Lake Kenyir Resort And Spa

Huge resort with almost no guests and sleeping reception stuff. After a five hours drive from Belum we just wanted to jump into the pool but only found a dirty, greenish something that already hosted many tadpoles. Handing us towels assuming we would enter this water - I felt really offended. This experience is topped when it comes to food. Malaysia the food heaven is not at all to find here. We are really not picky and eat a lot but this was not food that they have served. The outside chairs were already rotten und no one seemed to bother about the dirt. The only positive to mention is the fantastic nature that surrounded us and the chalets balcony that gives you direct view to the Lake Kenyir. We have heard that the state has bought this place partly and since that time the quality and service has declined disastrously. One year ago my friend also went here and was experiencing great food and a clean place. He also used the pool back than. What a shame and waste - such as great place actually.

1) Arriving: Me and my boyfriend arrived a bit before the official check in time. The man from the reception said the room would not be ready, we should wait two hours in the entrance hall. And then he left... No one there anymore! No offer what we could do! Just an empty entrance hall and two hours of waiting... 2) Booking a tour Part I: As we had two hours time until we could check in, we wanted to check out the different tours. On the door was a sign "Pls contact the reception". But we just got from the reception and they send us to the sports room?! And the sports room sends us to the reception?! Doesn't make sense to me... After a while someone came by! Yes, we can book a tour for the afternoon but only if we pay for more guests! Why should we do that?! All your tours got very expensive this way for the both of us but sure, we could understand the situation that there are no other guests at the resort who have done a booking. We said we would think about it! 3) Waiting...and the swimming pool: As we had to wait for two hours I thought me and my boyfriend could jump in the pool already! NO! Almost no water left, just some dirty rain water, plenty of bugs and leaves in there! Outside a sign "not for use!" Honestly, even for decoration it is not nice to see it! So, we were disappointed that the big pool area, which was also part of the room charge, was not for use! 4) Check In: I realized that the guy from the tour booking just said that the resort is almost empty. No guests! But why is the room not ready?! We went back to the reception to ask for it. And surprise: all of the sudden there were other rooms which are ready... Here I would like to mention that it's ok to wait as we were there before the official check in time. But maybe you can make a note here if you would like to offer a friendly customer service to your guests: why not offering the guests a welcome drink when they have to wait for two hours? Why not offering them a different room when there's almost no guests?! Offering guests something is in general always better than ignoring the guests. 5) Booking a tour Part II: Finally we made it to the room! At 2pm! Me and my boyfriend talked about the several tour options. And we made a decision, called the reception and they said that they will check and give us a call back! After 45 min (!!!) we called the reception again! Unfortunately no one managed to call us back... Yes, we can book a tour but have to pay in total for 6 person! You can imagine that the price is extremely high! We discussed the price again and could find a solution quickly! That was good for a change! But still, we paid 300RM which is absolutely the most expensive tour which we have paid so far! To be sure, we asked clearly if the weather will be ok for a 4hour tour?! "Yes, no rain today! Don't worry!" So we walked back to the reception! Pick up time was actually 3pm, pls remember that we first called the reception at 2pm! Enough time to organize everything! No! The Lake Kenyir Resort didn't manage to arrange anything! 6) The tour: We should wait "for a bit"... At 3.30pm finally drive to the jetty! But no boat there! Again waiting... It was 4pm when we finally got on a boat! Once again, pls remember that we called at 2pm... But now it was time for an expensive boat tour for 4 hours! Here we go... Guess what?! After 10 min it started raining! First not too much, it was ok to continue. So we went to a waterfall which was very pretty! But it surprised us that these big and famous waterfalls were so dirty. Trash everywhere! But that has nothing to do with your resort. Next stop should have been a Herbal Island. Ok, let's go... But no! It started raining so much! The rain was heavy, loud and flooded the whole boat! Towels, backpack and all cloth were wet within a minute. Plus cold wind around, made me very sick and now I have a bad cold, just by the way!!! We couldn't continue and had to slowly drive back to the jetty. Totally wet and freezing! How can someone send us on a boat tour with such heavy rain? Thunderstorms were out there and i don't need to tell you that it's extremely dangerous on a boat! It was kind of playing with our lives! Just for a little bit of money?! So we were back at the resort at 6pm! Two hours before arrival! Summary: we were gone half of the time and have seen only half of the tour. Easy thinking that we only want to pay half of the price. Almost 45 minutes we had to wait - with wet hairs and wet cloth on - in the cold entrance hall until someone helped us regarding our complain and the discount. 7) General situation: Back in the room, we actually used the first equipments. TV not working! Toilet flush running all the time! Furniture extremely old, used and dirty. 8) Dinnner and Breakfast: 8.30am, we arrive at the breakfast. We were really looking forward to it. Dinner was not that good but ok! Only prices were the highest I have seen on our Malaysia tour so far... 12 RM for a fresh juice?! Not even on Perhentian Kecil it was so expensive! But now it was time for a breakfast. But what else do you offer than fried noodles, baked beans and sausages?! Nothing! Bread and/or toast was gone! At 8.30am! Gone?! When do you want me to get up on my vacation to get some toast?! That was not only disappointing, it was also extremely unprofessional! 9) Check Out: Usually checking out is easy. You drop the key, say good bye and leave. But not at the Lake Kenyir Resort. Do you know that as the general manager?! As the credit card machine is broken, someone has to call a bank first and do a recheck on us. But yes, we have to wait! And wait and wait and wait... At the end I mentioned all troubles which I just explained and I honestly said that a discount on the total room charge would be fair, friendly to offer and showing a good will. Answer: "Sorry, we charged the credit card already". Yes, that's ok but don't you have money in cash. As my boyfriend told the receptionist correctly "money is money, doesn't matter if on a bank or in cash" 10) Summary: you might have the impressionen of that me and my boyfriend we criticize everything. In general it's not like it. But at the Lake Kenyir we really had troubles so see positive things! Yes, the view is nice! But unfortunately that's kinda it! The service was not professional, no one gave us the feeling of supporting us or try to help us. We rather had the feeling we should pay everything first and then it's our bad luck if it's not worth it... Also the room charge might be a bit too high for what the resort offers in these days. I really believe it might have been a wonderful place ages ago... But it changed! It's not like that anymore! And the worst is that a good, friendly and organized stuff doesn't cost anything! PLUS: I send TEN mails to the general manager afterwards - NO REPLY AT ALL!!!!

The location at Tasik Kenyir is amazing. The resort is located in the woods along the lake. From the bungalows you have an amazing view across the lake and the terasse is a great place to relax and read a book. However, these are the only good things about this resort. The room probably hasn't been renovated since it has been built, the couch was dirty, the tv from the 1990's. In our bathroom were a million ants and the toilet flush wasn't working properly. The pool area needs a make-over as well, as there are many loose tiles, the stairs into the pool were broken and open cables inside the water. Overall it didn't seem safe (I wouldn't let children play around this pool!!). The resort's restaurant was very overpriced and the food horrible. I did a jungle trek tour, which was supposed to take 2 hours and ended up taking 25 minutes. The guide's excuse was "if it is 40 people going on this trek, it would maybe take 2 hours". After we complained he took us to the butterfly farm, which was really sad, because in the area it is too hot for many of the butterfly species, thus they die within a few days (there were dead butterflies all over the floor).... This place could have a lot of potential - but in it's condition right now, DONT go there!