Rebak Island Resort & Marina, Langkawi, Malaysia – Two Perspectives Review

Overview

Our Experiences

Check-in

From the airport, we took a taxi to the dock where a boat would take us to the island. Arriving at the dock, there was a resort receptionist there, ready to greet us. He looked our name up on the list. This is where things went sideways. Our name was not on the list. The receptionist called the hotel front desk and they said there was no reservation for us. We finally managed to convince the receptionist to let us take the boat to the island and meet with the front desk staff to figure it out.

After much, email confirmation proof, phone calls to our vendor (Hotels.com) and discussion with the front desk, it was discovered that Hotels.com canceled our reservation without informing us. Of course, this is in no way the resort’s fault. I say off this, to get to the point that once the situation was understood, the resort went out of their way to find us a room (turned out to be the last one) and even gave us the same rate that we booked through Hotels.com, which was cheaper than their going rate. They bent over backwards for us and we couldn’t thank them enough.

General

Rebak Island is fairly small but it features everything you would need for a stay. The resort itself has plenty of dining options, beautiful scenery, plenty of nature, and large rooms. They also offer a free boat shuttle, that runs once an hour, to get you back and fourth to/from the mainland (read about our excursion). Near the boat dock is a small convenience store that has various necessities, that services both resort guests as well as people staying on their boats in the marina. Behind the convenience store is also a small laundry, though we did not take advantage of this.

Dining

The main dining experience is at the Senari Sea View Restaurant in the resort. Here, they handle breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Breakfast was a well assorted buffet that catered to any international taste you may have. Lunch was a la carte and for dinner you had a choice of ala carte or buffet. Most nights we did a la carte because the menu was so impressive. In particular, their Burger Kingdom menu was a favorite of ours. I know, we went to Malaysia and ate burgers… But hear me out. Their build your own burger options were impressive and delicious. We tried several different varieties to help inform you. Yes, it was all for you, dear reader.

To start, you choose one of four different buns:

1. Senari (plain)
2. Red (beetroot extract infused)
3. Teluk Kelubi (carrot extract infused)
4. Keriang (edible charcoal infused)

The Senari bun was our favorite but we also enjoyed the Red and Teluk Kelube buns. We were not brave enough to try the Keriang bun.

Next you choose one of 9 different meats, or one non-meat:

1. Ostrich
2. Wagyu
3. Beef
4. Lamb
5. Venison
6. Turkey
7. Chicken
8. Duck
9. Salmon
10. Vegetarian

We tried more than half of these options. They were all good, but some were better than others. Here are the ones we tried, ordered by favorite to least favorite: Wagyu; Lamb; Beef; Venison; Duck; and Ostrich. The only reason the Ostrich was at the bottom is because it was a bit dry. Ostrich meat is very lean to begin with, so some dryness is expected. It was still good, just not as good as the others on the list.

Finally, you choose what type of fries or rings you would like:

1. Steak Fries
2. Curley Fries
3. Waffle Fries
4. Potato Wedges
5. Sweet Potato Fries
6. Onion Rings

Here are the ones we tried, ordered by favorite to least favorite: Curley; Waffle; Steak; Potato Wedges; and Onion Rings. Again, all good, but some better than others.

Each order comes with smoked cheese (unless you don’t want it) and an assortment of sauces on the side, including: Masala sauce; Teriyaki sauce; and ketchup.

On Saturdays, restaurant buffet features BBQ, with the chefs working the grill just how you order it. Featuring everything from steak and lamb to shrimp and crab. If you can BBQ it, it was there, and it was delicious. Highly recommended as an option to take a break from the amazing burgers.

Other dining options, primarily for a mid day snack, include the Beach Bar and the pools. Each offer lighter options, instead of a full meal, including: chicken wings; batter fried calamari (our personal favorite); spring rolls; salads; and sandwiches.

The beach bar proved to be a favorite among the people staying in the resort, as well as in the marina (marina guests have to pay an extra fee to use resort amenities). Happy hour from 5pm – 8pm with 50% off typical drinks has this place busy on a nightly basis. Not sure how far the 50% off extends, I would guess not the really expensive stuff, but we didn’t find the limit. We had everything from beer and wine, to Long Island Iced Teas and Gin and Tonics at 50% off. For a resort on a private island, the drinks Weren’t that expensive to begin with, so this was a really good deal.

Rooms

The rooms were very large. Larger than some one bedroom condo’s I have seen in New York City and Seoul, South Korea. It featured a mostly open floor plan with a living room with a couch and TV, and a king size bed behind the couch. Behind the bed were twin sinks and a large closet space. To the left of that was a large walk in shower with an incredible waterfall shower head and a toilet and bidet.

While evident that the rooms had been well taken care of, there was one design aspect that was puzzling. In the small walkway between the sink/closet area and the shower, there was an approximately 2ft by 2ft hole in the wall that had a screen over it. My assumption is that due to the frequent flooding, this was to allow water to exit the buildings/rooms. Then again, that would also allowed water in, faster.

The buildings were elevated about 4 feet off the ground so I am not sure my assumption is correct. Whatever it was for, the result was that the air conditioner ALWAYS ran and never got cool enough in the room to be perfectly comfortable. We were comfortable enough, just not exactly the temperature we like. This also caused the humidity in the room to be higher than desired. But, enough about that.

Everything else about the room was great. The bed was comfortable and the pillows were better than the average hotel pillow. There was also a small refrigerator in the room and each room was provided a carafe for water, which easily fit in the refrigerator. On the staircase between the first and second floor is a water dispenser, always with a fresh 5 gallon jug on it, where you could refill the carafe yourself, or housekeeping would refill it when they came.

Activities

There are several activities to partake in, offered through the hotel. Some free, some paid, and some paid and outsourced. Free activities offered on the island include sunrise yoga (every Wednesday) and sunset yoga (every Monday), nature walks in the morning (every Sunday) and evening (every Thursday), and movies playing on an inflatable screen on the beach (every Thursday).

You also have the ability to hike to the other side of the island to the beautiful Red Rock Beach and/or Long Beach, though we do recommend requesting a guide ($29.10 USD per person, 2 person minimum or trip will be canceled), as the trails can get confusing and the last thing you want is to get lost and spend the night sleeping with the wild monkeys.

Other activities on the island, but at a cost, include: Cooking classes every Monday that include lunch prepared by the instructor in case your meal doesn’t work out ($10.91 USD per person); Bicycling ($2.42 USD per person, per hour); and a two-hour sunset cruise ($109.12 USD per person, 4 person minimum or trip will be canceled; and ATV rides around the islands trails (didn’t catch the prices). They also have a spa with extensive services available, though they only accept female clients.

As for activities off the island, be sure to check out our two perspective reviews of our Malaysia excursions. Unfortunately, A typhoon decided to hang out with us much longer than expected and most of our activities kept getting canceled. Hopefully will go back soon and be able to review more excursions for you.

This was one of our favorite trips. We would whole heartedly recommend, and go back ourselves, once the room renovations are finished.

*prices listed for activities and services are as of posting this article. Check the front desk for current pricing.