakfast (3/5): Very Muslim friendly. RM30-35 walk-in price. In some ways this was a decent breakfast, it just wasn't for me. Western items cropped up, but in surprising ways (mashed potatoes, green beans...) as did nods to SEA tastes (noodles, spring rolls). However you will be most happy if your idea of breakfast is nasi lemak or eggs and bread. The menu changes slightly each day, but the overall feel is still cheap. Watered down apple juice, watered down honey and jam (but good jam to be fair), were paired with cheap sausages and a leg of 'turkey bacon'. Salad and vegetables were available, but most options were stodgy carbs.

Facilities (2/5): A pool table and a fussball table. A gift shop (why?) which is occasionally open. There is large park for kids almost opposite the hotel.

Location (4/5): Heaven and hell. On the one hand, this is a great location for the bus stop, outgoing taxis, a family friendly park, basic amenities like 7-11 and a handful of local restaurants. However, attractions like the lavender farm or mossy forest, which might look close on the map, are HOURS away by taxi or car. The butterfly farm took RM30 and 1hour to get there. We had to walk back (3hrs) because traffic was so bad and taxis weren't available.

Other: (1) This is a family hotel. This translates irresponsible parents will let their pack of children scream in the lobby, corridors and rooms until ungodly hours. If you found it necessary to have 3 kids, this is probably a good place for you. Couples on vacation may want to request a quiet room...perhaps in another hotel. (2) I would be surprised if they had serious money problems. There was a huge teambuilding party, a constant flow of guests checking in and out, breakfast was rammed every day (although some from outside). There are also no real facilities or grounds to maintain. Yet that money isn't being re-invested. Even the hotel staff's matching camo-coloured shirts looked like the cheapest available. Invest in your product. It's overdue. You might find...

This hotel actually got everything of what a great hotel should have,in this case, a 4 star rated hotel. 1. Good customer service. 2. Hotel facilities & amenities.3. Spacious parking bays (FOC).4. Good ambiance & scenery. 5. Spacious room tho for its basic room. However,The management should consider to upgrade/refurbish the hotel room as the room looks old/obsolete. There were baby cockroaches and mosquitoes in the room. But that wasn't a major turnoff as I can consider. Hotel's sink/bathtub found with tough stains. The foods quality for breakfast buffet was not up to the par of 4star hotel as they claimed. Presentations of the foods was pretty much basic as 3 or lower star rated hotel. Previous room for my superior deluxe was unable to get hot shower as confirmed by the technician that were termostat failure. We got upgraded room to another block which is very well appreciated. But again, to our major turnoff- the room service staff went to our room while we were having breakfast with the signage of DO NOT DISTURB hanged on the doorknob. Understand that he was cleaning and making up the room but that was never a practice for hotel policy to get into residents' room without permission. We left our valuable belonging, stole the privacy and even throw out our personal stuff which happened to be in a box of pizza that he thought was leftover foods. The management really should consider to provide trainings to the staff especially for domestic workers. They were good but they thought it was okay to do it. Good thing, the manager came and apologize and promised to have a word with the staff. It was a good move, but we really can't accept the action, especially for a 4 star rated hotel to have such understanding & practice. One night, there were incident of pipe leakage resulted half of the carpet on the hallway wet and damp. Some of the nearest rooms including our room was flooded with water around 1-2am. Good thing was the water wasn't get far to the room's carpet. But due to the damp carpet on the halleay, the affected area created bad and musty smell. Luckily we are checking out the next day. All in all, it was still a good stay and experience. The staff did well in providing outstanding service and always make sure the needs are met. But I don't think the hotel should be rated as 4 star as the reasons above mentioned. Downgrade to the lower star or fix the price of the hotel stay. Customers are not okay to pay such price for that kind of issues as return. There goes the anniversary celebration for both of us. But we did enjoy our moments in this hotel and...