Continuation of my stay in Langkawi. After the enchantment of the Andaman, a few days at the St Regis Langkawi.
The St Regis Langkawi is located at the southern tip of the island, that is to say almost exactly opposite the Andaman, closer to the city and the airport (15 minutes vs 40). In terms of surroundings and style, this is of course a complete change. No more traditional and isolated hotel in the middle of nature, here we are in somethings much more conventional, in the purest respect of the St Regis codes.
Arrival and check-in
The car drops me off at the entrance of the hotel where I am immediately taken care of. The check-in will take place in the lounge area of the lobby. I will be served a drink and the formalities will be quickly completed since I had made a “mobile check-in” on the application.
I take this opportunity to look at the places where the St Regis identity is totally present.
Quickly completed…well not so much. If it will take a few minutes to settle the administrative aspect, I will still wait a bit before being taken in charge to show me my room. Not much, but in this type of property it’s always weird to feel like you’re on standby between someone who’s done with you and someone who’s still not coming to take care of you.
My dedicated butler, a key element of the St Regis “signature” will finally come to take care of me after about ten minutes as it is traditional in the chain (unless, as in the St Regis Singapore, you are totally overlooked).
I will only be given a tour of the facilities (I’ll come back to that later) before being shown my room. For now, an outside view to whet your appetite.
The St Regis Suite at The St Regis Langkawi
As a result of the loyalty program, I was upgraded to the “St Regis Suite” instead of the standard room I booked. Not surprising: not only was it low season so there was plenty of room, but this type of property usually has at least as many or more suites than rooms.
The room opens onto a long living room with a view of the beach and the sea.
A well-stocked minibar.
The room is not huge but anyway in a suite most of the life happens in the living room so it does not matter.
It has a spacious and pleasant balcony.
Looking down we see the ground floor suites which are “pool suites” similar to the one I had at the Andaman, with direct access to the beach.
Large bathroom with bathtub and shower but its long layout wastes the space a little.
A nice closet and a lot of storage space allow you to store all your stuff without any problem.
A well-decorated room, with no lack of taste. As always at St Regis we find the same sober tones, with here a beautiful parquet floor and marble in the bathroom. As for the bedding, it is simply perfect.
But the layout of the rooms diminishes the feeling of space a bit and dims the light a bit, which is a bit of a shame.
A video visit to finish.
Great facilities
Without being complex the organization of the hotel is not obvious. Two buildings connected by the lobby that you have to cross to go from one to the other (unless you find a shortcut on the ground floor)…this requires a bit of adaptation and the first days you lose a bit of time unnecessarily to, for example, go to the gym. A little further on you will find the villas with private swimming pools and direct access to the sea…
The hotel has a beautiful beach located at the bottom of the main building.
It is beautiful, impeccably clean and the deckchairs are far enough apart from each other to make you feel calm in relative privacy.
The staff comes by regularly to offer cold drinks, ice cream and refreshments. You can of course order à la carte in addition to this minimal service offered and very pleasant given the heat that reigns.
We are far from the “wild and natural” side of the Andaman but it is calm, beautiful, restful. A short tour of the place in video to finish.
Such a property cannot be conceived without a beautiful swimming pool. The St Regis Langkawi’s one overlooks the beach.
It is of acceptable size considering the size of the beach and the fact that it is relatively uncrowded. I mainly saw children there.
The youngest have a dedicated pool.
The St Regis Langkawi has a gym of course. It is large and well equipped, nothing to complain about.
There is a spa but it turned out to be quite disappointing.
Nothing to say about the location or the quality of treatments. But no Jacuzzi, hammam etc. to be used beside it. Quality treatment but limited offer and experience.
Bars and restaurants at part-time!
I’ll start with a drink at the beach bar. The view is beautiful, the menu not bad and the staff very friendly.
It is good and well presented.
The perfect place for a drink at sunset.
Let’s move on to the St Regis Bar, the hotel’s premium bar.
We find without surprise the very rich style of the St Regis Bar. There is plenty of space.
A lot of very interesting creations. As usual at St Regis I will try the local variations of the Bloody Mary and a Dirty Martini with Vodka.
While I really liked the local adaptations of Bloody Mary, I found the “original” version to be far too liquid. A remark taken in a positive way by the barman who questioned me on each achievement: the property being very recent they were very sensitive to the feedbacks of the first customers.
In short, a very good experience.
Now let’s talk about food. The hotel has two restaurants: a “classic” one, the Orangerie and a more gastronomic “fusion” one, the Kayu Puti.
Let’s start with the Orangerie
The style is uncluttered, without asperity but without fault of taste either. At least we have room.
The cuisine is half local and half international, and there is something for everyone, from the Asian food lover to the burger fan to the pasta lover. Nothing special creatively, it’s simple, well executed and well presented. The typical example of a hotel restaurant that attracts an international clientele.
To really experience something exceptional you had to go to Kayu Puti, the hotel’s gourmet restaurant. Reservation required.
It is found at the end of a long pontoon that starts from the beach.
The design is…original.
The open kitchen is of the best effect.
For my first dinner at Kayu Puti I went for the tasting menu.
Excellent presentation, fine but tasteful dishes and efficient, friendly and not obsequious service.
The meal is sprinkled with originality like, for example, these breads served on hot stones.
Or these pastries with a “smoked” flavor obtained, precisely, by serving them in a box preserving this smoke.
A second meal will give me the opportunity to explore the menu even more with the same level of satisfaction in the plate as in the service.
For the record as I shared my dinner on Instagram…I was followed by the restaurant’s French Chef himself with whom I later had many warm exchanges. This also counts in the customer experience.
An impeccable food and beverage offer? Well, no.
I don’t know if it’s because the property is still new or because we were in low season but all the bars and restaurants were open one out of two days. So the St Regis bar was closed one day out of two, and I was forced to alternate between the Orangery and the Kayu Puti. Even worse, the St Regis Bar and Kayu Puti, the two premium properties of the St Regis Langkawi were never open on the same night, which breaks the experience a bit when you want to organize a premium evening.
Maybe a combination of circumstances, maybe a situation that hasn’t happened since, but something really frustrating if not worse in terms of customer experience.
Bottom line: The St Regis Langkawi is an excellent resort
I often notice a constant that saddens me: take the most premium hotel chain, decline it in a “resort” version and you end up with a degraded product unworthy of the original brand.
Well, the St Regis Langkawi did not make this mistake and staying there was a real pleasure. Absolutely no mistakes, a rare thing for a recent hotel that still needs time to settle everything.
Excellent but not perfect. We regret that the spa does not offer facilities to use on demand and, especially, the shifted opening days of bars and restaurants: no matter what the reason, it is unworthy of a hotel of this standing. I would hope that this practice is no longer going on today, but as I have been confronted with it, I can’t avoid the fact.
However, in a totally different style from the Andaman, the St Regis also offers a very high level of service in Langkawi.
Ratings:
Hotel (location etc…): beautiful beach, close to town and airport. 10
Check in/out: very efficient thanks to the mobile check-in and check-out on the application. One point lost for the wait at the check-in anyway. 10
Room: beautiful suite, well decorated in the sobriety. Excellent view. 10
Restaurant/Bar: no complaints except the lack of daily opening. I hesitated to divide the note by 2 for that… finally I put 8 instead of the 9,5 or 10 that it deserved.
Facilities (gym, pool, spa…): the lack of “on demand” facilities at the spa weighs down the bill. 8.
Service and attention: impeccable. 10
Loyalty program application: no issue. 10
Experience for money : around 200 euros per night…. It’s worth a 10.
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