December 13
Have you ever gotten to your destination and thought “this isn’t what I expected”. Well that’s what happened to me today. I arrived in Langkawi, Malaysia and headed to the Sheraton Langkawi.
At first glance things seemed ok. But as I looked closer, they started to unravel. The room I was upgraded to was at the top of a hill, a steep hill. It looked like a nice executive suite at first. Wood floors, island-style decor, partial water view and large bathroom. As I started to explore, I discovered that the property was very, very old. The wifi was painfully slow, so slow that I couldn’t even use Skype or upload photos to my blog.
The living area couch sagged almost to the ground. The bathroom was old and everything was stained. The robes in the closet had dust/dirt on them. The toilet was particularly stained, and the floor surrounding it was rust stained as well.
I walked down several curvy flights of steep and slippery stairs to the pool. The chairs and lounge chairs were old, many had holes in them and they were not comfortable at all. There were stray cats wondering around the pool and eating some human food near the pool bar. The other hotel guests at the pool (and there were only 6-8) were very judgmental of the western women. It was a very uncomfortable feeling.
I will say that the view from the pool, in one direction, was very nice. However, if you looked the other way, the view was obstructed by some sort of industrial buildings.
Back in the room I looked at the bed. It looked like the duvet was dirty and as I looked closer it was not just dirty, it was stained and soiled – it looked like it hadn’t been washed a year. After peeling back the cover of the duvet, here’s what I found. 1) hair, not mine. 2)That’s not a shadow, that’s a stain. 3) Another stain. It was disgusting.
That was it. I decided this just wasn’t the place for me. I went online and booked a flight right back out of Langkawi. So here I sit, at the airport, shortest hotel stay ever! I would not recommend the Sheraton Langkawi, it’s a dump and needs a lot of work! Frankly, I’m surprised it’s still under the Starwood flag.
Wow sorry you had such a bad stay there. I was at the Sheraton with the family probably two years ago. It wasn’t bad but it was certainly old, probably one of the oldest hotels in the island. I also didn’t like that they ferry you around the facility in diesel powered carts that were way too loud and produced far too much smoke.
Hope the rest of your vacation isn’t as bad.
ouch, what a category 3 dump…. I’m beginning to think you just travel to visit Starwood hotels exclusively and mystery shop them – just kidding
OMG…Where did you fly to?
That is probably a record. Good call though.
I visited many an exotic island and lived on one for a year…the rules I developed are simple: Stay away from expensive properties at small exotic islands and you will never be disappointed.
Besides, Lankawi is know for scuba diving not its amenities.
The westin is really nice there though…why not go there instead?
@Mike, funny, that’s exactly what the people at the Le Meridien Kuala Lumpur said. Wish I had made that choice to begin with.
@John – I flew to Kuala Lumpur, I’m at the Le Meridien KL and it’s amazing! Tomorrow I’m going back to Thailand and to the islands for a while.
@Jamison – that would be my dream job!! Dear Starwood, if you’re reading this, please hire me as a mystery shopper.
Why not visit another hotel while you are there? The FS is purportedly very nice.
@Tom – I’m doing this trip almost all on points. The only other place I have points was sold out for the night. I wish I had done better research and booked somewhere else to begin.
[...] Good Points didn’t have a very good stay in Langkawi, I’m certainly glad that I chose the Andaman rather than the [...]
The hookers are good in langkawi, explains the soiled sheets
Wow, thanks for the warning! I will feature this post tomorrow on my blog to warn others. Unless Starwood decides to hire us as mystery shoppers, I am available;-)
@TravelBloggerBuzz – thanks to Jamison, I’m now scouting the web for mystery shopper jobs for SPG
I have to imagine no one from Starwood corp has been to that hotel in years. While I met the GM, and he was nice, the hotel really, really just needed help!
If they contact you first, please refer me, you know I will speak my mind, lol
Hi Stacey,
Just wondering, why did you say that the other hotel guests were very judgmental of the western women?
thats how i felt about Langkawi too…
very disappointing… I thought it would be like Honolulu or some beautiful beach sort of thing… its really quite ugly and underwhelming. Sorry that your hotel didn’t even make the experience better…
@theShark – I had heard it was like some of the Thai islands, but after this trip, really do think that I’d pick the Thailand over Langkawi any day.