Languid in Langkawi
January 25, 2o09
I would love to say that I did lots of exciting things with my 2 nights and 3 days on the beautiful Malaysian island of Langkawi; however, what I actually did mostly was rest. After almost 2 weeks of working through my nights and sightseeing with my days, I was spent! And since it seems the #1 thing to do here on Langkawi is relax, that’s exactly what I did. When in Rome, you know!
For my two nights on the island, I couldn’t decide between two equally beautiful Starwood properties on the island, the Westin and the Sheraton. So, in the end, I decided to try them both, my first night at the Westin Langkawi and the second at the Sheraton Resort Langkawi. Since they were on opposite sides of the island, I figured this would allow me to see more of Langkawi during my short stay.
Arrival into Langkawi is painless. Though the airport only has 4 gates, it is very modern and has all the shopping and amenities you would expect in a larger airport. I changed some money and headed to the taxi stand. The taxi process here is simple: fixed (and reasonable) rates, no meters, prepaid at the taxi desk. My 20-minute ride to the opposite side of the island to the Westin only ran me about $8 US. Not bad at all.
When I arrived at the Westin, the dreamy views from the lobby alone were enough to make you want to sit down with a cocktail and never explore any further. The suite they had upgraded me to was lovely but on too low a floor to have much of a view. So, I set out to explore the resort a little before ultimately crashing on a lounge chair at the “Boulder Pool” for the rest of the afternoon. Unfortunately, the Westin is located on the eastern side of the island so the sunset wasn’t much to speak of but I did have a great dinner at the hotel restaurant – I was very happy to have something other than Thai food! I do love Thai food, but 6 days of it was more than enough to hold me for a while.
Since it was Friday (and still a work day), I knew I would need to be up most of the night working so I was very happy when the hotel agreed to provide free internet access in my room. This was a big perk after spending the past two nights traipsing back and forth to the hotel lobby to answer e-mails.
The next morning I slept in a bit since I’d been up most of the night. I dragged myself to the pool again around 11am and lazed around for a few hours before deciding it was time to make the move over to the Sheraton and check out the western side of the island.
The Sheraton Langkawi Resort was built in 1991 in the middle of a still well-preserved animal sanctuary. The resort blends with its natural surroundings and animals can be spotted throughout the property. I didn’t know this until I was sitting in the lobby waiting on my room to be ready and a monkey walked right across the balcony about 20 feet from me. When I inquired at the front desk what type of monkey that might have been, I was given an entire brochure detailing the types of animals found on property and where they are most likely to be seen. Excellent! Finally, more animals for Chase! (Yes, Chase, I realize I have been slacking in the animal department – but, hey, the Thai elephants were cute, right?) According to the brochure, I was likely to spot everything from a Bengal monitor lizard to a flying lemur to the macaque monkey (check!).
When my room was finally ready, I was taken in a golf cart to my “villa” for the night. It was more like a small house and very well-appointed. I loved the villa; unfortunately, it was a single story building with another villa right in front of it so it basically had no view of anything. But it was definitely huge! On the golf cart ride, I saw a ton more macaque monkeys just hanging around like they owned the place. The wildlife around here does seem to be comfortable with the hotel staff and guests wandering about.
I would love to say that I did lots of exciting things with my 2 nights and 3 days on the beautiful Malaysian island of Langkawi; however, what I actually did mostly was rest. After almost 2 weeks of working through my nights and sightseeing with my days, I was spent! And since it seems the #1 thing to do here on Langkawi is relax, that’s exactly what I did. When in Rome, you know!
For my two nights on the island, I couldn’t decide between two equally beautiful Starwood properties on the island, the Westin and the Sheraton. So, in the end, I decided to try them both, my first night at the Westin Langkawi and the second at the Sheraton Resort Langkawi. Since they were on opposite sides of the island, I figured this would allow me to see more of Langkawi during my short stay.
Arrival into Langkawi is painless. Though the airport only has 4 gates, it is very modern and has all the shopping and amenities you would expect in a larger airport. I changed some money and headed to the taxi stand. The taxi process here is simple: fixed (and reasonable) rates, no meters, prepaid at the taxi desk. My 20-minute ride to the opposite side of the island to the Westin only ran me about $8 US. Not bad at all.
When I arrived at the Westin, the dreamy views from the lobby alone were enough to make you want to sit down with a cocktail and never explore any further. The suite they had upgraded me to was lovely but on too low a floor to have much of a view. So, I set out to explore the resort a little before ultimately crashing on a lounge chair at the “Boulder Pool” for the rest of the afternoon. Unfortunately, the Westin is located on the eastern side of the island so the sunset wasn’t much to speak of but I did have a great dinner at the hotel restaurant – I was very happy to have something other than Thai food! I do love Thai food, but 6 days of it was more than enough to hold me for a while.
Since it was Friday (and still a work day), I knew I would need to be up most of the night working so I was very happy when the hotel agreed to provide free internet access in my room. This was a big perk after spending the past two nights traipsing back and forth to the hotel lobby to answer e-mails.
The next morning I slept in a bit since I’d been up most of the night. I dragged myself to the pool again around 11am and lazed around for a few hours before deciding it was time to make the move over to the Sheraton and check out the western side of the island.
The Sheraton Langkawi Resort was built in 1991 in the middle of a still well-preserved animal sanctuary. The resort blends with its natural surroundings and animals can be spotted throughout the property. I didn’t know this until I was sitting in the lobby waiting on my room to be ready and a monkey walked right across the balcony about 20 feet from me. When I inquired at the front desk what type of monkey that might have been, I was given an entire brochure detailing the types of animals found on property and where they are most likely to be seen. Excellent! Finally, more animals for Chase! (Yes, Chase, I realize I have been slacking in the animal department – but, hey, the Thai elephants were cute, right?) According to the brochure, I was likely to spot everything from a Bengal monitor lizard to a flying lemur to the macaque monkey (check!).
When my room was finally ready, I was taken in a golf cart to my “villa” for the night. It was more like a small house and very well-appointed. I loved the villa; unfortunately, it was a single story building with another villa right in front of it so it basically had no view of anything. But it was definitely huge! On the golf cart ride, I saw a ton more macaque monkeys just hanging around like they owned the place. The wildlife around here does seem to be comfortable with the hotel staff and guests wandering about.
