When I visited Langkawi Island in early of 2008,  I had a tough time in choosing a hotels to stay because that was the first time I went there. The varieties of hotels which ranges from the cheapest non-rated motels to the grandest 5 star hotels are giving me a headache. I probably couldn’t afford the expensive one nor do I want to stay at a cheap motel. I was looking somewhere in between which gives the best price and yet offer some luxurious features. Therefore,  I decided to ask some advice from this friend of mine who always brag about how frequent he had been to this little tropical island.

Anyway, he recommended a few hotels to me. So after some thinking, I decided that this hotel Awana Porto Malai was my liking. The reason I chose this hotel was not all about prices, part of it was due to my previous experience with Awana resorts at Genting as well as its convenience in reserving a room online.

The main entrance of Awana Porto Malai Langkawi Resort.

As soon as I had picked Awana Porto Malai, I quickly went to the net to do online reservation at Awana website. The good thing about doing reservation online was the company gave a 10% discount. I am not sure if this discount for reserving a room online is still available now.

The room I booked was Garden View (the most economical among all). As far as I remember, the rate at that time was only slightly above RM100. The rate now is probably higher. You can go to the website to check on the room type and also their respective rates.

The most economical means no sea view for this room even thou this resort is right at the sea shore. The room itself is facing the resort swimming pool but the view isn’t so bad because I like to see people playing around in the pool. A plus point is that the view beyond the swimming pool is all green view since there is a hill further up.

The next slightly expensive room is the Sea View room which is about RM50 more expensive than the Garden View room. Due to some unexpected issue with the hotel which I don’t want to mention, I got an upgrade of my Garden View room to a Sea View room for FREE. Besides, I managed to get a free dinner!

As the name implies, the Sea View room has a beautiful 180 degree unobstructed sea view where you could see some small islands and the Peninsular main land right from the balcony. I think the rate is quite a bargain considering the room is bigger and and the sea view is breathtaking. The particular thing I like about this room is I was able to catch sun rise without having to go anywhere.

This picture was taken at dawn. The cloud looks amazingly red when the sun is at the horizon.

Apart from its beautiful sea view, the resort consists of some interesting features such as there is a light house which is painted all white and there is also a wooden deck right behind the resort where you could take a stroll. The deck stretches as long as the resort which probably measures up to a kilometer long.

A light house at the Awana Porto Malai Langkawi resort. I am not sure if you
could go up the light house. Perhaps, anyone who had tried that can let me know. Also there is a
wooden deck stretches as far as the building of the resort goes.

After having a night of sound sleep, I was treating myself to a memorable breakfast the next morning which is included in the room package. The resort’s cafeteria was located at the ground floor where part of its view is facing the sea. You can actually choose to sit at the deck to have your breakfast or inside the cafeteria where there is air-conditioned. To me, I was at the deck enjoying my cup of cappuccino and the morning sun was about right to warm me up after waking up to the chilly morning.  I was really appreciating the time I spent there when everything at that moment was perfect with birds chirping, the warming sun light, the cooling sea breeze as well as the scenery. I was spacing out and felt like time stopped at that moment. I thought of nothing and my mind was blank. It was the perfect moment to enjoy my life!

Do give this resort a thought whenever you are visiting Langkawi island!

For more pictures of Awana Porto Malai Langkawi, please visit the following flickr photostream.

Location, Map and Driving Direction to Awana Porto Malai Langkawi Resort:

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