Laguna Redang Island Resort — Hotel in Pulau Redang

I’m filing an official complain to a very disturbing incident that caused an emotional hurt to my mother even after we left Laguna Resort for a few days, leaving with a horrible memory to the trip. My mom felt personally attacked and disgraced by a managerial level staff in the cafeteria. We could not get the name of the staff, but to describe the main culprit of this story, he is a tall and thin man Chinese middle-aged man wearing a blue uniform. It should initially be such a relaxing getaway trip, as our family aim to arrange this trip focused for my sister who is wheelchair ridden, slowly losing her eyesight and has multiple disabled conditions. Our happiness to the trip is placed in the priority of my sister’s pleasantness experiencing nature by the beautiful island.

During the lunch buffet, my parents and I registered at the cafeteria counter downstairs as usual. My sister and caretaker could not make it to the cafeteria again as my sister weren’t in a fit condition to be present there. I’ve presented the same ticket to Yani, asking if we could also do a simple takeaway for both of them, with the same container we’ve used this morning to prevent wastage of plastic containers. With the same tickets presented, we were granted from the downstairs entrance to do the same – takeaway for both the absent ticket holders with the same 2 boxes given.

Around 1-2pm, my mom went to fill in a little food for my sister and caretaker with the container, to just obtain half a container of pure white rice for my sister to fulfill her special diet requirement. She heard someone calling her from the back and when she turned around, it was a thin and tall Chinese middle-aged staff who wore a blue shirt. It looks like he is a managerial level staff of Laguna resort, he questioned: “Where did your container come from?” Without having enough time to react, my mom was shocked with her being questioned very quickly in front of the public, and then being questioned for the 2nd time repeatedly : “Where did your container come from?” with an unrespectful, interrogative tone. My mom replied: “I have 5 coupons, my daughter and her caretaker is unable to attend”, he continued, “Tell me who gave you the box”. My mom said she is not sure which waiter handed the box to me, but the waiter received a communication from the walkie talkie downstairs that we need that 2 boxes for the 2 attendees this morning under the table we are designated to sit, then the waiter handed 2 boxes to us. When the same situation comes during the lunch session, we have recycled the 2 boxes from this morning, get permission from the staff downstairs, granted and get it upstairs. My mom also mentioned she is only taking plain white rice, doesn’t even have a single other dishes in the container. The blue shirt staff then replied with a strict and unempathetic tone, “Customer came and question why you could do this and why can’t they do the same”. Then he continued, “Please ask us to help you take the food next time”. Of course after the questioning incident, my dad went ahead to do another box of takeaway for my sister’s caretaker, with a box of pasta & some French fries in it, but the same staff did not approach him to question about it anymore.

My mother felt she is immensely shunned, unrespected, as she felt she is seen as a greedy lady who like to take advantage of getting petty benefits like taking away food from the buffet counter into her own container. She felt being wronged and in extremely dismay when that is just an arrangement by the management internally. We are very unsatisfied that this communication was not aligned internally, but it came as a public questioning incident by the staff in Laguna who then brought bad experience to my mom for the rest of her trip. We never thought a relaxing and memorable family trip could end up causing her certain level of emotional trauma. We hope that this could be taken as a serious attention to the whole management level of Laguna resort, and hopefully with a personal apology from the appointed person from...

When I booked online, I was really looking forward to this resort. Unfortunately, many things did not live up to my expectations and I believe this hotel is overpriced for what it offers.

Positives:

1. The beach is stunning. The water is crystal clear, very clean and turquoise. It is mostly sandy with some sharp stones/pebbles near the shore. Absolutely loved visiting the beach every day as it was mesmerizing to look at and swim in.

2. Location is amazing. There is an another equally as beautiful beach on the other side of this hotel’s shoreline. The greenery around the landscape, tropical vegetation and trees and calm waters can easily be mistaken for a Caribbean/Hawaiian paradise.

3. Staff is kind and friendly and tries its best to help you.

4. Wide range of available activities at good prices. Kayak, paddling, hiking, pool, archery, beach sports, live evening music and many other fun things available for one to engage in.

5. Purchasable food and beverages are reasonably priced and affordable, to my surprise. I was expecting to pay more than I actually did.

6. Really nice swimming pool. Very clean, and it’s separated for kids, children, and adults. There is also a really nice hydromassage pool which is really good.

Negatives:

1. The hotel’s facilities are basic and old. Almost everything needs renovation and better maintenance. Don’t get me wrong, everything is nice and clean. But looking at the rooms and the facilities one would say it’s an old budget hotel, definitely not a high end 4 star resort.

2. Rooms are very basic and simple. No Wi-Fi in the rooms and the mobile data service is inconsistent and slow. TVs are old and not modern/smart. The only thing playing are some Malaysian channels at poor quality resolution. Bathroom needs to be definitely renovated. No garbage can for tissue papers, small toilet room, bad sinks, slow and inconsistent water supply, shower heads are terrible, everything is old and covered in mold. Terrible beds, uncomfortable, too small. Pillows are hard and can hurt. Very bad bathroom and the facility public bathrooms are even worse. Felt disgusted every time I visited one. As if I was in a cheap 2 star express motel. Although clean, the facilities are old and badly maintained.

3. The buffet meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) are inconsistent in quality and average at best. A lot of Chinese cuisine which may not cater to all international travelers. The food is not warmed enough and by the time you select everything and go back to your table, it will have become cold. The taste is average or bland. With only some notable exceptions which were tasty, most of the buffet food is not delicious, as one would expect of a 4 star beach resort. Also there isn’t much variety from day to day. Expect 70-80% of your meals everyday to be the exact same and of the exact same average quality.

4. Below average privacy and seclusion. Rooms are not sound proof enough and very close to each other, making everything around your room to be easily heard.

5. Way way too many people. Expect a huge hoard of travelers, 70-80% of which will be of Asian descent. The buffet restaurant is always overcrowded, making it difficult and frustrating to select and have an enjoyable meal, which in turn is also bad/average. Feels like the hotel is cheap since so many people can afford it.

6. Bad value for money. The hotel and the all inclusive food is not worth 1000+ MYR per night. For me, I was basically paying for the beach and the location.

7. Few sun loungers with umbrellas. When you take into account the hundreds of people in the hotel and the ~20 beach loungers, there is a very low chance you’ll find space for yourself. The only way to do it is wake up at like 6-7 AM so you can reserve a set for yourself because by 9PM you won’t find a single set of beach loungers with umbrellas here.

Overall: I would not visit this hotel again at that price point. There are cheaper options in the same location, that seem to offer the same value. You are basically paying for the beach and...

We consider ourselves well travelled and will seldom leave a negative review. We are also very understanding that Covid has stripped many places of qualified staff and there are general staffing shortages. However... here is a summary of our experience.

TL;DR - for the amount that you pay, I would expect much better service and food.

We spent the week before hand in the Perhentians and were excited for the visit to Redang.

When we arrived at Redang at the jetty, there was no one waiting for us (we advised them of our private transfer details and arrival time). We called the hotel and they told us to walk. We had no idea where we were going and how far we would have to walk with our luggage and 2 children. We eventually flagged down the tractor trailer where the driver had to kick some of the snorkelers out so that we could fit in. Turns out it was a very short walk but we had no idea.

The check in process was awkward. It was crowded and there was no social distancing at a time the rules were in place. We were told we needed to provide a negative rapid test to be able to check in. This was not communicated to us before hand. We asked what would happen if any of us came back positive and they told us we could not check in, nor could we board the ferry to return to the mainland... so we would be stuck. After 30 minutes of discussions we were able to speak to someone who actually spoke English and the covid test situation was settled.

At this point I need to highlight that there was so much drama about completing a rapid test that no one checked our vaccination status or our passports... this in itself was a huge fail.

Positive - the rooms are very nice. We had a beach view room and it was comfortable. However, they said that we would need to request housekeeping as it was not going to be provided so that there was 'less contact'.... so we essentially were paying to clean the rooms ourselves. We borrowed a broom from the cleaners to sweep the sand out of the room daily.

The food - awful. I can not emphasise this enough. It was just awful. Bulk cooked like a prison or boarding school. Tables were super close together and there was hardly room to move. We ended up heading down the beach and dining out for dinner. I would not recommend full board as there are much better options at other locations.

I went to the bar to get some water on our first day and was told that they had run out of the bottled water at the bar (free of charge), and that I should head to the mini mart and I could buy some there instead... you can imagine how not impressed I was with this.

Finally, our flights were changed from a PM flight to an AM flight so we need to book a private transfer back to the mainland in order to catch our flight as the resort said they didn't offer a ferry service at the time we needed to leave. As we checked out we met another family who were on the same flight. It turns out the resort organised a private transfer for them at no extra charge. We were fuming! To add insult to injury, there was plenty of room for the two families and luggage to all go in the same boat. That was the last straw for us.

So: Location - great. You can snorkel off the beach and see all the wildlife easy enough Rooms - Excellent. Bathroom could do with some more water pressure Food - awful. Just awful Service - non existent. The staff seemed miserable and it was like they didn't want to be there.

We only stayed for 2 nights and couldn't wait to leave. If our flight wasn't leaving from Terrenganu we would have headed straight back to the Perhentians. The rooms weren't as nice as Laguna but the staff were amazing and friendly and they made you feel welcome.

We have recommended Perhentians over Redang to all our friends due to the experience here at...