PARKROYAL Langkawi

The Best Short Getaway We Didn't Want to Leave

Langkawi is actually a cluster of 99 islands in the Andaman Sea (the number famously rises to 104 at low tide, when a few extra sandbanks poke through), and it's been a UNESCO Global Geopark since 2007 and a duty-free destination since 1987 — which explains why it's such an easy sell for a short family trip from Singapore. We stayed three nights at PARKROYAL Langkawi, on Pantai Tengah, a quieter stretch of beach just south of the livelier Pantai Cenang strip.

Getting There from Singapore

We flew direct from Singapore's Changi Airport to Langkawi on Scoot, a flight of just under an hour and a half. From the airport, it's a short transfer to Pantai Tengah. In under half a day door to door, we'd gone from the Singapore skyline to a beachfront resort with our own private pool.

First Impressions

The view was what made us fall in love with the resort. From the balcony, the hillside behind the property rolls down toward the town, with older colonial-style buildings and a distinctive hillside sign standing out against the green.

On the other side of the resort, the infinity pool runs almost to the edge of the beach, with a scatter of small islands visible offshore — a fairly typical Langkawi view, since the archipelago's other islands are rarely far from sight wherever you're staying.

A Room That Passed Our Cleanliness Test

We booked the Premier Ocean View Room with a private pool — 83 square metres, a king bed, and a pool literally attached to the room via a private terrace. We pay close attention to cleanliness when staying in hotels, and this one didn't give us anything to flag: the room was spotless from check-in, and housekeeping kept it that way throughout the stay.

The Private Pool Was Worth Every Dollar

Our private pool quickly became our favourite place in the resort. Our daughter would jump straight into the water while we relaxed nearby, and by night, the same pool lit up against the dark sky and sea beyond the balcony rail turned into a completely different, quieter kind of view. Looking back, we probably spent more time here than anywhere else in the resort.

From Breakfast to Sunset Dinners

Breakfast at CASSIA Restaurant offered a solid spread of local, Asian and Western options — enough variety that three mornings in a row never felt repetitive. Dinner at Lancava, the resort's other restaurant, was the highlight of the food side of the trip: a beautifully plated fish dish with a crisp potato nest on top was easily the best thing we ate all stay, and our daughter got thoroughly absorbed in a dessert almost too pretty to eat.

Beach Walks and Poolside Lounging

We spent slow mornings walking the beach, with the waves rolling in against Pantai Tengah's pale sand and a scatter of green islands visible along the horizon — a reminder that even a "single island" holiday here usually comes with dozens of others in view. Around the main pool, a covered walkway and a cluster of oversized daybeds made for an easy spot to sit out the hottest part of the afternoon.

We also wandered up to the resort's rooftop terrace and gardens for a change of scene, catching wide views over the property and coastline, with the sea, nearby islands, and the resort's own architecture all visible from different vantage points around the grounds.

Final Thoughts

If you're looking for a beach escape that's easy to reach from Singapore, PARKROYAL Langkawi is hard to beat. Between the private pool, the food at Lancava, and Pantai Tengah's quieter stretch of sand, three nights felt like the minimum rather than the maximum — we left already talking about coming back for longer.