It was our last full day in Langkawi, our last full day in Malaysia. And our last stop in the country was Tanjung Rhu Resort, and here, for the past two days, we’ve done nothing but eat, relax, and laze around. It was just what we needed after traveling our way through the colorful streets of Penang and Langkawi’s Pantai Cenang.

SUNSET AT TANJUNG RHU BEACH

Tomorrow, we fly to Singapore, the third leg of our Backpacking With A Kid trip. But for now, we savor the setting sun while we laze on a sandy beach almost all to ourselves. It was quite perfect—well, okay, not really. If we have a cold, cold beer in hand, then that would really make it perfect.

An island vacation on an island vacation? That’s just how our stay went after our three-day stay at Pantai Cenang. I mean, yes, we’re already on a vacation—a 35-day tour around Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines, to be exact—but on the Langkawi Island leg of our trip, we moved from one of the most popular vacation spots in Malaysia to a more remote one. Well, not really that remote—it’s just a zoom of a speedboat away from Chenang Beach across the Senari Strait—the exclusive Rebak Island Resort; a private island resort in Langkawi Island.

Pantai Cenang is said to be the most visited beach in Malaysia—it is, shall we say, Malaysia’s version of our Boracay. We’ve visited Langkawi a couple of times before, but it is actually the first time we’re staying in the exact vicinity, courtesy of Mercure Langkawi Pantai Cenang. We’re definitely excited since we haven’t fully tried the Pantai Cenang experience before since we’re usually lodged on the more remote parts of the island during the past visits.

But what exactly can you do in Pantai Cenang, or Chenang Beach, for it to deserve a base camp for your Langkawi adventures? Well, for such a small area, quite a lot.

With free time to spare—we arrived very early in Langkawi from Penang and our room at Mercure Langkawi Pantai Cenang was still unavailable—we decided to visit one of Langkawi’s most popular tourist spots, the Underwater World Langkawi.

KID A AND BG AT PANTAI CENANG BEACH

Located at the southern end of Pantai Cenang or Cenang Beach, it can easily be accessed by booking Grab cars, passing taxis, or simply by walking—that is if you’re staying along the Pantai Cenang area of Langkawi like us. So, walk we did.

It was our third time in Langkawi, and this time we’re bringing our four-year old toddler along with us. Langkawi was the second leg of our month-long Backpacking With A Kid 2023 trip. And our first stop here, Mercure Langkawi—a four-star hotel along the island’s famous Pantai Cenang or Cenang Beach.

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Mercure Langkawi Pantai Cenang Blog Review TABLE OF CONTENTS ~ WHAT’S INSIDE? Checking In Swimming Pool & Play Room Our Room Toilet & Bath In-House Dining Best Location

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CHECKING IN

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MERCURE LANGKAWI’S LOBBY

Straight from a very early morning flight from Penang, we sped directly to Mercure Langkawi from the Langkawi International Airport. It took less than twenty minutes before the Grab car we booked was slowing down at the resort’s driveway.

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EARLY MORNING SWIM

Since it was still quite early, like eight in the morning early, we expected that we probably would have to wait for our room to be available. Check in time was at still at three in the afternoon. Not wanting to waste time, we asked if we can use the pool while waiting, to which they quickly agreed.

SWIMMING POOL & PLAY ROOM

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MERCURE LANGKAWI’S POOL FROM THE RESTAURANT BALCONY

Mercure Langkawi Pantai Cenang has a huge outdoor swimming pool centrally located on their atrium.

We love how it has a sizable section for kids as our son loves swimming. The kiddie pool has a depth of about two feet, perfectly safe for toddlers. We also love the open gazebo besides it—it’s actually where we temporarily parked our luggage and bags as we swam the morning away. Our son specially liked the Jamaican cherry or aratilis tree beside the pool, particularly its small sweet fruits.

The adult pool, on the other side, is about five-foot deep and has a decent length, perfect for my daily swimming laps.

EXPLORING LANGKAWI’S UNDERWATER WORLD BEFORE GOING BACK TO CHECK IN

After having had our fill of morning swim, we dried off, deposited our bags with the concierge, walked towards breakfast along the nearby restaurants, before heading off to the Underwater World Langkawi—which is just within the resort’s area.

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KID A, AT THE PLAYROOM

We returned to Mercure Langkawi after our underwater exploration and an interesting nasi lemak lunch at McDonald’s. Unfortunately, our room was still being prepared, so we headed off to the resort’s Play Room. As Kid A happily played with the toys, I immediately went for the soft chair and promptly fell to sleep.

Some minutes before 3PM, I was awoken by my wife, our room was finally ready.

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OUR ROOM

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THE PRIVELEGE ROOM, OURS FOR THREE DAYS IN LANGKAWI

We were billeted on Mercure Langkawi’s Privelege Room for three days. It’s actually one of the accommodations at the ground floor that has direct access to the swimming pool from the room balcony. Sweet.

The room is tastefully decorated in dark earthy colors splashed with a shocking orange headboard for accent. I love the compass print on the walls too.

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LOVELY READING SPOT & COFFEE NOOK

On one corner of the room was an inviting couch with a faux rattan weaving paired with an ottoman. A cozy corner for reading, or in our case, socmed-ing, lol.

The coffee corner was also a delight for caffeine lovers with its Lavazza BLUE coffee machine and pods. A mini-fridge, perfect for our alcohol stash, was available just below it.

THE BALCONY HAS DIRECT ACCESS TO THE POOL ~ PHOTO BY BLISSFULGURO

The balcony was where we spent most of our time in Mercure Langkawi, when we’re not swimming that is. Well, the two is somewhat connected, literally, since it opens straight to the pool.

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TOILET & BATH

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SNAZZY TOILET & BATH

Accessed by a wooden sliding door, the room’s toilet and bath is really spacious. Besides its striking interiors—the hanging massive circular mirror against a blue hexagonal-tiled wall was quite lovely—I also appreciated the separate enclosures for the water closet and shower.

AN EARTH-SAVER, FILTERED WATER FAUCET

But the best part of their toilet and bath was their 3M-filtered water faucet. Being an environment advocate, I highly appreciate how they’re reducing the amount of plastic water bottles hotels consume daily. I hope this becomes a standard for all hotels. And, of course, their bath soap and shampoo were also refillables from Elemental Herbology.

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IN-HOUSE DINING

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CAT AT THE LOBBY & OUR EVENING DRINKS

Mercure Langkawi has a full-fledged restaurant at the upper level of the resort and a bar at the lobby.

While we really didn’t get to try their 99 Islands Lounge and Bar—each guests are given a complimentary drink upon check in, by the way. We mostly had our evening drinks on our balcony, courtesy of the extremely affordable spirits available in Langkawi—the whole island is duty free. Hello, limited edition Absolut Vodka.

RICE GARDEN’S SOPHISTICATED INTERIORS

Rice Garden, their in-house restaurant, was where we have our daily complimentary breakfast buffet. They serve a good mix of Western and Malaysian dishes on a really nice art deco-ish interiors.

THE BEST MASHED POTATO & RICE GARDEN CAKES

While most of their dishes were good, the most notable one we had was, surprisingly—not our favorite mee goreng noodles—but rather, of all things, their mashed potato. Yes. Mashed potato. Rice Garden’s baked mashed potato quiche was simply the best mashed potato we’ve ever had. Bar none.

RICE GARDEN’S NASI KANDAR DAUN PISANG AT MERCURE LANGKAWI

Aside from their breakfast buffet, we were also invited to try their Nasi Kandar Daun Pisang—a traditional Malaysian mixed rice meal set on a banana leaf. It consists of what seems like basmati rice, prawns, fish, beef, veggies, boiled egg, crispy kropuk, and a slew of side dishes.

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BEST LOCATION

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HAWKER FOOD NEAR THE RESORT

The best part of staying at Mercure Langkawi is its proximity to everything Pantai Cenang. It’s near restaurants and hawker stalls, grocery stores, and numerous duty free shops. it’s also within striking distance to utilities like self-serve laundry, and tourist spots like Underwater Langkawi.

SPENDING TIME WITH KID A AND BG AT CENANG BEACH

But most importantly, even if it’s not a beachfront resort, it’s literally just across Cenang Beach. This is where we spent most of our time in Pantai Cenang—from morning exercise walks, afternoon beach time, and relaxed evening strolls.

 

Mercure Langkawi Pantai Cenang Pet Policy: Unfortunately for pet lovers, Mercure Langkawi Pantai Cenang is not pet-friendly. It does not allow pets on its property.

~ OUR GRATITUDE TO MERCURE LANGKAWI FOR HOSTING OUR STAY, VIEWS & OPINIONS ALL MINE

Mercure Langkawi Pantai Cenang ► ROOM RATES
Address: 2500 Jalan Pantai Cenang, Kedawang, Langkawi, Kedah, Malaysia
Contact Number: (604) 952-5888  
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GPS Coordinates Map: 6.359888, 99.704619

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It was strange, a chilly morning in Malaysia. The only temperature I know when in the country is hot, and hotter. The clouds were low, thinly blanketing the ridges of the karsts surrounding us, overgrown with hardy vegetation. Below, the water was almost green, its color muffled by the gray clouds overhead. Boats zigged and zagged along its placid surface, ferrying early tourists along the mangroves, their faces marveling at the scenery along the geopark.

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It was our last few hours in Langkawi and before boarding the plane to Penang, we dropped by the Century Helang Hotel—one of the sister hotels of Century Beach Langkawi Resort—for our final Langkawian lunch. It’s been seven days since we set foot on the island and this can’t be a more fitting send-off before we launch to the next leg of the Beach Hop Asia 2016 tour.
 
Century Helang is located near the airport, like three minutes by foot away from it. Their in-house restaurant was the perfect place to have lunch and lounge around before leaving Langkawi.

Exquisite rock formations soared into the blue sky as we flew across the waters along the northeastern tip of Langkawi. Aboard a red jetboat, we watched in awe as one gigantic karst sped past our view after another; I’ve never seen so many of these towering sentinels packed in a single area! Well, okay, this place is very similar to El Nido and Halong Bay, only more compact.

ONE OF LANGKAWI GEOPARK’S TOWERING ROCK FORMATIONS

Welcome to the Kilim Karst Geoforest Park, our host exclaimed above the racket our craft was making. The park, spread over a hundred square-kilometer area, is part of the three UNESCO World Heritage Sites on the island, the other two being Mount Machincang Geoforest Park and the Dayang Bunting Marble Geoforest Park, which, unfortunately we were unable to visit.

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