Poor man’s Maldives - Pangkor Laut Resort

If visiting Maldives is on your bucket list but don’t want to spend close to $1000 per night for the overwater bungalow experience, welcome to poor man's Maldives - Pangkor Laut.

When we knew we were visiting Malaysia this year, I did some research for “top affordable overwater bungalows” and came upon the Pangkor Laut Resort on its own island near Lumut. We opted for the Sea Villa (cheaper of the two overwater bungalow options). With advance booking discount, the rate after tax was around $318/night. If you think about it, where can you get a 5-star hotel room in NYC with that price?

The island is about 3.5 hours drive from Kuala Lumpur and 3 hours from Penang where you will then board a 15-min speed boat to get to Pangkor Laut Island from the marina (RM80 per person each way, additional cost). The only downside is the jetty schedule, only 4 per day and it often departs earlier than the stated schedule (i.e. our 3pm jetty left at 2:45pm). Alternatively, you can charter your own private jetty or fly your helicopter there. 🚁

The entire experience started with arriving at the marina. We walked into the ferry terminal without knowing there was a separate building for the resort ferry. It was like being in the airport lounge while your friends waited at the gate, except, no priority pass needed for this treatment. We were pampered with a cold towel and a purple welcome drink..plus a very clean bathroom. We walked back to the ferry terminal and had a cheap delicious lunch there.

Pangkor Laut jetty to transport you to paradise

Upon arriving at the resort, we got another cold towel and the purple drink (as if you had a long journey even though the speed boat ride was short and breezy). A resort specialist briefed us through the details about our stay and handed over a pocket wifi given the lack of wifi signals by the water.

We booked the Sea Villa but was pleasantly surprised to find out that we were upgraded to the Spa villa given our request to have a quiet room. Our room was literally the last bungalow at the entire resort (wish granted 😘).

The resort is about 30 years old so the rooms were not super modern (no USB ports for charging). But it was well designed with windows everywhere so you can enjoy the view you paid for.

Our deck area - taken from inside the bungalow

From what I can see, the biggest difference between Spa villa and Sea villa is the adult only pool by the Spa Village where only guests at the Spa villa can utilize. You also get less foot traffic and other guests starring at you while you chill on your deck. While we truly enjoyed the peace and quiet that Spa Villa had to offer, it is rather far from everything and you do have to take the shuttle to the main area given that the stilt walkway connecting Spa villa and Sea villa is currently under repair

The resort offers many free activities such as yoga at 8:30am and tai chi at 9:30am. There is also a guided jungle trekking tour at 10:30am where your journey ends at the beach (Emerad Bay). Fitness center is 24 hours and there is also a tennis court if you can brave the heat. Water activities are not free and we did not have time to partake.

The resort has four restaurant options for dinner and three choices for lunch. Breakfast buffet was included in our room rate and selections included both Asian and Western choices. We ate at two different restaurants - Fisherman’s Cove and Fest Village during our stay and the meals were delicious. The prices were inline with what you would expect at a 5-star hotels. For example, we shared 1 appertizer and 2 entrees (no drinks) at the seafood restaurant (Fisherman’s Cove) and it was RM425 (~108 USD).

We did take advantage of the Happy Hour drinks special (BOGO) at the Royal Beach Club from 6:30-7:30pm. Cocktails were RM35-41, and with the special, you get 2 drinks for the price of 10 USD or less.

We also saw bunch of wildlife during our stay - Malaysia’s national bird snatching a spring roll off a guest’s plate, a family of monkies running on the beach, and a monitor lizard sunbathing!

The services here were top notch and nothing is ever too much for the staffs! Everyone was genuinely friendly and happy to help to make your stay even more pleasant!!

I was super impressed by the washrooms (aka restrooms) in the resort’s public areas - they were clean with ACs. They literally want you to 💩 in peace!

The only thing this resort does not offer is the ability to jump right into the sea below your bungalow. Although the water was clear with 🐠, it was not designed for you to jump right in given the rocks below it. But waking up to this view every morning worth every penny!

So for a 2-night stay at the Spa villa with RT jetty transport, 3 meals (2 dinners and 1 lunch), and 6 HH drinks; the total came out to be $533/person. If you book directly with the hotel, you will get a comp 50-min couple’s massage 💆 💆‍♂️. This was definitely the best beach/resort vacation we had and we cannot wait to return again!!

Tip: Book your stay with a Citi Prestige card and get a complimentary 4th night stay after paying for 3. We did not utilize this deal given we were pressed for time. 3-night is about the right amount of stay here but if you can get another night for free, why not?