My family and I love Langkawi and we have been there a couple of times, each time staying at another resort to have different experiences. This time, we decided to stay at The Datai as we’ve heard nothing but good things about the place.
The Datai is situated on the north-west coast of Langkawi at Datai Bay and sits on the edge of a 10 million-year-old rainforest. From the airport, it is a 40 minute drive to the hotel. The hotel is set over a massive area with the main building high up on the hillside and the beach club down below, so you have to get ferried around in buggies. No complains, because my kids absolutely loved the buggy rides!
The Canopy Room
The Datai offers a range of accommodation options differing in size, privacy and price. We stayed in a Canopy Room located in the main building and the room was super spacious. A king sized bed, a cot for the baby and two extra beds for my two older girls and there was still ample space to walk around. Not forgetting the luxurious bathroom equipped with dual vanities, a bath tub and a shower. The room also comes with a complimentary one time mini bar usage.
Donuts for breakfast
There is a diverse choice of dining experiences here. Breakfast is served at the Dining Room and is definitely a special event at the Datai and well worth making the effort for. It is a feast of everything from Nutella donuts to freshly squeezed juices to nasi lemak and freshly made rotis. The pastries at breakfast were seriously so good, I may or may not have had two donuts every morning on top of all the other food on offer. Besides the buffet option, there is a hot breakfast menu to order from as well, featuring fancier items such as lobster egg benedict and foie gras on toast with truffle scrambled egg (yes you read that right!). Everything was delicious and fresh.
The Gulai house, which is tucked deep in the rainforest and set in a kampung style house, serves Malay and Indian cuisine, with fresh seafood on offer every night. You can enjoy authentic Thai food at the Pavilion restauran,t which is perched on stilts amongst the treetops. The beach club offers a wide range of western food. Each restaurant also has a kids menu (kids below 4 eat for free!) with a good selection even for the pickiest eater. We dined in these restaurants throughout our stay there and we thoroughly enjoyed the food and ambience.
Fruit skewers at the pool
We’ve been to a few beaches in Langkawi and I can say that the beach at the Datai is one of the best. It is a long strip, so you have plenty of options to find a nice quiet spot to lounge. The sand is soft and white in most places, lots of tiny crabs scuttling along the beach, plenty of shaded areas for the kids to build sandcastles, and it definitely has one of the calmest waters around.
There are two pools – an adults only pool located in the main building and another family pool located by the beach. My girls would spend each day shuffling between the beach and the pool – never once getting bored. Service at the beach and pool is excellent with lots of extra touches. Once you arrive, the staff would set up your beds for you and bring a flask of cold water and beach towels. Throughout the day, little extras were provided such as fruit skewers and ice cream cones, much to the delight of my little ones.
Activities at the Datai
The Datai offers an abundance of activities to fill the day. Along with the beach, where you can join all types of water activities (kayak, paddle board, etc), there are also morning and evening nature walks. We spotted many dusky langur monkeys and flying squirrels, colourful butterflies at the butterfly walk and frogs and tadpoles at the lotus pond – not my cup of tea but the girls loved frog spotting!
There is a nature centre by the beach where you can find out about the nature activities. For the kids, there is a programme called ‘Ocean’s drifter’ where the marine biologist brings them to the beach to collect plankton and they bring it back to the lab where they get to view the samples under the microscope. My girls were absolutely fascinated.
There is also a spa at the hotel, but unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to check it out (*glares at my kids) but I can only imagine how amazing it will be, to get a massage amidst the lush rainforest. I will make sure to come back for this next time!
Final thoughts
The Datai’s jungle-beach setting and attention to detail sets it well apart from other resorts. The service is second to none and the rooms are so comfy. The only downside to this luxury is of course the cost – it doesn’t come cheap, but hey if you want to pamper yourself once in a while then the Datai is definitely the place to go. My family and I had such an amazing time, that my kids would not stop talking about it for weeks. Oh the Datai, we will be back! More info about the hotel here on their FB page.
Are you looking for more accommodation on Langkawi? Have a look here at our review for Pelangi Beach Resort & Spa, here for the Four Seasons resort and here for The Ritz-Carlton Langkawi.
