After a truly luxurious stay on one of the incredible Estates at Pangkor Laut we were left wondering if this incredible experience could continue along the same vein. The Estates at Pangkor Laut had in our view set a benchmark for a luxury island vacation, so it was with excitement that we looked forward to the next few days in one of the world famous sea villas.
The private car arrived for our transfer to Pangkor Laut Resort, if you read our previous luxury travel feature on the Estates on Pangkor Laut, you’ll know that it is the perfect transport for traversing around the island. We were met at reception by Mariana Escamilla, a very attractive lady hailing from equally sunny climes of Mexico. After the usual warm greeting, we were off to the Sea Villa, which in our case was the ‘Suria Suite’. The sea villas at Pangkor Laut Resort have an iconic look and feel to them, standing proudly on their long stilted legs in the emerald green waters. Although all of the sea villas look beautiful, the Suria Suite surpasses them, being larger in size, slightly set away from the others and having a concrete entrance-way and multiple balconies.
At a rough estimate, the Suria Suite appears to be about 30% wider and taller than the other sea villas. As we approached the entrance along the long wooden slatted walkway we could hear the waves lapping against the legs and sandy shoreline. I peered over the side of the walkway into the clear water and saw large silvery shoals of small fish joined by a few long and thin needle fish approaching 3 feet in length and some yellow and black striped triangular shaped fish darting around. Mariana said, “Look out for the sea otters, they’re often seen around”. I thought to myself, what a great life those otters must have, they’re cute, always look so happy playing around, have masses of sea life to gorge upon and, best of all, they live in a true slice of paradise.
Mariana welcomed us into the Suria Suite which was exquisite, lashings of polished hardwood, stunning views and plenty of space. After confirming that everything was in order and all our initial questions answered, Mariana left us to explore the suite in more detail. Unlike other sea villas, the Suria suite has a separate living room with comfortable sofa, plush scatter cushions, a matching chaise longue, an LCD TV, with a separate satellite system ensuring that there would be no clashes when it came to choice of channels, mini bar, storage space and two sets of patio door, opening onto the spacious balconies. The high vaulted ceiling was clad in the same matching wood seen around the villa and it all came together to create a warm and luxurious area to relax in.
Adjacent to the living room through the reception area was the bedroom. This room had a large comfortable king size bed with a further day bed at its foot, double doors leading out to a private balcony with uninterrupted views towards the jetty and across the bay, desk area, satellite and TV system, ample storage space and plush furnishings. This was looking good, actually, this was looking fantastic, we had only just started and immediately knew that whether you choose to stay in The Estates at Pangkor Laut or within Pangkor Laut Resort, you’ll be assured of a true luxury vacation.
The bathroom within the Suria Suite was a class above many you’ve seen before with a very rare and almost unique feature. Upon entering, aside from the large mirrors and twin vanity basins, you’ll immediately notice a square wooden structure with polished wooden seats, on the top of this are four wooden-paneled glass windows with small knobs to open them. The delight comes when you open or peer down through the windows that you see the sea, not just the sea but fish, a lovely touch to a stunning suite. The bathroom also has a large marble bath where the windows open on three sides giving you feeling of bathing in the open air. The rain shower and WC are opposite with swinging doors reminiscent of a saloon bar in the Wild West, plenty of storage space surrounds you, it was one of the most impressive bathrooms I had come across in my many luxury travels.
There was really nothing that could be faulted in the Suria Suite, the views are amazing, the accommodation, spacious and luxurious, the fixtures and fittings perfect, perhaps the only confusing thing is deciding where to relax first!
With the unpacking done, I sat out on the smaller of the two balconies off the living room. As I relaxed I felt a huge amount of satisfaction, the sun shone brightly in the sky, and eagles circled overhead and the waves lapped about the legs of the villas in a melodic and mesmerizing tone only to be broken by the word ‘Photos’! My chance to relax within this paradise had been interrupted by what we had come here to do, take photos so that you could see what we were experiencing and do some filming to ‘whet your appetite’.
Downtime would have to wait as it was decided that, given the bright sunshine, incredible colour of the clear sea, and complete lack of breeze, exploration and work was in order. As we made our way from the Suria Suite back along the wooden walkways, and headed towards Fisherman’s Cove, Natasha spotted something on the rocks about 30 feet in front of us, we peered over and were astonished to see a monitor lizard. Not the type that you’d see in a pet shop a couple of feet long, but something longer than I was and I’m about 6 feet! Its rotund belly was huge, it looked like it didn’t have a care in the world, that’s what Pangkor Laut does to you, it’s like a magnet, pulling you in, making you forget all your worries and troubles replacing them with brand new fabulous memories to last a lifetime.
Although we’ve talked in depth about the Suria Suite, we should also give a bit of detail about some other types of accommodation on offer in the resort. There are five types of villa: the Spa, Sea, Beach, Hill and Garden, the names of the villas relate to their locations. The Spa and Sea Villas are detached properties on stilts in the water, while the others are two-storey properties providing the choice of a ground floor or first floor villa.
There is also a more exclusive selection of properties that are known as the Suites, the Suria you already know about, the Purnama Suite is similar in accommodation to the Suria with a slightly different layout and, perhaps the most iconic of the accommodation on the Pangkor Laut, the Pavarotti Suite.
Why is it called the Pavarotti Suite? It was named after the legendary tenor who fell in love with Pangkor Laut. It is an elegant two-storey suite (essentially a villa) set high on the hill within the rain forest. It has a spacious and luxurious lounge and dining areas, extensive balconies with breathtaking views of the sea and tropical rain forest, an enormous open-roofed bathroom, two separate luxury bedrooms with ample storage space and its own kitchen as well as a separate fully equipped TV room with plush furnishings.
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Photographs taken using a Sony Alpha SLT-A77VQ. Sony is an official partner of Luxurious Magazine®
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