My 35th Birthday Trip at Alun Retreat, Pulau Pangkor, Perak
6:56 PM
Kudos to Husband who managed to get this shot (of the best view away from the container)
Since my birthday this year falls during Ramadhan (fasting month), husband decided to celebrate early. We as a small family of 3 never been to Pulau Pangkor (although I work in Perak for 5 years! haha). And since we were staying in Klang (coastal side near Kuala Selangor), a trip to Pangkor seems good..
I have been eye-ing this container hotel named Alun Retreat, for its picturesque photos on IG..
The place is beautiful, but the overall experience is so-so.. My personal reviews of Alun Retreat:
1. Container hotel is small, and superbly hot in the afternoon!
I never stayed in a container hotel before, so this is new to me. I cannot believe how hot the hotel became, even the lowest Aircond temperature couldn't beat it! And since the container size is typical, the room size is tad a bit too small for us 3! Our room has queen bed, where we usually got ourselves a king bed..
In the afternoon, must draw all curtain closed and they don't have minibar/chiller!
(Time of visit = early March 2023)
2. Alun Retreat "Oceanfront Room" is quite a scam to me!
I personally believe the best room in Alun Retreat is the Oceanfront rooms (they only have 2 rooms! while the other rooms at the back are called Oceanview rooms). Of course, while promoting this Oceanfront room, they always go for the one nearest to the beach/shoreline for unobstructed view)..
Since we booked last minute (also paid a high price of RM450/night), we got the second Oceanfront room -with obstructed view! This is to me a "quiet scam" because this room should be a Oceanview only..
The website portrays as if we were about to get this nicest view :
Our room view :
Even when we tried to sit at the balcony, there is always another "container room" in the background! Cannot avoid this obstructed view.. zz
Videos below :
3. They are weird, and not sure if they are Kid-Friendly
Not sure if the one we spoke to is the manager level, or the regular staff, but upon check in, they warned us this : "Kami tak recommend couple yang ada anak kecil, untuk duduk bilik atas. Puan make sure anak tak buat bising/hentak kaki ya". This is nowhere been written anywhere in their website/prior to booking.. so wow, for romantic couple (who wants good view), don't bring child here-lah!
Anyway, my son got no tantrums whatsoever, Alhamdulillah, so no warnings given to us during our stay. But the warn upon check-in really caught us off-guard (and annoyed us too!)
Beach is okay, but ocean quality is poor..
Breakfast is so-so (not memorable actually)
The best view I could get, but can be deceiving (since I cropped the photo, removing the front container unit LOL)
Hotel Rating = 2/5.
The marks given due to their good location (beachside, I love the beach! But Pangkor beach is erm, dirtyy), and minus points for experiences, room type and breakfast spread not really memorable.. I forgot all about it already! Haha
I would not recommend this hotel to anyone I know, haha
Until next post!
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