Holiday Villa Beach Resort & Spa Langkawi

I was in Langkawi in year 2008 and posted my review for this hotel in Tripadvisor. I thought it's a good idea to share my review of this hotel in my blog. I booked this hotel via website and was rather skeptical when I read so many mixed reviews on this hotel. Nevertheless, I decided to go ahead with it. And the verdict?? Generally, this is a good hotel. I have to be fair when it comes to judging a hotel. One simply cannot compare an apple with an orange. I booked the Superior room which is the cheapest room possible, facing a garden view and on the ground floor. The workmanship of the flooring and tiles didn't deserve any star rating but what do you expect from a hotel which has been built for quite sometime. The pool was excellent because it was huge, the design was somewhat interesting( unlike the rectangular olympic pool), it has a jacuzzi, child pool, plenty of beach bench, pool bar, great beach and place for beach volleyball. Other amenities include 3 well maintained tennis courts and 2 ping pong tables. The bed was not so soft, aircon was cold and room comes with safebox and hair dryer. My room was not carpeted but I aint' too sure about other more expensive rooms. So, bring along your bedroom slippers for cleanliness and also to avoid stepping on cold flooring. Bathroom was huge and comes with a bathtub. All rooms comes with a balcony with 2 chairs. TV channels provided are quite ok and comes with remote control The only not so good thing about this hotel was the breakfast. Choices were limited.

I strongly recommend future Langkawi goers to stay in hotels located either in Pantai Tengah (where Holiday Villa is)or Pantai Cenang. There are plenty of cheap or expensive food outlets/stalls, souvenir shops, beach clothing shops and spa/massage parlour. Most of these shops are located in Pantai Cenang but if you stay in Pantai Tengah (where Holiday Villa is), it is just a stone throw's away. You can rent motorbike or a car and move around. These 2 Pantai (Beach) to me are the best simply because it has more activities, lively and extremely convenient. However if you are looking someplace which is extremely quiet, isolated, then perhaps The Datai and The Andaman is the right place for you. Both hotels are expensive and located in Datai Bay which is far far, very very far away from the Kuah Town or Pantai Cenang(where all the shops are). Just stay away from Datai Bay or Burau Bay is you want to be close to all the shops and activities. For me, location is as important as hotel standard. Oh yes.. Holiday Villa is very close to airport, about 15 mins ride.

For foreigners, liquor, cigarettes and chocolates are horribly cheap because they are truly duty free. Don't buy them in the airport !!! Buy them in Kuah Town where you will find numerous Duty Free Shops. So.. make sure you bring extra bags for fill your goodies.