Monday, August 30, 2010

Sublime spa, So-so food at The Westin Langkawi

The recent company jaunt to Langkawi, while painfully condensed, somehow managed to uplift some heavily sodden spirits.

It helped that we parked ourselves for most of the two days at the very agreeable Westin resort. Before I go on to... uh, showcase a sampling of the fine hotel food within, can I just say that the massages at the Heavenly Spa in the resort are phenomenal? Well worth the $$.

Having rolled out of bed at 4AM to catch first flight out of LCCT, by the time lunch rolled around, I was practically tranquilized by lethargy and in severe need of a pick-me-up. Lunch at Tide, the poolside open-air restaurant had better bloody deliver!

The bread comes in pretty undersized glass bowls but they were stone cold. Is this not Westin? What's it take to heat up a roll, or fifteen?

The prawn cocktail starter was a lot more promising. Freshly crumbed and fried tempura prawns sat daintily on a bed of greens served with pickled ginger, guacamole and a slice of tortilla. Easy enough to applaud.

Main of the day was pan seared sea bass with potatoes, asparagus, lemon butter sauce and mango & pineapple salsa. I felt both sauce and salsa were a tad too commonplace to pair with the distinct taste and texture of the sea bass. Portion could have been bigger too. We were using an awful lot of fuel, what with the early start and all that brainstorming.

Dessert was catastrophic, and did not send us happily back to an afternoon of more neural function. The passionfruit crème brûlée tasted like very pungent cheese gone bad, the cardinal camaralized effect all but missing. The brandy snap wafer could've potentially saved this ending, but having never been a big fan of that sticky sweet dental complication, I left most of mine untouched.

Still, hotel food will be hotel food, so I won't hold it against the resort. The breakfast the next morning was perfectly lovely and the massage that followed, again I stress, sublime! If I do not make it to any of the coveted travel locations before the end of the year, I am booking myself a week here!

Tide
The Westin Langkawi Resort & Spa
Jalan Pantai Dato Syed Omar
Langkawi

18 comments:

Ciki said...

looks really fabulous! Langkawi is one of my fav "near home" holiday destinations i tell ya:) i feel like going again soon..

PureGlutton said...

Your post reminds me that i need a massage, badly!

yogahui said...

did u ask if they offer WARM PACKAGES? trinity could definitely do a long weekend there!

Steven Goh said...

well... can't comment much on the hotel food especially to Langkawi such tourism commercial place. I too just came back from Langkawi and I felt the food there so so and also not cheap too.

Kenny Mah said...

At least the massages were great! The food, well, better luck next time? :P

boo_licious said...

Been ages since I've been to Langkawi!! Glad to hear it's the spa we shld go for. I guess hotel food is usually nothing much to shout abt? Happy Merdeka! Hope you enjoy yr day off the Mid Valley jam.

minchow said...

Ciki, I feel like it's almost necessary to try make a trip here once every couple of months. Need to fill up on ocean breeze, which KL is sadly devoid of!

PureGlutton, I came away from Langkawi reinstating that I will need to get a massage at least once every fortnight! Any idea where one could get a decent one in KL?

Hui, no Warm packages lurking about that I can see anyway! :-( The desk did tell us to look out for offers online, they do have promo from time to time.

Steven, yup, even during previous trips, when we ate out, the standard across the board, even in the mom-and-pop restaurants were pretty dire.

minchow said...

LFB, massage supersedes food! I pledge to return before the end of the year, where I will guzzle sparkling wine at the lovely buffet breakfast which should fill me plenty for the rest of the day, then spend the rest of the day decked out at the spa, then under the sun with a book. Sounds like a plan no?

Boo, I was actually rather dreading Langkawi for this company shindig but then, managed to have a pretty pleasant time despite the brevity of the trip. I will definitely go back and steep myself in it! Happy Merdeka to you too! :-)

Sean said...

leisurely lunches, brilliant breakfasts, mind-blowing massages ... wait, this was a WORK trip?! :D
what i'd give to feel the salty ocean breeze sweep across on my face right now. i've had enough of icy-cold centralized office air-conditioning!

UnkaLeong said...

*ahem* fill up on ocean breeze only ke? I'd be filling up my stash if you nowamsayin ;)

Which reminds me, I'm overdue for a massage oso lar :S

worldwindows said...

Hotel food below spa mostly!

minchow said...

Sean, oh believe me, there was plenty of work too! We spent about 8 straight hours walled in a conference room before we got any sun! :-S

UnkaLeong, of course, filling up the stash is practically the universal code for Langkawi! We were there for less than 72 hours this time though, so tak jadi. Must go back!

Worldwindows, evidently so! Who needs food when you render yourself to the expert hands of a Westin masseuse!

Rebecca Saw said...

Yikes..I rmbr my previous trip there..well, suffice to day there ws nothing much tht made me wantin to go back

May said...

try Bonton in Langakawi
food there is brilliant

Julian Si said...

Eeeeep, makan sounds horrendous :-(

ps - Not as bad as my Cho Gao Abu Dhabi meal though!!

minchow said...

TNG, but the spa!! Did you give that a go? You must go back for it, if you didn't!

May, hey thanks for the tip! am planning to deck out at some point at Bon Ton too. And will definitely try the food there!

Julian, haha! Your Cho Gao meal does look painful... did it make it into your all-time Hall of Shame?

J2Kfm said...

Least the stay was comfortable and relaxing?
Food wise, just enough to fuel the mind that's enough. :)

I have tasted countless poor meals when going for meetings/courses (when the premise MUST be halal ...)

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