3D2N Langkawi Exploring | Century Rest Inn RM99 Package Review and Itinerary- Day 1 (Part 1)
10:30So it's our final degree semester and we've been talking about what kinda of trip we wanna have. On and off we discussed but nothing serious or thorough. Finally one day we saw this booth at the college's foyer with packages and *boom* Langkawi here we come! :P
PS: We paid RM99 per person for this package and it included accommodation (very basic inn + car rental). There are quite a lot agencies providing this kinda travel package to Pulau Langkawi so please continue reading if you want to know how is it like if you go with a package.
I guess a lot of you are interested about whether the package is worth it or legitimate, so let me break it down to you first. If you are really interested, then you can continue to read. Or, maybe you are just curious about our class trip, you could continue reading too.
Question 1: Is it really RM99? What is included in the package?
Yes, it is really RM99.
- The package included accommodation of 2 nights at Chomelle Hotel. I wouldn't consider it to be a real hotel, it's more like an Inn. But the name is like that so I'm just gonna write in this way. They don't have an official website but a Facebook page- https://www.facebook.com/chomellehotel/.
- The package also included car rental for a period of 3 days 2 nights but WITHOUT petrol.
- There was also a half day island hopping trip included. We actually topped up RM30 for a snorkeling session.
Question 2: Car rental? Is it useful?
Well as you may have expected, you won't be getting cars that are less than 5 years old. We had a pax of 15, so 3 cars were provided. The car that we had was Wira and I'm pretty sure it is at least 10 years old. The sofa was already worn out and we actually found a lot of ants in the car. We later found out that it was because a used canned-drink under the driver's seat. Phew! Now to think of it, I should have taken pictures of the car to show you the exact condition. Nvm, you can see for yourself when you are there.
Next, don't expect to have any petrol fuel in the car when you get it. Chances are, the people who used it previously used up everything before returning the car. It wasn't exactly easy to find a petrol station at first since we were all not familiar with the road in the island. We had to rely strongly on Waze/Google Map for directions.
That leads to my third point, is it useful? The answer is yes! very very useful and necessary. There isn't exactly public transportation in Langkawi. All I saw was taxis, taxis everywhere. And I'm sure all these uncles are ready to suck your 'blood' the minute you step out of the ferry terminal. Having your car means you can travel at any time and pay according to usage.
Also, if you are wondering about car park problems. There are quite many parking lots in front of the hotel which is along the main road. We did not face any major problem in finding a parking space.
Question 3: Any problems with the hotel, agency or the package?
To be honest, we did encounter some minor problems. Firstly, when we arrived at the ferry terminal we actually had to wait for quite a bit even though we have already informed they PIC of the arrival time. Well, it was just a small problem. We settled by sipping some coffee in Starbucks while enjoying the ac.
The bigger problem was when we reached the hotel. After counting how many of us, the receptionist actually wanted to 'eat' us and only give us 4 rooms (1 room lesser than what we agreed when we signed the package as seen in the picture above). Luckily Khai reasoned and argued with her only then we got the 5 rooms!
Tip: Always insist for all things/services agreed in the receipt especially when you sign up for a package during a promotion as these sales persons at the booth are usually people who are trying to sell as much as they can. They might over-promise things just to make you sign. And the thing is, when you finally go to the hotel, these sales persons will not be there. Without showing the receptionist any evidence, chances are you will be at the losing end.
HOW WE GOT THERE
Since there was 14 of us living in different places, we went in different batches, some from Penang island and some from mainland or Kedah itself. Mun, Ainaa, Oscar, Bee Khee and I went in Mun's 大蓝 and of course not missing our selfie in the car:
Our short-and-not-very-nice breakfast at Kedah near Ah Yann's place in Kedah |
PS: We have already pre-booked our ferry tickets and it was RM46 for a return trip.
So we went in the place and I was pretty surprised that it was quite modern and well-kept (oh well maybe I already stereotyped and have a vision in my head that these places are usually very unkempt and dodgy). We were asked to write down our name, IC, gender, address (only wrote which state) as it was almost time to go in.
It was my first time taking this kinda ferry, it was actually a lot better than what I expected. It wasn't super spacious or what but at least the seats had more leg room than AirAsia LOL, and it was air-conditioned. TV was provided too! For those who are worried about getting seasick, you can relax as the whole journey was quite a comfortable one. Although there were a few times when the waves were quite strong and the ferry had some turbulence, but overall it was really okay. We managed to take quite many selfies in the ferry, you'd know that it's actually very stable.
LOL they were actually playing The Grandmaster, not The Grandmas (who knows how hilarious the show would be if the title is really like that) |
More selfies:
BFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF |
Anddddd tadaaa after one hour plus we reached Langkawi :DDD lol just look at Ah Khai's eye, you can tell how bright the sun was shining at us :P |
I mentioned earlier that we signed up for the trip through a package, it included rooms, island hopping and also car rental. After reaching Langkawi, we called the car rental guy (which was a total different entity from the hotel, we weren't informed of this when we signed up). I was wondering how he could pick all of us, I mean there was 14 of us, at least he needs to come with another two or three person each with a car. Then only I understood: He came in a car to pick three of us who will be following him to drive the rental cars to the rest of us back at the ferry terminal. Wa, these people knows how to save ah!
Then three of my friends came back, all Wira. LOL again, I was expecting Avanza or smtg. Well it's fine as long as the car can bring us to where we wanna go. As expected the petrol tank were all empty, so we had to find the nearest petrol station. And using Waze, we went to the wrong place twice and had to ask ppl. Finally found it and the hotel/inn guy called, gave us directions to get there too.
WHERE WE STAYED
Chomelle Hotel
Address: 127, Langkawi Mall, Jalan Kelibang, 07000 Kuah, Malaysia
Phone:+60 4-966 2711
Quick facts about the hotel:
- there is only staircase (pack light because you will have to climb)
- it's pretty old
- you can hear sound/people in the corridor/walkway when you are in the room
- expect the facilities to not be working fine (we had a spoiled shower head)
- overall it's quite okay to provide us a place to sleep (most of the time we are out of the hotel)
Khai was pretty excited when we got to our hotel as the Chinese makan place that he praised so much was just directly opposite. So obviously we went over there to makan after checking in and putting on luggage in.
Teo Seafood Restaurant
Address: No. 30, Pusat Dagangan Kelana Mas, Kedah, 07000 Kuah, Pulau Langkawi, Malaysia
Phone:+60 4-966 5520
Not sure whether was it because we were all too hungry, the food tasted so good! And it only cost us RM 201 for 10 dishes and 14 drinks! |
For next part: Part 2- SkyCab Langkawi, SkyBridge Langkawi & Lake Activity
2 comments
hi, do you still having the agency contact by any chance?
ReplyDeleteHi this should be the one: https://www.facebook.com/centuryrestinn/ there is also other contact details in the receipt image attached in this post
ReplyDelete