It was the long Hari Raya holiday break and my parents, along with my sister Syahirah and her husband wanted to go on a nearby getaway. We were thinking of something similar so in the end, all of us decided to go to Langkawi for the long weekend.
Thurs, 5 May 2022
Our fight to Langkawi was at 12:20PM from KLIA2. There were some dramas checking in at KLIA2 as the queue was too long and people were confused. I was quite upset with the whole thing with AirAsia but later after arrival at Langkawi the ordeal was forgotten. Haha.
We landed at Langkawi airport around 1:25PM. The airport looks much nicer with modern amenities compared to my last visit. I went to pick up our rented car, a Toyota Rush, from Kasina Cars. It was a small SUV which fitted all our bags. The rent was US$281 for 4 days.
For lunch, my sister Sya made a booking at Kunang Kunang. It was a short drive from the airport. Kunang Kunang Resort (website) offers heritage type accommodation with traditional Malay houses being restored as hotel rooms (called villas).
It was absolutely fascinating and a total change from your typical hotel room. I would love to come back and stay here for at least 1 night to experience it.
We had lunch at the restaurant at Kunang Kunang which offers northern Malay food. While waiting for the food, we explored the area. The staff were kind enough to open up one of the villas. My mother was really intrigued by how the interior looks like.
After lunch, we decided to take the scenic route through Cenang on the way to The Westin.
My last visit to Langkawi was in 2018 and it seems improvements have been done. The Cenang area looks like it’s back to its pre-Covid days and business activities were thriving. The Malaysian border just recently re-opened and we could see foreign tourists too. At Cenang, I stopped by at Starbucks to get my coffee fix.
We arrived at Westin around 5:40PM. The hotel has a large compound which includes a recreation center (a separate building entirely), private villas and a private beach.
After checking in, we settled into our respective rooms. We booked the basic room for this stay. It wasn’t too big but comfortable enough for us.
After resting for a few minutes, we took the kids to the beach. They were really excited to see the sand and the sea. The beach area for Westin covers a wide area, all the way to St Regis (to be covered in a different post).
After playing at the beach, we headed to the kids pool. Westin has 2 dedicated sections at the pool for kids. It looks cool, but I thought it would have been better if they had those water-slides (similar to Shangri-La Langkawi and Hard Rock Hotel).
In the evening, we had dinner with my parents and my sister at Tide, a restaurant at the hotel facing the beach. The food was good and it feels nice to be by the beach.
Imran Jaafar 