A Villa in The Langkawi Rainforest Canopy

Langkawi is described as a mystical, magical place where 50 million year old rainforests survive relatively untouched. Here a land of mystery, myth and legend shroud the everyday life of its few inhabitants and the chain of ninety-nine islands provides breathtaking scenery off-shore where visitors are invited into the warmest of crystal blue waters and backdrop of turquoise skies.

Though Bali represented a fabulous opportunity to explore an exotic and relatively unchanged ancient culture of hypnotic rituals, music and arts, Langkawi was the place to go to experience languid days on pristine beaches with clear, amazingly swimmable waters and terrific hotels with internationally recognized hospitablity.

Quick Tips:

There is little reason to leave the pristine enclave of the Datai save for a stroll down the private beach to the neighboring Andaman where for a change of pace a bit more lively pool with water slide, a well-stocked game room, and a wonderful beachside restaurant offer a little variety.

Both resorts provide non-motorized watersports, such as windsurfing, kayaks and paddeboats, nature walks, and visits to the off-shore island, Anak Datai, where snorkelers thrill at pristine views of wildlife under the sea or hikers are treated to stupendous views of the resort and neighboring islands. Both hotels will pack a picnic lunch for you and I guarantee you will find your own secret hideaway here and an afternoon of pleasant memories beyond your wildest dreams.

There are also mangrove cruises and jungle trekking adventures, golf on an 18-hole marvelous rainforest course, a spa offering the ultimate pampering in the Thai and Indonesian styles, mountain bike use for exploring the island, complimentary fully equipped gym and lighted tennis courts if you just haven’t done enough for one day or want to wait until the humidity settles before practicing your service.

Best Way To Get Around:

We flew into the international airport in Langkawi from Bangkok but there is also an option to arrive via boat. Many cruise ships ply these waters and you might make sure Langkawi is a port of call if you book a cruise in this area. Otherwise, unless you desire to leave the resort (you won't want to) you will not need a car hire. The Datai shuttles guests wherever they need to go, including the nearby markets if or to the neighboring Andaman hotel. Of course, bicycles, watercraft and hiking are wonderful ways to see the local scenery.

Note: Due to the private nature of the Datai the pictures, with exception of those including images of me or my husband, are courtesy of the hotel website.

At the Datai Hotel exquisite care has been taken to retain the natural beauty and ecology of the rainforest into which it is built. During our stay in our freestanding treetop villa we heard the night croak of geckos and cries of monkeys, clicks of insects, chirps of flying squirrels, along with unrecognizable sounds of various other exotic creatures whose home we were sharing. In spite of the rugged, natural and wild environment we felt pampered beyond belief and our privacy and desire to enjoy our vacation exactly as we had planned was met with no interference in the slightest.

There are fifty-four deluxe rooms available in the Datai hotel itself with beautifully simple Japanese style furnishings. Dark local woods providing warmth and contrast to the bright skies and seas outside. Most rooms have balconies that offer eye-watering views of the pools, ocean and islands beyond. But the thirty-four villas nestled in forest seclusion throughout the property and accessed by rustic trails are really the most unique and wonderful way to experience this resort. We had two rooms, a mini-bar, and Balinese style marble baths where orchids were left daily providing the only clue that someone was "out there" watching out for us and cleaning up any and everything we might have left behind.

Order breakfast service in your room and before you emerge from the shower a cheerful and discreet employee has delivered it to your rainforest balcony where you have an early morning bird’s eye view of the forest’s startling and fascinating creatures. But watch out! Something may try to grab your breakfast banana.

Lunchtime dining is served poolside at either of the two stunning pools, one located near the resort and another a lovely 200 meter walk down to the ocean side where the water sports are also located. There are another eighteen poolside suites located near the lower pool which are perfect for larger groups or families and include their own plunge pool with dreamy nap-perfect open air daybed and fully equipped kitchens.

Dinner is served on your own private balcony if you are staying the in the villas, at the Resort Dining Room, or at our personal favorite, the Pavilion, which serves fantastic Thai cuisine. As the resort seems devoted to catering to romance any special request that you dream up, such as being served dinner on the beach in the moonlight, will be granted.

There is no doubt that a stay at the Datai will satisfy many a life-long dream of tropical exotica. Before staying here I really didn’t believe that any large organization could get it this "right" in combining a respect for the environment along with astutely catering to every whim of its guests. The attitude and approach to service is exquisite in attention to detail yet manages miraculously to give guests the feeling that this is their own private piece of heaven.

We had been to Australia, Bali, Singapore and Bangkok by the time we reached the Datai four weeks into our six-week Southeast Asia odyssey. I had been poisoned and near death at least once and had developed a new appreciation for life in general and eating again in particular.

So my husband explained to the waiter at the Pavilion the night we arrived that it was a special celebration of sorts. Amazingly, perhaps because of the late hour after a day of travel, there was no one else in the open-air restaurant set high in the rainforest canopy of the resort in an open-air thatched pavilion. Having the place to ourselves in the stillness of the jungle we had the feeling that this was our own private paradise with many a man, Friday.

Soon, the chef was at our table asking questions. We professed a bit of adventurism in our dining habits (how do you think I got so sick?) and after being assured that the preparations and ingredients used at this stellar hotel would never reintroduce the dreaded bacterium, we agreed to the chef’s proposal. He would make us a dinner of his favorite preparations. He snatched the menu out of our hands and hurried to the kitchen.

True to Thai dining tradition a series of simple appetizers were produced one at a time building in impact; starting out mild and slightly sweet and ending with Thai-chili tangy, sinus-clearing, endorphin stimulating hot. Textures and detail of presentation are as important to Thai cuisine as the interplay of spices and contrast of flavors. Those presented to us that night reflected a consummate dedication to this particular culinary style.

Three or four entrees followed, meant for tasting and sharing, one with pork, and two with seafood, assuring us the chef meant what he said about using locally fresh ingredients. The star of the show was the banana leaf baked snapper seasoned with sweetened curry and accented by coconut and yam. Never before or since have I tasted a Thai dish so memorable.

The dinner ended up lasting three hours and included the chef’s own selection of wines to accompany the specialties he was preparing. For the entire time we never had to think, never had to wonder, never had to ask, or do anything but enjoy the magical night of being served like royalty gazing at the stars over the ocean while listening to the soothing sounds of the gecko’s rainforest chorus and sinking into a deeper and deeper bliss.

All I needed after that was perhaps a rickshaw carried by golden cloaked warriers to move me down the path to my treetop villa so as not to disturb my reverie. But I walked, instead, my head on my husband's shoulder.

Simply stated, I couldn’t get enough of this place. Even though open-air massages are offered at many of the larger, finer hotels in Hawaii, they never seem to be serene enough to match the service being administered; not quite out-of-the-way enough to put the massagee entirely at ease. Somehow, somewhere, the hustle bustle of resort activity still intrudes.

So I often had dreamed of a place that is utterly beautiful, utterly private, and utterly at my disposal which can appropriately pamper me into spa-nirvana and let me linger there as long as I like. Here it was, all along, at the Datai!

Due to the low number of guests and the staff’s high level of awareness of what it takes to reach "zen," the Mandara Spa, being seeped in Eastern tradition, takes clients to an entirely new level of relaxation and semi-stoned-consciousness. That’s heated stone consciousness, you realize.

That’s Salt Radiance,
Balinese Massage,
Mandara Massage,
Warm Stone Massage,
Decleor Spa Pure,
Datai Dreams,
Rainforest Harmony,
Langkawi Luxury,
The Ultimate Indulgence,
heaven.

I signed up for the Ultimate Indulgence (it’s just like me to do that) which cost about $450 dollars but I didn’t care about price after my first "hit" with an herbal wrap to fight off toxics from a sickness I’d recently shed got me hooked. For two days I wandered in and out of the spa between dips in the pool, time on the beach, walks through the rainforest. I was treated to facials, a hot stone back massage, the most fabulous aromatherapies imaginable made from local, potent herbs and flowers and other indescribable delights.

The staff took gentility and serenity to a new level, reflecting the entire environment of the resort and the spa in particular. With great respect and efficiency, they truly made the experience stellar, one against which I would compare all future spa services.

So far, no matter how hard I’ve searched (and I try to give every spa I encounter the chance to outdo the Mandara) no one has quite lived up to it.

A short walk down the beach brings guests from the Datai to the neighboring hotel, the Andaman. Although larger and not quite in the same exclusive class as the Datai, lacking the rainforest villas and adults-only pool and Mandara Spa, the Andaman offers it’s own array of amenities that extends the experience happily for guests at both resorts.

At the pools at the Datai, meant for relaxing and romance, one seldom hears a sound beyond the occasion lap swimmer breaking the surface. But at the Andaman pool, children and families frolic with organized activities and water slides and a shallow end just for children. The selection of water sport vehicles is also more extensive at the Andaman, and the game room more fully equipped and includes billiards. The beachside café offers more casual choices than that of the Datai, including hamburgers and sandwiches.

The grounds, too reflect a more casual resort/plantation experience and guests are invited to tour the Butterfly Gardens where fifty different species of butterfly light to feed on nectars, and Orchid Farm, where the extensive planting of wild and cultivated orchids provides the hotel with its exquisite floral arrangements and those little buds left behind on bed, nightstand, book, bathroom and whatever else the staff feels could use a little "dressing up."

Any number of "theme nights" are presented regularly by the Andaman and are sure to delight children and adults alike with opportunities to experience the local culture in an exotic setting. The "Warisan Merong Mahawangsa" is a sort of Maylasian version of the luau with entertainment, a procession by participants, gongs and songs and an extensive buffet style dinner. Pasar Malam night is a recreation of a Malay market where hawkers offer their various traditional dishes amidst the tossing of flower petals, music and martial arts demonstrations. There is great merriment and brilliant costumes at all the Theme night events and a certain excitement to just being outside in the dark in the middle of a rainforest with much playful carrying on.

Nature hikes are offered on alternate days in the morning Sun., Wed., Fri., and at night on Sat., Mon., Thurs. The hotel also features a four hour rain forest trek with naturalist guides that take you up the hilly terrain following a mountain stream and animal trails and ending with a plunge into a natural waterfall. Birdwatching is offered on Gunang Raya (Langkawi's highest peak) where you may spot eagles, hornbills or falcons. The Mangrove cruise plies the north shore and enters into a box canyon through a flooded cave. On this cruise you will likely see the sea otter's splashing on the coast.

Between the offerings at the Datai and the Andaman, it is easy for visitors to really get into the heart of the jungle.