So....On arrival to Langkawi we hailed a Taxi at the airport and asked to be taken to "Bella Vista', (which is french/ spanish for beautiful sight), which by all accounts and every review that I had read this place seriously looked like 'Disneyland' and the refurbished rooms looked lovely.
The taxi driver laughed and nodded and drove us to our destination, us Aussie tourist's just assuming it was the language barrier and he was being polite, nodding and laughing in agreeance....but we were soon to discover the truth about 'BELLA VISTA'.....
The taxi driver laughed and nodded and drove us to our destination, us Aussie tourist's just assuming it was the language barrier and he was being polite, nodding and laughing in agreeance....but we were soon to discover the truth about 'BELLA VISTA'.....
The advertisement read something like this... discover the perfect fairytale setting for an unforgettable holiday when you stay at Bella Vista Resort & Spa in Langkawi, Malaysia. Situated by the windswept seafront of a tropical paradise, this hotel reflects the majestic scenery that surrounds it. With turrets and regal architecture reminiscent of the grandeur of an English Tudor castle or French chateau, I must admit, It sounded dreamy..... the hotel seems to have come straight from the pages of a fairytale... a true fantasy, yes...thats right, I did say a fantasy! But whose fantasy??? That's what I would really like to know??
How could we not stay here?? The children had seen the images on the internet of both interior and exterior and we thought this resort looked amazing, and we were all so very excited...but let me say, we were in for a total surprise at just how amazing this resort truly was....
On arrival we checked into a very nice looking refurbished lobby and couldn't wait to check out our room. We had booked a family suite through Agoda and the images looked simply divine, just like this....
How could we not stay here?? The children had seen the images on the internet of both interior and exterior and we thought this resort looked amazing, and we were all so very excited...but let me say, we were in for a total surprise at just how amazing this resort truly was....
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| We were very impressed by the grandeur of the lobby... |
On arrival we checked into a very nice looking refurbished lobby and couldn't wait to check out our room. We had booked a family suite through Agoda and the images looked simply divine, just like this....
Okay...so check in was a breeze as our 5 nights were all pre booked and paid for through the AGODA website, we grabbed our room key, hit the elevator and made our way to our family suite..we were so very excited, but that excitement soon came to horror and disbelief when we opened the door to our luxury family suite. I'm not too sure that words can describe what such a lovely room we had been appointed. My husband opened the door and the kids madly scrambled in to check out our pad for the next 5 nights.....oh dear, we were speechless and the children were shattered!!!
This was our beautifully refurbished bathroom....it didn't resemble anything like the stunning bathroom on the website....I guess they hadn't got around to renovating this little gem at the moment, oh and BONUS...the shower didn't work!!! Thank goodness for the beautiful swimming pool, where we showered for the duration of our stay.
I struggled with this room that we had been allocated, and was quite fired up that we had been taken for a ride through AGODA, so I went down to reception to my work my charm to be moved to a nicer room, but apparently there was nothing available ( and maybe I'd lost my mojo).... together with the fact that they were struggling with understanding my English...once again another nod and smile...WHATEVER!!!
Okay, so we soldiered on, (I guess it was only 5 nights....eeek), put our bathers on and hit the pool...at least that was magnificent. We spent all of our day by the pool and then we would sit at the poolside bar watching the stunning sunset for as long as possible to avoid going back to the 'HELL HOLE'.
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| We would sit here by the pool bar each evening watching the stunning sunset, avoiding going back to our stunning suite. |
The children loved the pool and the pool boy, 'SILVER' was so attentive to the children, he was doing backflips with them, climbing coconut trees and making them coconut drinks and in general a whole lot of fun, at least this was distracting them from our beautiful suite that we would eventually have to return to....
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The stunning pool, overlooking Langkawi Bay..xx
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| Bella and Louis delighting in a taste of Asia...xx |
The children delighted in the attention that they received from 'SILVER', however it didn't take us too long to figure that he was working for tips...stupid us!!! Well at least he was a highlight to the 'Bella Vista' experience, and the children still have fond memories of him, even if we did have to pay for his service, it was well worth it every MYR.
NIGHT ONE
Okay, so the children were tired and at some point we did have to go back to our magnificent suite to sleep, the children were all freshly bathed, courtesy of the swimming pool, as reception didn't understand the 'broken shower' dilemma, so off we went, stopping for a shot of this gorgeous resort at night...
On return to our room, we didn't quite know where to start, the children had become quite scared and had decided their was a 'Ghost of Bella Vista' roaming around our room and they were definitely not sleeping in a room by themselves....
So what to do?? I dragged the mattress out of that room and put it on the floor of the luxurious living room.....
So we all bunked down on the floor for the night, bringing in the other mattress as well and every one was happy.
After a lovely nights sleep on stained smelly mattress's that I wasn't going to mention, but the children bought it up anyway, I awoke to a SMS from my Mum letting us know that my beloved grandfather had passed away overnight in his sleep 3 weeks from his 94th birthday. There were many tears and we realised that our 15 day holiday Island hopping throughout Thailand would be cut short, so we decided to get the hell out of here as soon as possible and head to Koh Lipe for the duration of what was left of our time away. We headed down to the Kuah Jetty and booked tickets with Tigerline ferries leaving @ 9am the following morning, It couldnt come fast enough. I remember stopping at Baskins Robbins for Ice cream and Milkshakes whilst our booking was done and flight alterations to make it home for the funeral and just breaking down into tears!!!
On our 2nd and last night we hit the pool but we were suddenly taken over by a very strange group of about 40 middle aged Indian men all swimming in their underwear, (an indie undie Party???), Is this some strange Indian custom??? And mainly nude coloured underwear. It did soon become quite inappropriate when one of them made a comment to my eldest son, so it was time to get the heck out of the pool and relax by that pool bar and watch the glorious sunset.
The next morning before we checked out of this grand hotel, i made the mistake of opening one of the drapes and to my disbelief, look what I uncovered....How disgusting, it was filthy, with old clothing and rubbish lying on the ground...TRIPADVISOR GOLD...out came the camera....
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| The girls posing on their fabulous bed that they were definitely not sleeping in....xx |
So what to do?? I dragged the mattress out of that room and put it on the floor of the luxurious living room.....
So we all bunked down on the floor for the night, bringing in the other mattress as well and every one was happy.
After a lovely nights sleep on stained smelly mattress's that I wasn't going to mention, but the children bought it up anyway, I awoke to a SMS from my Mum letting us know that my beloved grandfather had passed away overnight in his sleep 3 weeks from his 94th birthday. There were many tears and we realised that our 15 day holiday Island hopping throughout Thailand would be cut short, so we decided to get the hell out of here as soon as possible and head to Koh Lipe for the duration of what was left of our time away. We headed down to the Kuah Jetty and booked tickets with Tigerline ferries leaving @ 9am the following morning, It couldnt come fast enough. I remember stopping at Baskins Robbins for Ice cream and Milkshakes whilst our booking was done and flight alterations to make it home for the funeral and just breaking down into tears!!!
On our 2nd and last night we hit the pool but we were suddenly taken over by a very strange group of about 40 middle aged Indian men all swimming in their underwear, (an indie undie Party???), Is this some strange Indian custom??? And mainly nude coloured underwear. It did soon become quite inappropriate when one of them made a comment to my eldest son, so it was time to get the heck out of the pool and relax by that pool bar and watch the glorious sunset.
The next morning before we checked out of this grand hotel, i made the mistake of opening one of the drapes and to my disbelief, look what I uncovered....How disgusting, it was filthy, with old clothing and rubbish lying on the ground...TRIPADVISOR GOLD...out came the camera....
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| The stunning Kitchenette... |
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| If you could only see the view of the old run down buildings in the background....priceless... |
“TOTAL DIVE...................”
3
people found this review helpful
I booked this hotel through agoda and the rooms looked pleasant enough and recently refurbished, well were we in for a royal treat!!!! The once magnificent looking Bella Vista still remains quite regal from the facade and the lobby and I assume there are some rooms that are pleasant and have been refurbished if you look on the website, but this place is a total dive, filthy, dirty and the beds and pillows ( I wasnt going to mention it the next morning, for the sake of the children) but my eldest bought it to our attention that they smelt of URINE!! He was spot on!! We stayed 2 nights and forfeited our 3rd night and got the hell out of the hole. The shower didnt work, noisy, stained walls, badly in need of re plaster/paint job, dodgy light fittings, the list is endless!!! The only good thing about this hotel was the beautiful pool overlooking the bay and the charismatic pool boy 'Silver'. We would sit at the pool and bar and watch the sunset because we didnt want to go back to the horrid room. False advertising Bella Vista, if you dont have all refurbished rooms you shouldnt be able to rent out the dodgy rooms at an overpriced room for what it was.
So come and live the luxurious life. Langkawi’s dream castle awaits you.
So come and live the luxurious life. Langkawi’s dream castle awaits you.
Wow!! What a dive of a resort....false advertising..shame on Bella Vista...:(
ReplyDeleteWow, I'm
ReplyDeleteSpeechless...
information ....good
ReplyDeletei wanna to go my family but you aware me ....thanks
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