Pangkor Laut Resort

Amazing 5 days in this wonderful resort but make sure it’s the right place for you. Staff – Malaysian hospitality at its best. From the moment you step off the boat they go out of their way to be friendly and super helpful. Special mention to Michael in the main pool bar, Sunhil who seemed to work everywhere, and Devi in the Market Restaurant who always greeted us with a massive smile, they couldn’t do enough for us. Clean – high standards throughout the resort including rooms, bathrooms, gardens, and toilets. Rooms – lovely facilities and layout. We had a Sea Villa and only downside was no shower cubical, just a bath with rain fall shower above so not great if you don’t want to get you hair wet. Also not easy to get in and out of the bath if you have restricted movement. Gym – very well equipped Pool toilets (main pool) – spotless and the best air conditioning in the resort!! Spa – wow! Probably the best we have visited with lots of choice for treatments. Food – excellent quality and portions but not massive choice at breakfast. There is the main restaurant that does a Malaysian buffet twice a week (amazing) and then set menu rest of the time (not a buffet), a Chinese that was wonderful and a fish restaurant if you like fish – we don’t so felt if we had gone for more than 5 nights we would have struggled. The entire resort (other than your rooms) is open air so no air conditioning! If you go when humidity is high take light clothing! It was very humid when we were there and not great when you are trying to eat with only a fan shared with other tables to keep you cool and you have to keep going to the toilet to cool down! Didn’t bother us but the only thing on the island is the resort ….. no shops, no external restaurants, and nothing for kids! You can go on guided walks through the jungle in middle of the island to the far side but at 32 degrees and 95% humidity we opted for a day by the pool! The resort offers lots of different rooms but it is very spread out along the beach. There is a shuttle bus service and that helps, but still a bit of walking to be done when you get off especially if you are in the sea or spa villas as they are on legs in middle of the sea! Overall, wonderful with the standout feature being the amazing staff.

Pankor Laut is a nature lover’s paradise. Stunning views no matter where u are. Lots of Hornbills to be seen, one visited us every day on our balcony. I had a wonderful trip there with my sister. Our room was fabulous We swam and had our lunch everyday at Emerald Bay, where the view is spectacular. We went for the residents package which included breakfast lunch and dinner. Breakfast is amazing. An endless choice of dishes. It doesn’t include alcohol but we enjoyed cocktails at happy hour each evening. The staff couldn’t be more helpful. We did the short jungle trek with a wonderful guide who made it soo interesting. I couldn’t recommend it more. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Wpnderful experirnce over 4 nights. A special word for T. Mages one of the restaurant managers who was so attentive to our needs and to all the staff at the various eateries who were always happy to help Only down side was the hill villa which was showing its age. Thank you to staff who upon hearing our concerns moved us to a sea villa. Sanjay

Just checked out after a 3D2N stay at the Sea Villa in Pangkor Laut Resort, and it was truly such a memorable escape. Waking up to uninterrupted sea views with the sound of waves right beneath the villa is something really special. The villa itself was spacious, private, and incredibly relaxing, perfect for switching off and just soaking in the surroundings. The entire island feels lush, serene, and beautifully preserved. Service throughout our stay was warm, attentive, and seamless. Getting around was easy with the buggy service, and everything felt well taken care of. One of the highlights was the nature walk, the guide was so knowledgeable and engaging, sharing so much about the island’s ecosystem, wildlife, and history. It added a whole new layer of appreciation to the stay and made the experience even more meaningful. There were a couple of very minor hiccups (like the fridge not being quite cold), but honestly, it didn’t take away from the overall experience. All in all, a beautiful, peaceful getaway that feels worlds away from the everyday. Would absolutely return for the tranquility, the views, and the overall experience.

A) Terrible communication system & lack of customer-centric mindset: I made my reservation in March 2025, which is about a year before my trip. At that time, their official website had a pop-up chat box that enabled instant conversations with the resort. Through the chat box, they provided me with their boat schedule between Lumut and the resort. The schedule was also listed on their website, and stipulated that guests are to arrive at the jetty 20 minutes before the boat’s departure time. Early February this year, about a week before my travel date, I booked my car transportation from Kuala Lumpur to Lumut Marina Bay Jetty. My mindful driver suggested that I check the boat timing again with the resort to avoid unexpected surprises. It was then I found there was no more pop-up chat box on their website, and most importantly, the boat frequency had been cut down versus the time I made my reservation. Shouldn’t they inform the guests who made reservations at the earlier dates that the boat schedule has been changed? My plan was to take the 2nd last boat to the resort and due to the resort’s cutting down of boat trips, my planned ride became the last ride; not something I would knowingly plan for, missing that and I would have been stranded. I tried to reconfirm the boat timings via Messenger of the resort’s Facebook page, and received a canned response consisting of “We try to be as responsive as possible. We'll get back to you soon.” Disappointing the “soon” was actually never. One day later without receiving any reply, I told my sister who lives in Malaysia. She called the resort and booked the 2 p.m. boat for me with an employee. Yet the day before my check-in day, I received a WhatsApp message from their boat arrangement office at Lumut, enquiring about my preferred boat time. What happened with their internal communication system?? The most absurd incident happened upon my arrival on the island. Mr. Lin, who works at the reception desk, gave us an orientation about the resort. After that, he said our villa would not be ready until 3 p.m. and asked if we wanted to leave our personal belongings at their reception area, so that we could walk around more easily while waiting. We did something we shouldn’t have: we left with him a Mandarin Oriental Hotel Cake House bag which contained my husband’s birthday cake and some other pastries prepared by MO Hotel. We carried all the way from Kuala Lumpur to the island, thinking of celebrating in the villa that evening. At 3 p.m., when we were led to our villa by an employee and a bell boy who took our luggage, my MO bag was not there. The bell boy said he would go pick it up and come back. After an hour of waiting, no one showed up, nor was any message given. We went to the reception area, but they couldn’t locate my bag. We asked Mr. Lin directly after waiting patiently for him to finish his orientation for new arrivals. He spent some time searching, asking around with the handphone intercom system. Without any result, he told me he would have it sent to my villa after they found it, but I insisted that I waited there. I don’t remember now for how long of further waiting, another worker showed up with my MO bag, but it was EMPTY! He explained my MO bag was mixed up with the suitcases that were bound to leave the island. He brought the bag to the jetty, asking guests on the boat if it was their belongings. Those guests on the boat couldn’t speak English, they only shook their heads and hands, saying “No, no, no”, so this worker “interpreted” it as “I don’t want it anymore”. He placed the bag at the jetty area, then later he saw ants inside the bag, he threw all the pastries away!! I was so shocked and furious. Our villa number was already given at the Lumut office before getting onto the boat. A villa number tag tied to my MO bag would have avoided what had happened, and in the hotel industry, isn’t it the basic step for employees who once received guests’ belongings to be stored? The first staff negligently misplaced my bag, and the 2nd staff made assumptions by himself. I asked for the manager, and a young man showed up. After hearing my cmplaint, and despite my stressing that those pastries were hand-carried all the way from Kuala Lumpur Mandarin Oriental Hotel to the resort, he said what he could do is offering me another cake prepared by the resort. I was speechless and gave no reply. I told myself to let it go, in order not to ruin my holiday mood. That evening there was a cake left in the villa without any apologetic message. Earlier that day, I told my sister about the incident, she considered it ridiculous, coming from a hotel which calls itself Small Luxury Hotel. She took the liberty of sending a complaint email to the only official email address she could find on the YTL resort website. There was no response to her email. However, 2 days after leaving the resort, I received a WhatsApp message from the young manager, saying “I met you during the incident where we have agreed on the replacement of the cake placed inside your room. I hope everything was fine.” This incident exposes the lack of customer-centric culture across the organization. The manager must have thought simply replacing a cake was the best solution, without considering the guest’s sentimental aspect to the thrown-away cake, and this culture is also reflected by the central office pushing back the matter to the resort to deal with. Other examples of poor intra-communication: 1) I booked my SPA treatment in person at the concierge, and I certainly heard the booking for 1 p.m. slot when the concierge lady talked to the SPA center over the phone. However, upon my arrival at the SPA center, the receptionist said I booked a 2 pm slot; 2) Two days before departure, I asked about the check-out procedure. For the 10:30 a.m. boat leaving the island, I was told to have my luggage ready for pick up at 9:30 a.m., and check-out will be 10:00 a.m. But on the check-out day, no one turned up to collect luggage. Upon calling front desk at 9:45 a.m., a bell-boy finally arrived at 9:58 a.m. B) Signs of cost-cutting: There are signs of poor maintenance in the room, e.g. molded widow panes, water dripping from the ceiling. In addition, we could see fish swimming in the sea together with the garbage (plastic bag, straws, clothes hanger…) below the wooden walkway. I know the garbage could be floating to the resort area with the tide. But to provide guests with a good staying experience and to help the environment, is it too much to ask or too costly to get workers to scoop up the garbage from time to time? Fisherman Cove Restaurant is recommended: The only place that lives up to a luxury resort standard is the Fisherman Cove Restaurant. Food and service are both thumbs up. This resort is under SLH (Small Luxury Hotel) group. I wonder if SLH ever offers any training to the staff of the hotels/resorts collected under its name. I would not trust SHL brand anymore after this experience.