Not long ago, I had a 3 days 2 nights stay at The Aryani Resort which is located at the north eastern state of Peninsular, Terengganu. It took us almost 7 hours to reach the resort from SS2 Petaling Jaya via the Pantai Timur Highway. Although it was my sole journey to Terengganu and it was quite a long drive, I did enjoy myself looking at the scenery especially at the sea view of the South China Sea. It's not difficult to spot the resort (the Petronas station is the best landmark) but good thing we brought along a GPS navigator just in case.
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| At the entrance of the Aryani Resort. |
Upon reaching the resort, we were greeted by a friendly staff and he brought along a wooden luggage cart to transfer our luggage into the resort from the parking area. Looking at the main building, it has a classical Malay architecture look with a little of Javanese - Majapahit touch. If you remembered the history well from secondary school, Terengganu once traded extensively with the Majapahit Empire under the influence of Srivijaya.
As we entered the lobby area, we were welcomed by a lady at the reception area. We were asked to register and then wait for a while at the lobby for our room key and briefing from the General Manager, Mr Ramlan about the resort.
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| The reception area at the resort |
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| Welcome Drink of ‘Lemon Grass Tea’ and welcome Food of Terengganu’s famous ‘ Keropok Lekor’ |
As we were enjoying the food and drinks, the view of the pool and the green sceneries excite us at the very early stage of our stay.
I found this while waiting. It's the Jalan Jalan Cari Makan souvenir from TV3. Seems like the food hunter managed to drop by at this resort. I guessed their food must be quite good then.
After gotten our room key, we were brought to our room. The resort has a total of 20 rooms consisting of superior, deluxe, modern suite and heritage suite starting from RM560.00 to the highest rate at RM1055.00. The one that we were staying was the superior villa with the garden views. There's also an option for pool / seaviews with an additional of RM100.00.
The rooms are fitted with wooden furnitures, TV with a Astro, mini refrigerator and the bed is specially ordered with the size of 2.2m, which sleep 3 adults. Good for those parents that wanted to sleep together with a children.
One thing which I like most is the mirror in the room which has the Malay sentiment of an old window.
The bathroom comes with two sink and there's hot & cold water tab. There's an opening at the shower area for ventilation but it's not being sealed with wire mesh and so it's good to keep the bathroom door closed at all times to prevent the mosquito to come into the room section. There's also an outdoor sunken bathtub at the other side next to the room.
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| Le gf posing at the bed... |
We settled out things down and rested for a bit and shower before we headed for dinner.
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| My date for the evening. |
We had our very first dinner at the Serai Restaurant. This restaurant is located at the main building near the reception area and serves Malaysian, Asian and Western specialties is open from 7:00.a.m until 11:00.p.m. For our dinner, there's selection of noodles and rice.
We had the Soto Ayam Majapahit (RM15.00) and Nasi Ayam Golek 'Istana Paduka' (RM17.00). I quite both of the dishes as the flavour was quite original and rich especially the soto. We ended our meal with dessert of local fruits and vanilla ice cream. My only complain was the fruits that were actually quite big piece and it would be convenient if it's sliced into smaller pieces for bite.
After dinner, we went back to our room to enjoy each other company and watched TV.
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| A picture of Serai Restaurant during the day time. |
Besides the Serai Restaurant, there's actually two more F&B outlet at The Aryani Resort which is the Hikayat Fine-Dining for private dining and the Pulau Beach Club which was currently closed for maintenance.
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| Our breakfast! |
In the morning, we had our complimentary breakfast at the Serai Restaurant. I had the Menora Breakfast while my gf had the Wayang Kulit Breakfast. The Menora Breakfast consist of a choice of juices, local mix fruits with yogurt, choice of cereal, omelette with baked beans, beef bacon and toast. The Wayang Kulit Breakfast has almost the same except they served Nasi Sambal Goreng with Chicken Curry instead of the western dish. Both breakfast comes with coffee or tea.
After the breakfast, we were set to go for a mini tour around the resort with the guidance of Mr Ramlan.
Above is the Terrace villa with the option of twin beds, Super King size bed or the Super King size beded room, spacious living area, food prep and dining area.
The Terrace suite has almost the same room as our superior villa but it has a bigger living area and dining area for family gathering.
The bathroom is also more spacious and there's even a ceiling fan.
Besides the indoor shower area, there's also the outdoor shower tab and a sunken bathtub.
Next we headed to the Modern Suite which is facing the sea. They also called the Modern Suite as the 'Honeymoon Suite'. Why? The picture below will explain why.
There's a bathtub just right behind the bed! Awesome right!? I'm sure a lot of couples will like to experience this.
There's also an outdoor sunken bathtub and shower tab as well as an indoor shower tab. There's total of 3 places where you can shower in this particular Modern Suite.
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| Le gf just can't resist the comfy-ness of the bed. |
Next, we headed to the Herritage Suite at the Heritage Village which is also known as the Redang Suite (ancient timber wood suite).
The overview of the Heritage Suite that are made with ancient timber wood with no nails except for the staircase hand railings for safety purposes.
The entire house which is about 100 years old is filled with 80% of classic furnitures with no 'Shellac Varnish' finishing as the owner of the resort wants every guest to experience the old sentiment of every single furniture they can find.
The spacious living room with TV that can fit 8-12 pax.
The bedroom for 3 adults with a classic make up table with air-conditioning. I really like the feel of the traditional bedroom a lot, perhaps I'm just not really into the typical modern hotel room.
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| The modern toilet with bathtub and shower tab. |
This suite cost RM1055.00 per night and I heard from the manager that a caucasian couple stayed in this suite for a week. I'm sure that would be rather affordable for those who earns pound sterling, am I right?
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| Another view of the Heritage Suite |
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| The Heritage Spa |
Other than the villas and F&B outlet, the resort also offers traditional body treatments at the Heritage Spa. The spa centre is just behind the Heritage Village and is placed inside a timber house.
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| The outdoor jacuzzi. |
The Heritage Spa provides herbal treatments with natural healing properties, soothing green atmosphere and adequately ventilated fresh-air from the breezy ocean nearby. Among the body-pampering treatments on the list the Heritage Spa are Mayang Mengurai (hair treatment), Puteri Wangi and Puteri Nona (both are facial treatments), Sri Panji (traditional massage, body scrub and body masque), Raja Kuning (manicure and pedicure) and Puteri Duyong (milk bath in an open-air tub filled with scented oils and flowers).
The spa room for the men.
The spa room for the women.
Wayang Kulit anyone?
Entering the shower room, there's this foot reflexology stone on the pathway. Pretty hurt but I think that's how it works.
The modern shower room in a traditional cubical.
Other facilities at the resort include the Nusantara Meeting Room for private meeting and conference for special small group with special request and the “Galeria” Boutique
which sells antiques, souvenirs and personal items.
After the tour, we went to the jetty near the resort to take a few pictures. We also stopped by a keropok lekor store to book our keropok lekor so we can collect it on the next day before we leave Terengganu.
For our second dinner, we stopped by a food bazaar at a small town about 5 minutes away. By the way, it's still the month of Ramadhan at that time.
Before we have our dinner, we headed to the private beach at the resort. Seriously it was so private that we can only spot four other person at the beach. We heard that it's not safe to swim in the sea when there's a red flag being raised. (Spot the little red flag in the picture above).
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| Le gf and I hanging out at the private beach. |
Besides driving to the resort with our own private card, we were told that we can also take a cab or rent a car from the airport which is just about 25 minutes away. The next day, we headed to Kuala Terengganu for lunch and some sight seeing. There will be another blog post for all the pictures we took at the private beach and at Kuala Terengganu.
My Verdict:
It is one fascinating resort that combines the traditional concept with modern amenities. Indeed it's a great place for honeymoon and a trip away from the city life. In short, The Aryani is not just a resort, it is a wholesome cultural experience not to be missed.
Address and location map included below:-
The Aryani Resort
Jalan Rhu Tapai – Merang,
Setiu 21010 Terengganu, Malaysia
For booking and inquiries, please contact the following below:-
Tel: +609653 2111 / 1003 / 1006 / 2004 / 2005
Fax: + 6096531007
Email: aryani@tm.net.my
Website: www.thearyani.com
.: Peace Out :.
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