This story about the Westin Desaru Coast Resort is written by one of our contributors, Ailynder. Some parts of the article may have been edited for length and clarity.
Every year, my best friend and I would have an overseas trip for her birthday but due to the pandemic, this year we replaced our overseas trip to Cuti-Cuti Malaysia. I decided to re-visit Desaru, at the southern corner of Malaysia as I did not have the chance to dip myself in the sea during my first visit (yeah I am a very beach person ?).
Desaru has given me the vibe of a lively little town that is on its own (there is even a highway named Senai-Desaru highway). It is like the perfect getaway destination from the crowd in anywhere of the popular tourist destination in Malaysia!
So for this trip, I decided that we shall splurge a little since we have that overseas trip budget that did not work out. There are a few luxury resorts in Desaru, from Hard Rock Hotel Desaru Coast, The Westin Desaru Coast Resort and Anantara Desaru Coast Resorts & Villas.
What made me chose The Westin as my accommodation was, the beach! FYI, these three hotels are at the coast, but The Westin is literally behind the beach while the other two resorts require a little walking to reach the beach (I am lazy like that).
P.S. Check out more resorts in Desaru in our article!
Credit: Westin Desaru
Room wise, we stayed in the Premier Sea View Room with a King-sized bed overlooking the South China Sea - that’s my love towards the sea.
I am the kind of person that would pay the extra penny to be in a sea view room than a garden view room. The Westin does offer a wide range of rooms from Garden View, Partial Sea View and the Premier Sea View room. We spent a total of 3 days 2 nights here, in the Premier Sea View Room, with complimentary daily breakfast and daily dining credit of RM100 for a total of RM1,472.
#HHWT Tip: Book directly from the official website to enjoy package saving deals!
Since this a birthday trip for my best friend, I requested the hotel to surprise my friend on our arrival and they did it really well.
Upon checking into our room, there is nothing in the room that surprised her but the room service did ring the bell and appeared with a birthday cake and a handwritten birthday card. I would say the cake is absolutely delicious!
It was 30 August on the day we checked into the hotel, which was the National Day long weekend. There was some crowd at the beach and pool with families and kids, and we thought we could spend our time the next day after they have checked out. We then spent our evening at the beach, watched kids run and people flying kites. It was totally a perfect Sunday.
For dinner, since we were given the RM100 dining credit, there was no doubt that we were going to dine at the resort. Unfortunately, our first option, Prego was fully booked for the night. I’ll probably give it a try the next time I visit The Westin Desaru. So we dined at Seasonal Tastes, a restaurant that serves a variety of cuisines for breakfast, lunch and dinner and it is Halal. When in Johor, the first food that I would wanna eat will be Otak-otak! This restaurant does have some good otak-otak and satay that really made me slurp hard! And of course, we could never leave the calamari ring alone for a beachside holiday. It was a great one! (You may enjoy at least 10% discount if you're a member of Marriot Bonvoy; sign up now, it’s free!)
Disclaimer: Do note that Seasonal Taste serves alcohol. We highly recommend that you dine at your own discretion and if in doubt, seek alternatives.
Since it was the National Day long weekend, we could see that the hotel was almost fully booked as the carparks were full and even breakfast dining was split into three dining slots. The downside was our room dining slot was the earliest slot, from 6.30am to 8am. It was really tiring to wake up before the sun rose after a long drive from KL to Desaru. But we still got to get it done! On the bright side, we could avoid the crowd at the breakfast hall, enjoy our breakfast earlier than everyone and head to the beach for the morning dip.
Yes, we were the earliest at the beach that morning, enjoying the whole beach to ourselves.
The beach wasn’t crystal clear but it was clean enough to soak ourselves without worrying about any itchiness/allergies. Right before the sun gave us a tan, we soaked into the infinity pool for another round of fun.
We also had friends from Johor that visited us at the hotel to surprise my best friend. They brought us out for lunch at a nearby town, Pengerang, for some seafood lunch. This restaurant, Super Lobster Restaurant is famous for their live lobsters and mud crab, and yes, we did have a seafood feast at this restaurant. Pricing is considered reasonable for 5 dishes.
Disclaimer: Do note that Super Lobster serves alcohol. We highly recommend that you dine at your own discretion and if in doubt, seek alternatives.
We strolled around the little town after lunch and found this spot for Insta-worthy photos. This corner at Yard & Co, overlooking the South China Sea with the view of the offshore drilling rig was a view that city people like us had never seen.
P.S. Check out this amazing sky mirror in Desaru!
For dinner, no doubt we dined at Seasonal Taste again with the dining credit given. We decided to try out some main course that we saw other guests trying the previous night. It was totally amazing that the crowd was much lesser than the previous night, and the resort had a very quiet ambience. We had another great evening here.
Not to forget, the staff surprised my best friend with a non-alcoholic mocktail as a birthday treat for her. It was such a sweet gesture as the surprise came in without any request from us. Thank you, Westin!
That night, we enjoyed ourselves in the room by the balcony. It was so comfortable to enjoy the ocean breeze and gazing stars as the sky was so clear. It was the quiet and quality time that we enjoyed at the resort that we decided, one day we will come back and have more good times here.
And finally to our last day at the resort, we woke up late for breakfast, decided that we would do everything slowly before we checked out. Breakfast on our last day was amazing, finally tried lontong for the first time in my life.
And of course, another round of morning dip at the beach and pool, enjoying the whole pool to ourselves as most of the guests had checked out the previous day.
Then, it was time for the long drive back to Kuala Lumpur.
The Westin Desaru Coast Resort
Rate: From RM450 per night
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