Lotus Desaru Beach Resort

Stayed 3D2N at Lotus Desaru Beach Resort with my family during the August National Day weekend. The resort itself is very family-friendly and my kids loved the pools, bubble activity, beach access, dance activities and toy shops. Unfortunately, our check-in and room experience was disappointing. Despite arriving around 4pm, staff could not locate my reservation. I later overheard that another guest had apparently been checked into my booking. It took almost 30 minutes to resolve, while we waited in the heat with our young children. Things got worse when we entered our room. The electricity kept tripping whenever we inserted the key card, leaving us without air-conditioning. Maintenance was called and, according to the manager’s own system, attended from 4:30pm–5:17pm. We spent nearly an hour in a hot room with our children after already having waited at check-in. When we raised this with manager Nurul Akma and requested compensation, we were offered a room change or late checkout. What disappointed us most was her initially defensive response, including saying maintenance took less than 30 minutes before her own records showed it was actually 47 minutes. I had also paid extra for a renovated room, and thankfully it was generally decent once the electrical issue was fixed. My sister stayed in a non-renovated room at the same time, and the difference was significant. Her room looked old and run-down, the toilet was not very clean, and it had an older TV with local channels, while renovated rooms have Smart TVs. I would recommend paying extra for a renovated room. Overall, the resort has great facilities for families and my kids genuinely had fun, but our experience was let down by the reservation mix-up, room electrical issue and poor handling of our complaint. Better room checks and service recovery would have made a huge difference.

Really a good family spot, dining, seafood, and beautiful memories

I have worked in hospitality for more than three decades, including senior leadership positions with international luxury hotel brands. I understand that isolated operational failures can occur, especially in tropical destinations. Unfortunately, this stay demonstrated something far more concerning than a housekeeping issue. At approximately 10:30 PM on my first night, I found a live cockroach in my bed. I have video evidence of the incident. Housekeeping attended, but I had to remind them to replace the bed linen and pillowcases. The real disappointment began afterwards. There was no apology from management. No courtesy call. No note. No follow up. When I spoke with the Front Office Manager the following evening, she was completely unaware that the incident had taken place. The Hotel Operations Manager later admitted there had been a communication failure. The proposed guest recovery consisted of food vouchers and a late departure. I declined because my issue was never about receiving complimentary food. I had lost most of a night’s sleep after finding a cockroach in my bed and inspecting the room for additional pests. When asked what I considered fair, I requested that the first night’s room charge be waived. The response was that this could not be done because I had booked through Booking.com. I then requested to meet either the Hotel Manager or the General Manager. Both declined. My room rate was MYR 354 per night. The hotel initially offered only a 20% reduction. After Booking.com contacted the property, that increased to MYR 117, approximately 30% of one night’s room rate. The cockroach was the incident. The complete failure of guest recovery, communication and leadership was the lasting impression.