Pelangi Beach Resort Hotel

1 reader found this review helpful

This hotel is absolutely stunning, just like the whole of the island. The local people are really friendly and make you feel so welcome.
We had a fantastic time here and really couldn't recommend it enough.
Eating out:
We found a fabulous place bang opposite the hotel, Cactus Garden, it looks a bit rough and ready from the outside but the food is superb if you like Chinese/Thai you will be impressed for certain.
The prices are so cheap! We had starters, main course with rice, Jacqui had 4 glasses of wine and I had about 6 beers all for 65 RM (about £10.00) a beer was 3 RM.
We ate at the Bon Ton restaurant one night. This is supposed to be one of the best eateries on the island and has had a write up in the Evening Standard.
It is located close to the airport about a 10 minute cab ride from the hotel. The food was good and the service excellent, we paid about 250-300 RM for a three course a la carte with wine including service charge.
Getting about:
We hired a car at the airport and paid 100 RM per day for a 10 day hire. For this we had a reasonably new Nissan Sentra 4 door saloon 2.0l auto with air con cd etc.
The UK equivalent would be an Omega I guess. We had some people to pick up and needed a larger car but if you want cheaper there are a few hire places within a short walk from the hotel whose prices started from about 50/60 RM per day.
Driving is straightforward as you drive on the LHS the same as the UK. The only thing I found a little off putting was the mopeds which will drive down both sides of the road next to the kerb as the mood takes them.
Also look out for water buffaloes which roam free in a lot of the rural areas! Also if driving at night look out for cyclists etc with no lights on. Roads are generally quiet and all parking that I used was free.
Taxis are plentiful and cheap; the hotel has a fleet of resident cabbies that have a pre-set list of prices on display at the hotel entrance. Hotel to airport was 16 RM.
Watch out if you are getting a cab late at night as they will try and charge extra just agree a price before you get in and haggle if reqd.
What to do:
A definite must do is a boat trip on the mangrove swamps which includes a close up of sea eagles feeding, a visit to a fish farm and some spectacular scenery. We went direct to the guys who hire out the boats and paid 250 RM for the boat with guide regardless of how many occupants for a 2 hour trip.
The boats will hold up to 10 people I guess. This is a lot cheaper than arranging it via the hotel or tour company.
I went to the Aquarium on Pentai Cenang which I found a bit expensive and not really impressive.
We went to the Oriental Village which is a purpose built shopping area built in a traditional style with ornamental lakes. Located in the village is the cable car which will transport you to the top of a mountain for some breathtaking views across the island.
Bird Paradise was interesting but I found it a bit sad to see wild bird’s caged, good value at 15 RM.
The Crocodile Farm was worth a visit and again was good value at 15 RM.
We visited Kuah town on several occasions to shop in the mall there which has a multitude of camera shops and clothing stores and the usual range of souvenir outlets, we looked around some of the shops near the mall but they all gave the impression of being a bit of a rip off.
My advice would be buy from a reputable shop and make sure that the goods have a worldwide warranty.
We visited the Snake Sanctuary and watched their show one morning, after the show one of the staff adopted us and gave us a personal guided tour around the sanctuary and took a python out of its cage/tank so we could handle it.
Very interesting and again 15 RM plus I tipped our guide 20 RM.
Seven Wells Waterfall is one of several spectacular waterfalls on the island and is close to the Oriental Village it is accessed via a steep flight of steps to a height of 220m from memory, well worth the toil!
All of the above and plenty more can easily be found on a map (we got ours free from the hotel) or a taxi will take you if you are not hiring a car.
General:
The people of Langkawi are really friendly and genuine. If you stop on the side of the road to take some pics or take in the view they will wave at you as they drive/ride past with great enthusiasm.
The weather when we were there (Feb) was lovely. Very humid as you would expect.
Take your mossie spray especially for any trips into the jungle areas.