Casa del Mar, Langkawi

Would I stay at this location again:

Most likely

Comments:

This is my first visit to Langkawi and I travelled with a girl friend of mine. The hotel is very close to the airport only about 10-15mins drive and the hotel provided transport to and from the hotel for 50 riggits (its cheaper to take a taxi). The vehicle was very clean and the driver friendly. Our flight arrived early in the morning so we had to leave our luggage in the lobby while we waited for our room to be ready. There's a waiting room next to the gym with bathroom, mirror, change room, counches and a TV so it was very convenient for us to change into our bikinis and go straight to the pool. My first impression of the resort was that it's very clean, lovely lobby and pool, and right next to the beach! The resort is very small compare to the one we stayed at in Thailand. There is only 1 pool and 1 pool bar, and the restaurant/breakfast area is very small with limited seatings and more set up on the beach, but enough for the guests staying at the resort. Compared to a lot of other larger resorts, the facilities in Casa del Mar are limited. Our room was ready by 1pm, and it was very clean, large compared to other resorts I have stayed at and a large flatscreen TV (very limited channels). The bathroom was large too with lots of storage area, separate bath and shower, nice amenities created by by the Casa Del Mar spa. Everything was very clean and neat, towels were changed everyday, beach towels provided daily, also provided turndown service which was unexpected for a boutique hotel. I requested for a seafacing room but there wasn't a twinshare room available but the poolview room was nice enough for us, and the windows are tinted for privacy. In terms of service, everyone was very nice at the resort and because of the small size a lot of staff got to know us during the 5 nights we stayed there. The only critism that I have is some of them are not very attentive, if I asked for something at breakfast I usually have to remind them a couple of times before coffee/juice would be brought to me. But generally everyone was lovely especially Kirri at the pool bar and Amal our wonderful wonderful boatman who took us island hopping, they were so friendly and kind to us during our stay. The great things about this resort is that you get a lot of things you might not get at larger resorts: free internet at the lobby, free books and DVDs at the library, free coffee from coffee machines in the afternoon, cold water, towels and watermelons were brought to us regularly at the pool. All of these are special touches which no other hotels i stayed at offered. We had treatments at the spa, the prices are reasonable compared to larger resorts and the girls were very friendly. Water activities such as parasailing and jetskiing are right on the beach in front of the resort so it was very convenient, and it was cheap!!! The guests who stayed at the resort were mainly older couples or groups, or couples in their 30s or late 20s, mainly from the UK and Europe. We were pretty much the only young people there (we are in our 20s). Prior to booking, I read a lot of reviews which recommended the resort based on the friendliness of the general manager Jason. I agree he was friendly but I personally felt that he was quite selective in who he spent time talking to or which guests he interacted with. At happy hours and other meet-and-greet events the resort held for its guests throughout the week, he did not once came and speak to my friend and I (apart from the occasionals "hellos" when he saw us walking by). Perhaps he thought it was not worth investing his time in young people like us. I took it quite personally (esp as he is also an Aussie) and thought that as a GM of a resort, he should treat each guest equally and try to make an effort with all of them, esp in a small boutique hotel like Casa. We are young but we enjoy travelling and we travel a lot, so i was not over excited by the different treatment we received from the GM. Overall, I enjoyed my stay. Langkawi is a very sleepy island compared to Phuket or Koh Samui in terms of night life and bars though, perhaps thats why it's not as popular amongst the young people. The local restaurants were quite disappointing, but we had amazing food at the resort, and also some awesome Korean and Russian food. I would recommend this resort to couples for honeymoon or romantic getaway, for a more vibrant nightlife i would recommend Thailand and especially the Amari Coral in Phuket.