As part of my road trip to my favorite Malaysian rest and relax destinations, Wifey and I chose Parkroyal Penang Resort for our stay in Penang. Parkroyal Penang is a 309 rooms 5 star beach resort located at the heart of a popular Penang tourist attraction area called Batu Ferrighi Beach. I have frequented this resort for a long time, in fact since I was a teenager when I was brought there by my parents. Of course, I have tried out other resorts in Batu Ferringhi but there is something special about this resort that kept me going back even until today.
First experience upon arrival...
Having stayed at Parkroyal Penang about 2 years ago, the resort looks exactly how I remembered it to be. Having said that, I noticed instantly that something has improved significantly upon checking in at the reception. It's the Customer Experience. The warm and friendly hotel staff provided us with a map of the resort and city centre as well as walked us through the facilities in the resort. The hotel concierge was very helpful and proactive who approached us to help out with our luggage without even being asked. Most importantly, almost every hotel staff that we met throughout our entire 3 nights stay there has never failed to wish us with a smile.
Grand Deluxe Ocean Room
The room definitely exceeded my expectations. Given the age of the resort, I was pleasantly surprised that the room condition was pretty well maintained. I especially like the lighthing used in the room which makes it cosy, warm and romantic.
Remember about customer experience I mentioned earlier? It is quite obvious that the resort put in much effort to deliver the best customer experience.
This one is the "wow" factor for me...Business magazine, chocolates, local biscuit and drinks
A pair of swan folded from towels. Towel origami is getting more and more popular these days :)
I think it is a brilliant idea to provide the Tambun Biscuit and Nutmeg Juice which are popular in Penang and not to be missed.
At the balcony.
Little things that count... To be honest I think the resort has done a good job to deliver the service quality that exceeds expectations. I was pleased to find out that they also provide ice dispenser machine on each floor and since they also provide thermos flask in the room, I can keep icy cold water all the time in the room which will be ready to drink anytime I want it. A pleasing relief from the hot and sunny environment in Penang. Tourists may be happy to find out that the resort also provides complimentary self service laundry at the basement instead of just charging exorbitant prices for laundry services.
Toiletries provided in the room...quite classy actually. It carries the brand of St. Gregory which is the name of the SPA in the Resort.
The layout of attached bathroom is satisfactory. It isn't that big so resort guests will not be able to enjoy the luxury of having a separate shower and bath tub area. Otherwise, it would have been an added advantage. Not much complaint actually... most importantly it is squeaky clean.
To the F&B Section...
This is probably the reason why I end up choosing this resort as my accommodation in Penang for many times. As far as I can remember, I have always enjoyed having buffet breakfast at this resort. The daily buffet breakfast at Tamarind Brasserie adopts open concept and offers great view of the garden and the sea. To be honest, this is something that I look forward to every morning. Recommend to have the breakfast earlier in morning to beat the crowd and enjoy the morning sea breeze. They also alternate some of the food items on daily basis. I enjoy the local noodles (changed on daily basis) the most which is delicious and the closest you can find to the ones you can get in the city centre. Frankly I find the noodles taste even better than some those served by nearby hawker stalls in Batu Ferengghi.
Tamarind Brasserie:
Great environment to start your day....
Wide variety of food including vegetable juicing station, kids corner and coffee machines.
Mee Jawa.
The resort can get a bit busy at times especially over weekends and holidays, so it is advisable to start your breakfast early :)
Cool Bananas: It is actually a poolside cafe which is also close to the garden leading up to the beach hence you do get a nice view from here too. However unlike poolside cafes in most resorts, I like the idea that this one is air conditioned and equipped with access to wi-fi. I spent some time here in the afternoon writing blogs and at the same time have a light lunch since I already had a hearty buffet breakfast earlier in the morning.
Freshly brewed coffee. Not sure what type of beans they use but the aroma was pretty strong and those caffeine addict like myself would love it.
For those who wish to sit outside the air conditioned cafe.
Javana Lounge
To wind down our day, Wifey and I decided to head to the Javana Lounge to chill out as well as to enjoy the live band that performs daily there. If you prefer live band that performs more to the tune of sentimental and oldies this is probably the place for you too. I like this place except that I felt the place is a little warm as there is no air conditioning. This of course depends on where you are seated. If you are sitting nearby a fan it should quite breezy and comfortable enough.
I was pretty addicted to the coffee....
Relax At St. Gregory Spa
No rest and relax trip is complete without a visit to the in house spa, St Gregory which operates not only in Parkroyal Penang but also in other hotels or resorts under the Pan Pacific Hotels Group. Wifey and I decided to book early for our treatment sessions ie on our very first day we arrived to make sure that we can have our treatments at a convenient time.
Entrance to St. Gregory Spa
Wifey waiting for her treatment session over a glass of ginger tea....
For the body treatment, we took a promotion package which include a 60 mins massage and a 30 minutes body scrub for only RM280 per person. It's pretty good value for a 5 star resort. I also decided to pamper myself further with the Thalgo Cold Marine Facial to provide some nourishment that my face desperately needs. As the name suggest, Thalgo is the name of the product used for the facial which is imported from France.
Couple Treatment Room
A Tub For 2 Person In The Couple Treatment Room
Surrounding Within The Resort
Simply put it, this resort is just beautiful. Big enough for me to enjoy my daily morning and evening walks. This is exactly what you would expect from a paradise, surrounded by greenery and great view of the ocean.
view from my room
You can have romantic dinner here @ Uncle Zack by the beach.
Love the garden layout and landscaping.
The Gym
A nice workout at a gym is definitely important to burn the extra calories gained. It is worthy to mention that the resort has a fully equipped gym from treadmills to weight machines.
It's Not Only For Couples
While this resort is definitely a suitable place for couples to spend a romantic time, it is also a great place for families with kids.
Parents can have a fun time with their kids in the family pool that comes with water slide. Kids will definitely love it. The resort has 2 pools ie a family pool and an adult pool.
Alternatively kids can spend some time at the Koko-Nut Kid's club where kids can enjoy a variety of games and activities.
There is even a kid's corner at the buffet breakfast.
To Sum It Up...
Wifey and I spent 3 nights here and honestly I was pretty satisfied and even impressed to a certain extent. It is a beautiful resort that offers good value for money. This is especially true for foreign tourist who will be able to enjoy this luxurious hotel at a better bargain given the depreciating local currency (Ringgit). To me, the wow factor for this resort is the emphasis on customer experience as mentioned earlier.
To me this is a touristy mid budget hotel to both locals and foreigners although I noticed that the presence of foreign tourist is higher in this resort as compared to others. It is the first onsen (hot spring) Resort in Noboribetsu hence the name Dai-Ichi which means number one in Japanese. Being the first established resort here also means that this is a very old resort which retains the traditional Ryokan design. We paid about 36,288 yen for a night which includes a buffet dinner and traditional Japanese breakfast.
The room is fairly spacious with pretty simple design. It is separated into two sections. Upon entering the room, we found ourselves at the dining area which is covered by tatami mats. The second section is the resting area equipped with a sofa set for 4 persons. Complimentary Japanese traditional jelly is placed on the dining table in place of welcome fruit basket usually provided by Western hotels. You can usually buy those jelly at supermarkets and are usually quite pricey. Yup of course it is delicious. So delicious that I ate it almost immediately and I forgot to take picture of it :).
Our room at Dai-Ichi Takimotokan
At the sofa area, we found two equipment for neck and shoulder massage respectively which reminded us that we are in Japan, a country famous for quirky inventions.
By now you should have noticed that there is no bed in the room. That is because housekeeping will only bring out our futon bed after we left the room for the buffet dinner.
The futon bed is just as comfortable as the normal conventional bed. I slept soundly throughout the night,
Dining Experience
Buffet dinner was at one of the resort's restaurant which looked somewhat like a canteen (understand that it had been renovated recently). Frankly, I went there with quite a low expectation and I even left my camera in the room as I figured out that probably there wouldn't be much things of interest. And....I was proven wrong. The food was actually quite delicious but the thing that is worthy to note here is the all you can eat crab legs (Red King Crab). It is super fresh, sweet and would have cost us a bomb if we had this in Malaysia. Anyway, I doubt that we can get crabs in Malaysia that is as fresh as what we had.
Source: Tripadvisor
Source: Tripadvisor
Breakfast was at another restaurant where we are required to first make a reservation for a time slot. We were given option of either Japanese or Western breakfast and of course we chose the former to enhance our experience in Japan. The dining area are set up in cubicles for additional privacy.
Rice served with grilled salmon, japanese omelette, condiments comprising of various types of pickles and a bowl of soup made from soybean.
The bowl of soup tasted like soybean milk except that there is no preservatives and sugar added.
Onsen (Hot Spring) Experience
After spending much time reading about the dos and don’ts when going to a Japanese onsen, Wifey and I finally were going to our first onsen experience at Dai-ichi Takimotokan. The first thing one need to know and overcome before heading to the onsen is that the only thing you are allowed to wear is your “birthday suit”. As a first timer, we decided to go later at night around 11pm so that there will be lesser a crowd and therefore allowing us a slow start to blend in lol.. This particular one that we went opens 24 hours so there was no rush. Sorry no pictures since no camera is allowed inside the onsen.
Picture from resort's website.
There are also procedures to follow (click on link for recommended site for a quick reference) if you do not want embarrass yourself in front of the locals. Fortunately most onsens adopt similar procedures so once you get a hang of it, you can go for a Onsen escapade in Hokkaido without any further issues. One thing to note is that sometimes the resorts in Hokkaido alternate / swap the onsen between male and female to allow both genders to enjoy the different scenic views in the resort. So make sure you check the signage at the entrance carefully before entering. Imagine, if you are a man and you just walked into a changing room full of naked ladies...oh my....total disaster.
Anyway, Dai-Ichi Takimotokan's onsen offers 7 types of different pools which consist of different properties and minerals which carry different health benefits from healing your skin to improving
your blood circulation and blood pressure. One of the pool is located outdoor. For a "gaijin" (meaning foreigner in Japanese) like myself who probably won't be able to do this over a long term to extract that kind of benefits, I just tried out the pools randomly and relax. After soaking myself in the pools, I especially like the refreshing feeling of taking a cold shower at the area just nearby the pool. The complimentary premium shampoo and shower gel with fantastic aroma enhance that experience as well.
Shower area looking something like this. You are supposed to take your shower seated at the stool provided. For a little privacy... try to find hidden corners :)
To sum it up... Good and comfortable resort with fantastic location just nearby hell valley and near shopping street. Good value for money.
Food is fantastic. Triple stars for the buffet crab.
This resort has been around in Malaysia for quite a number of years. Probably as far back as 2010 and was once recognized as one of the best resort not only in Port Dickson but in Malaysia. This resort is not to be mistaken as another resort of similar name, Avillion Admiral Cove Port Dickson which is located nearby and is managed by the same company. Avillion is also Malaysia's very first water chalet resort. Today it is rated as the Top 3 / 4 resort in Port Dickson by Tripadvisor due to increasing competition from newer water chalet resorts like Grand Lexis and the recently opened The Hibiscus.
Avillion PD
Over the years, the resort may look a bit tired and in need of more refurbishment works but I will have to say it still retained its own charm which its competitors may be lack of. I have been to Grand Lexis twice but I still think Avillion is still my preferred choice very much due to its all natural village like environment which just feels more authentic than the other competitors.
I brought my family to Avillion over a long weekend holiday in May 2015. I booked 2 premium water chalets which comes with free daily buffet breakfast as well as complimentary access to Avi Lounge for afternoon tea and evening cocktail. Each room cost me about RM900++/night but I think its still a good value if you spent enough time in the resort.
If you review the comments in Tripadvisor, you may find a couple of complaints on their car park, customer service at lobby, long que during breakfast and etc. Unfortunately, it is all true especially during peak periods but if you plan your time well enough, you can still have wonderful time just like I did. Watch a video of my trip below.
The Lobby
Source: Expatadventure
In the past, many have complained about the lack of service attendants to assist with the luggage and I kind of agree with that as well. Nevertheless, it is fortunate that things has improved now. Check in time is 3pm and during peak season do expect the que to check in is usually long and sometimes your room may not be ready yet. To avoid this problem, my family and I checked in slightly after 3pm to avoid the que and since the room is not ready yet, we headed straight for afternoon tea at the Avi Lounge.
Avi Lounge
This place is really a nice place to hang out with family, friends or loved ones to basically chill out and chit chat. If you are alone, well its still a good place to spent your time reading a book or something. Avi Louge is located in some sort of a glass house which offers a fantastic panoramic view of the ocean or to be more exact ....The Straits of Melaka. The Avi Spa is also located in the same building.
If you are staying in the premium water chalets, your access to Avi Lounge is complimentary for afternoon tea and evening cocktail. It is not a big place so I advise people to be there early or you may be disappointed if you can't find yourself a seat. A mini buffet spread of sandwiches, tarts and cakes will be served during each session. You will have a choice of coffee, tea, variety of juices and soft drinks for the afternoon tea. Alcoholic beverages and cocktails are added to the menu during evening cocktails. I usually go for only 1 session each day as the gap between afternoon tea and evening cocktail is not really that far apart. I prefer to go for the afternoon tea as it is just right time to catch a snack since I usually skip lunch after a heavy buffet breakfast. The food and drinks quality is not bad though I have to say the overall ambiance is the main attraction here.
The Premium Water Chalets
To me, its really a wonderful experience. So wonderful that I actually visited this place twice in a year. First was with Wifey and for the second time, I brought along my mum and dad as well. On both occasions, my objective was the same which is to find a place that allow me to have a break from my hectic city life and have some alone time with my loved ones. Most city folks feel that there is nothing much to do in Port Dickson but that is exactly the point!! You are not supposed to do anything in PD except to chill, relax and unwind.
View From Our Balcony. Sometimes you can see people fishing right from their own balcony
So whats so wonderful about Avillion? The answer is the Premium Water Chalets which are the chalets that are located furthest out to the sea and comes with an unobstructed sea view. I always enjoy watching the change from low tide to high tide as I listen to the the waves lapping beneath our chalet.
The chalets may not be as big or luxurious looking as the ones in Grand Lexis but it is comfortable enough. The chalet is fully equipped with a king sized poster bed and a pangkin bed which is located right beside the window. During the day, I really enjoy myself doing some reading at the backdrop of a wonderful seaview outside the window. At night, sometimes I just doze off on the pangkin bed while watching and listening to the ocean waves. Fantastic...wish that my daily life is like that :).
I did have some issues with the air conditioning which was not cold enough especially during the day. Nevertheless, it did not bother me too much. As for the free wifi system, it was a total let down as it barely works most of the time.
Evening view from our balcony.
Wifey reading on pangkin bed...
The bathroom on the other hand is quite big and luxuriously equipped with an open air shower, a bathtub and separate basins. The toiletries provided unfortunately were unable to deliver the premium feel which I am usually accustomed to when I am at other higher end holiday resorts.
The usual toiletries provided @ Avillion
The packaging looks too plain for a RM900+ room...
Petting Zoo
Located not far away from the main building is the petting zoo. It is one of the main attraction of the resort. There, you will find different breed of animals from cute bunnies to colourful peacocks living together harmoniously. Each morning around 10am, its feeding time at the petting zoo and guests are allowed to go into the usually confined area to feed the animals. Every time my family and I past by the petting zoo, we never failed to spent a couple of minutes observing what the animals are up to.
The Beach
I will really recommend a stroll on the beach during low tide which is usually early in the morning or late afternoon. I go there not only to catch some sea breeze and have some exercise, I also find it interesting to observe the abundance of little snails and crabs in their natural habitat. You can easily spot them along the beach during low tide. I was wondering where are the adult ones.. then can catch them and have them for dinner..lol.
The resort used to have two private beaches but one has been cordoned off to the public. Still, I find the fact that the resort has its own private beach is an added advantage. To be honest, I do like the water chalets offered by Grand Lexis but they do not have a private beach and I felt that this is a real downside.
That's me in the middle.
Little crabs and snails found along the beach.
Restaurant / Food Review
On our first night, we decided to have dinner at Crow's Nest located in the resort. It was pretty quiet on that day with only two tables filled with patrons. My family ordered local food (fried noodles), steak and lamb rack. I can only remember that the meal was quite pricy and I can agree that there are better options outside the hotel. Nevertheless, if you want to spent more time in the resort or if you want a more exclusive, comfortable and quiet place to have your dinner then this place is a pretty good option. Overall, food quality was just satisfactory and I felt that much can be improved. The teh tarik (which comes with chocholate chip cookies) was pretty good though.
Interior of Crow's Nest
Steak
Lamb rack
Teh Tarik & cookies
Buffet breakfast is usually served at Village Court which is located just beside the swimming pool. Breakfast is usually only included for the package for Premium Water Chalets. So if you have booked the normal water chalets, breakfast is usually not included and you will have to pay for it separately. Again, the buffet spread was just okay similar to those you normally find in a 4 star hotel. In terms of food quality, Grand Lexis wins with a better buffet spread. Although buffet breakfast is normally not included in the price for the normal chalets, the restaurant can get pretty packed during peak season. So if you want to dine comfortably and skip the que you may want to start your breakfast before 8am in the morning.
Facilities
The resort has two swimming pools. I liked the idea of having an adult only pool so that one can enjoy a peaceful session without the need to tolerate noisy kids.
Adult only Cochin Pool
Village Pool which is open for all hotel guests.
There is also a gym which was pretty small and equipped with basic equipment only. I recalled the treadmill was pretty old but was usable. As an added advantage, the resort also provides steam bath and sauna facilities.
Ratings
Overall, I feel that this resort is excellent especially for those who is looking for a relaxing break from the hectic city life. Like most holiday destination, you will tend to get more value if avoid peak period like school holidays or long weekends. Signing off with more pictures of the resort below.
