Pangkor Laut Resort — Hotel in Pangkor Laut Island

We would not recommend this resort as a place to visit, for the following reasons.

We booked the Hill Villa, there is absolutely no sound proofing in the villa so you can hear the neighbours and vice versa. The villa itself is extremely neglected and run down, it does not match the price tag. We stayed in far nicer accommodation throughout our trip to Malaysia for a lot less cost. The windows in the bathroom were dirty, dead bugs everywhere, bathtub not clean, old damaged finishings, TV has restricted channels. The resort was likely nice in its hey day, but those days are long gone..

You have no choice but to eat at their restaurants, and the quality is extremely poor. They have a complete monopoly and it shows. Price should reflect quality and it just doesn't. Meals at Chapmans Bar and Royal Bay were almost inedible, the tomato sauce is a really strange flavour. We had dinner at Fisherman's Cove which is their fine dining restaurant, my plate had a chip in the side and I honestly had better food for less than 20MYR on our trip, infact ALL meals in Malaysia were better than these meals. The greens were so overcooked and chewy. It was not pleasant, we received 2 free lime juices as compensation. It's frustrating knowing how good Malaysian food can be, you just feel like you are being ripped off the whole time.

There is one swimming beach to swim at, however it has poisonous jellyfish so you don't really feel comfortable swimming there. The only other option for swimming is at the shared pool with all the kids and their families. The towels are ripped and old. The lounges are not kept clean and are stained and old.

They charge you for EVERYTHING. Every little dang cent they can squeeze out of you, even for using a kayak, pot noodle in the room, boat transfer (160MYR per person), taxes and services are added on for every charge. They also want a 1500 MYR deposit before you even get to the island for "miscellaneous charges". They couldn't actually explain what that was for. The buffet dinner is 120MYR per person, we didn't find this out until after our meal, even for Australian prices that is very expensive.

We requested to leave the island a day early due to the noise and were offered a room change to sea villa. We appreciated the change but honestly I kind of wish we had just stuck with our decision to leave.

We were so bored. We only stayed 3 nights, but by the second day we were pretty over it.. and you can't leave. It's a bit like a paradise prison, where you can only eat their average food and do their non existent activities. On our last day it rained and we essentially just sat around in the room because there is nothing to do apart from paying exorbitant amounts to attend the spa. The Sea Villas do not have a TV, not that it matters because the channels dont work. You can rent a kayak but you can't really go anywhere, it's confined to a really small area.. it's pointless.

You would expect some complimentary snacks and food considering you can only eat at their restraunts. There is tea, coffee and drinking water but nothing else, not even milk. No welcome drink on arrival. It's subpar and pretty basic. Not that I would recommend anyone to go to PLR, but if you do you should bring snacks and food to eat because there aren't any here.

The beaches are polluted heavily with plastic. The areas around the sea villa are full of plastic, it's really a terrible problem that is not being properly addressed.

There is no option to leave the island and explore elsewhere. The whole place feels like a money vacuum and you have no other options. It's this weird trapped feeling that I've never felt before.

I also want to say that the staff were great throughout our stay and this was no reflection on them. They do an amazing job, considering the product is not up to scratch.

We were honestly relieved to be leaving, and I really hope people read this review so they understand what they are getting in to before...

Our stay at Pangkor Laut was frustrating and not anywhere near luxurious. The staff were generally confused, unhelpful, unhappy, and sometimes even rude, with the exception of the staff at Chapman’s Bar. We constantly had completely avoidable annoyances happen to us that shouldn’t take place at a hotel at this price point. The setting is beautiful and we wish the hotel lived up to its natural charm.

Service:

-Upon checkin, we were given options for dinner reservations. We picked Fisherman’s Cove but were informed that it was fully booked for our entire stay. Not only was our choice unavailable, but why even present it as an option if it’s not available?

-At checkout, there were no instructions on where to leave our bag, so we brought it down the jetty ourselves and had to awkwardly ask to put it on the boat. Everyone else seemed to have received proper instruction except us.

-Ordered a glass of rose at the pool bar but was informed it wasn’t available. Later at Uncle Lim’s, the same waiter recognized us and said they had rose. This was served warm and there was a lipstick stain on my glass. The waiter made a strange comment when bringing the wine, he said “want your wine?” And set it down aggressively on the table.

-We walked to the Spa Village pool and were rudely informed that we weren’t allowed to be there as it’s a private pool, however it isn’t indicated anywhere on signboards, etc that it’s a private pool. The staff member made us feel less-than. On their own website, it says Spa Villas get “direct access”, not “private access” so it’s unclear where this rule comes from.

-We went to the regular pool instead, settled in and were having a good time when a child vomited in the pool. The parent didn’t do anything and they continued playing while vomit floated around. No staff around to notice or care. We went to the pool bar to inform that the pool needed to be cleaned but they didn’t understand us. We had to walk to the lobby to inform the staff, who told us to go to the spa pool instead, merely an hour after the Spa Village staff told us we weren’t allowed to be there.

-My partner was fat-shamed by a staff after the buffet dinner. We were walking out of the restaurant and a staff asked if we enjoyed our dinner, we said yes and he grabbed his belly and said “not as big as mine.” Understand he was trying to be funny in his own way but it made my partner feel self conscious.

-There were almost never beach towels available at the beach. Both days we went, they were out of towels. The first day we eventually got towels. The second day, we asked 3 times over the course of an entire afternoon and not only did we never receive towels before we left the beach, but the staff were uninterested in serving us, giving us a wait estimate, or helping us in any way. At an island resort, you would think towel service is a bare minimum service?

Facilities:

-Overall the facilities feel like they haven’t been deep cleaned in 30 years, much less updated in any way.

-Especially the gym felt really dusty and the machines creak comically loud upon use.

-Our roof leaked, creating a puddle in the middle of the bathroom. We informed reception and they said they will tell maintenance. Instead of fixing the leak or moving us to another room, they placed a towel in the middle of the floor while it continued to leak throughout our stay.

-No bidet and toilet was awkwardly situated and rickety. Shower/bathtub was borderline dangerous with a lot of sharp edges. Bed was hard while pillows were way too soft.

Food:

-Not luxury in any way, generally overpriced and underwhelming in quality and taste

-Banana leaf at the Chapman’s bar was by far the standout. The Indian food at the buffet breakfast and dinner were the best. Too bad there’s no Indian restaurant on the island.

Amenities:

-None, haha! Not even a laundry bag in the room. No room service, no pamphlet in the bedroom with a map of the resort, available activities, spa...

My husband and I visited Pangkor Laut Resort on our honeymoon for a 4 days 3 nights stay. Scenery: 5/5 Food: 2.5/5 Drinks: 2/5 Service: 3/5 Activities: 1/5 Pros: Sea villa had a beautiful view of the ocean, and we saw many fishes swimming right below our villa! Emerald Bay was peaceful, private, and the sunset is a must see!! Check in and check out was easy, staff were well informed. We didn't have to worry about our luggage as the bellboys took care of everything. Speedboat was on time, and well driven. The resort has a very private feel, and as we were there on the residents package, all our meals were included and we didn't have to worry about pricing of food. Spa village is beautiful, and the couple massage was good. Our naturalist guide was very knowledgeable, clear, and humorous. Would definitely recommend going on the hike! Will recommend mocktails over cocktails. Cons: Sea villa bathroom does not have a bidet at the toilet, and the bathtub is quite slippery. The design is for windows at the bathroom to be opened for viewing of the scenery while taking a bath. However, the windows also open towards the villas on either side.. so wouldn't recommend opening said windows while you're bathing. Being a 5-star resort, we expected 5-star food. However, the food was sub-par and just okay. If we were not on the residents package, we would be extremely disappointed by the food. 50++RM for a hotdog at Royal Bay Beach Club and the sauce was definitely reheated! 25++RM for a bubble tea that is new on the menu, but it just tasted of sugar water with no tea at all! (Chapman's bar had the best food on the island, but even that was just alright) Uncle Lim's Restaurant came high recommended, but the food did not meet expectations. Again, high prices for basic food. Due to understaffing, the staff at Uncle Lim's also left all the dirty dishes and cutlery on the bench stacked up near to where food was being served. A waiter even tipped cutlery into the pile from his tray! Quite a turn off when you're waiting for your food. There are no activities available on the island. Perhaps this is due to being extremely understaffed, but the staff seemed to have miscommunications with each other. Fishing? Boat under maintenance. Snorkelling? Boat under maintenance. Sunset cruise? Boat under maintenance. The only activities were at Spa Village, laying on the beach at Emerald Bay, or swimming at the pool. We were not allowed in the pool at Spa Village as well! The bar was out of most of the drinks. Only available were beer, wine, and 1 or 2 cocktails. We had to send back cocktails twice as there were dead ants in it!! And, the cocktails were terrible, and cost 45++RM. Would not recommend. The staff was hit or miss. Most of the staff were friendly and polite, greeting the guests as they pass by. But the 2-3 staff that were extremely rude, ruined some of the time we spent there. In particular, on our second and last night at the resort, we ate at Uncle Lim's restaurant. First round, service was excellent and there weren't many guests. The rude waiter (maybe manager?) did not spoil our evening. On our last night, we asked the same rude waiter to change our cocktail (an ant was in it as mentioned above), and he left our drink on the counter and went to tend to other guests for 15mins. When we asked another waiter for assistance instead, he then rudely said he would handle it and grabbed the drink away. Throughout the evening, he was scolding the other waiters and seemed generally angry at everything. No designated smoking area. Smokers under the verandah lead to cigarette smoke wafting into the reception. Speedboats from Pangkor Island would come close to the villas so it feels like you're an animal at the zoo. All in all, I would only recommend this resort to those that enjoy relaxing on the beach and the pool and don't mind average food. For the amount we paid on this trip, we would not...