Golden Palm Tree, Kuala Lumpur (3 of 3)

While I was initially impressed with the resort, it wasn't without fault. Faults, actually. Overall, I really feel that the price you pay is really not worth it.

This is what the resort looks like by afternoon, low tide + heat.



Lack of Amenities

As the resort is very far from the city, it would have been nice if they had a lot of stuff for guests to do. The website boasts a lot of activities but I actually didn't notice much on the actual beach. On the resort itself, apart from the gym, pool and scheduled biking activities, there really wasn't much to do.

If you're planning to go out to get snacks, there isn't any store nearby. Make sure you bring lots of water and snacks with you before you get there. There is one seafood restaurant just outside though.



Housekeeping and Airconditioning

We called housekeeping and requested for an extra bed. It took them about 30 minutes to get to our room  and to our surprise, the extra bed is actually the same sofa in the room. The housekeeper brought with him a bed sheet, a blanket and a pillow. What surprised us more is that he asked us to put the bed sheet on the sofa by ourselves.

The next day, this is what my extra bed looked like after being made up. How very neat.



Also, the airconditioning is faulty. We requested to have it looked at but we were told that it's really as cold as it gets. Good thing there was a fan in the room cause I woke up sweating quite a few times.

Breakfast

Perhaps the most disappointing of all would be the breakfast buffet. There were lots of food but I quickly lost my appetite when I saw flies swarming all over them and the restaurant is not even open air. The worst thing is that the wait staff was just looking at them as if it's perfectly okay. I didn't get to take a picture of the convergence of flies because my initial instinct was to shoo them all away but I did take a few pics when some of them slowly went back for more.







See the mess on other unoccupied tables and they stayed that way till we finished our meal.



This explains why I settled for Honey Stars. At least the cereal containers were all covered.



I just didn't want to risk having an LBM knowing that we will be travelling long hours just to get to the city. I've already had that horrible experience and I didn't want a repeat.

Golden Palm Tree, Kuala Lumpur (2 of 3)

The following morning, after having breakfast, we went exploring a little and marveled at how beautiful the resort is.







Just a little walk from the lobby leads you to this beach.





It was, however, quite hot so enjoying the water activities is out of the option although I really didn't see a lot that you can do. Good thing we chanced upon an ice cream vendor, the cold treat is just perfect.



Apart from the beach, they also have an infinity pool right by the restaurant where they serve breakfast. The only downside in using the pool is the number of people watching you.





Again, if it wasn't so hot, it would be nice to just sit by the lounge or walk around the whole day. I know we're in a beach, it's supposed to be hot but I have to say that the heat that time was almost unbearable that it was giving me a headache.





By the lobby, they also have this nice table that I wanted to bring home.



The resort offers biking and I believe a yoga class. They also have a spa but the rates were crazy expensive so we decided against having a massage. Finally, if you get bored at the resort, they offer a shuttle service to the city (KLCC) but the shuttle only has two schedules 9am and 3pm. Take advantage of this as the city is an hour and a half ride and would cost you RM 180 (2,500 pesos / 73 SGD). At least you only have to worry about the cab fare going back.

It is also worth mentioning that apart from the beautiful resort, we were very surprised at how nice and friendly the guest relations officers were. My friends told me about really really bad customer service at Genting so they weren't expecting such wonderful service here.







They all went out of their way to help us since we were checking out at 2pm but our flight isn't until late at night. They made sure that we had plenty to do and suggested places that we can still check out. Everything was taken care of including arranging all our transportation needs.

Golden Palm Tree, Kuala Lumpur (1 of 3)

An invitation from Em-J to have a weekend getaway led me to Golden Palm Tree in Kuala Lumpur.



Getting There:

The resort is just a 30-45 minute drive from LCCT and cost me just RM 54 (SGD 22), you have to prepay for your cab fare at one of the official cab stands just outside the airport. The cab driver was complaining though the whole ride on how I got it cheap. Based on my the weekend that I was there, almost all the cab drivers tried to rip us off.

It is actually quite tricky to find but the good thing is that there are a lot of signs placed at right intervals to tell you that you're taking the right route.

The Resort:

This entryway is what immediately welcomes you which leads you to a very inviting lobby.







Since Em-J and Danny were already checked in, they picked me up via buggy and we went straight to our room.











I did love the view from the shower area.



The bed was nice, the towels fluffy and they gave us three pairs of slippers perfect for the beach and wifi was also fairly steady and strong.



It also has a balcony with wonderful views. If we only had snacks and drinks, it would be nice to spend time outside.





I never did figure out what the ladder is for, if it has a purpose beyond aesthetics, I don't know.

Starz Buffet

I didn't want to write about the lunch buffet at Starz because of our bad experience but overall I liked the food so might as well. Just an update, no one called me about my complaint, I called them again and was promised another call back but I never heard back from them.

Anyway, on to the purpose of this entry.

We all loved the interiors of the restaurant down to the waiting area of the toilet and the toilet itself.

The restaurant was almost empty at 12 noon and surveying the buffet spread, we noticed that except for ham, there's no beef and pork on the menu. I don't know if it's targeted also to Indian customers cause there's almost three stations dedicated to Indian cuisine.







I'm really not a fan of anything spicy so I skipped the above selections and started with the hot stations.





and a little Japanese fare, breaded chicken.



The roasted meat is yes, chicken. Not turkey, not lamb, not beef.

While curry, vegetables, seafood noodles and roast chicken are not really what I like, the saving grace of the buffet for me are their cold stations.

Potato salad, salmon salad and roasted duck with mango salad. All good!



Chicken with pesto sauce, cold broccoli and tomatoes with mozzarella cheese.



Last but not the least would have to be my favorite, melon with parma ham.



I was also excited about their waffles but it was very disappointing. I'm not sure what they were thinking when they made the waffles but it was crunchy hard and bland, the kind that can cause serious injury to your mouth.



Fortunately, the ice cream was extra rich and nice. They also have mangosteens which I love so dessert was still okay.







As I said, I did enjoy some of the selections but I don't think I'll be coming back anytime soon. There are other buffets that are a bit more accessible with better food selections.