What 10915 DialAFlight clients thought of Asia

Great service as always

Amazing! Sent a thank you note to Tash last night - she was fab - a credit to you

Stacey is amazing at her job. Literally listens to what you want and delivers on every aspect. Couldn’t recommend her enough! 100% will book my next holiday with Stacey and DialAFlight.

Excellent service right from the very first enquiry. Ryan was exceptional in his communication. Will definitely use again

Rebecca was great. Extremely helpful throughout!

DialAFlight's travel manager was very supportive. He explained things very clearly and kept in touch to make sure all was going to plan. He was polite and very kind.

Ian was super helpful, as always and managed to find us the perfect hotel/location all in budget. 10/10

Would have of liked better plane seats

Brandy was most helpful - I will deal with her again 100%

Slightly worried with connecting flight delay

Great service and information

Positive experience and excellent communication

As usual Christian very helpful

Thanks to Isaac for booking us a fabulous holiday

Really good, friendly and informative

Many thanks to Declan - everything was perfect and we had a wonderful holiday.

Thank you to Lucy, will definitely use again

Jim Camahin was brilliant, great service, that's why I use DialAFlight

Marshall is exceptional

Excellent communication and always available promptly on the phone.

All went very smoothly as usual. Amelia looked after me well

Glen Blackburn is a genius.

Justin and the team couldnt have been better thanks so much

Everything made easy and stress free. Excellent support given throughout.

Definitely the best travel agent around. Professional and courteous service and always deliver 100% what they promise. Big thank you to Brody and Dale

Everything went very smoothly. Brilliant as always.

Joe was so helpful, even calling me the night before to check I was happy and ready to go. A fab service! I will definitely use again.

Ring at any time and you can expect to get assistance - so reassuring!

Keep up the good work - everything went like clockwork

Very helpful, can’t fault you

Luxurious Langkawi

The rhythm of the rainforest in Langkawi

Harriet Walker is delighted by the wildlife and stunning scenery on this magnificent Malaysian island - not forgetting the personal butler at the Datai

Just before I settle into one of the Datai's four-hour spa experiences inspired by the Malaysian ramuan tradition of holistic potions sourced from rainforest ingredients, my therapist, Eny, asks what I would rather listen to: music or the jungle.

I'm used to hearing a CD during a massage so I assume both would come out of a speaker, so opt for the latter – and am baffled when my ceremonial flower bath begins in silence. But the more I relax, the more I hear: the babbling of a brook that runs alongside; the strumming of cicadas; macaques calling to each other; humming dragonflies.

I'm sitting on the balcony of a simple wooden hut that's open to the warm island breeze on three sides and nestled in a dappled mangrove forest. I'm wrapped in a traditional hand-printed sarong and being sluiced with warm, floral-infused water.

I move to a warm plunge pool strewn with jasmine blossom, where I sip nectar from a fresh coconut and watch vividly-coloured butterflies fluttering around overhanging branches.

To stay at the Datai, on the Unesco island of Langkawi, is to reassess the meaning of luxury. The Datai was built from trees felled by elephants and is all but invisible above the trees, even from the sands of the tranquil bay it occupies – one of National Geographic's Top Ten beaches. It's in elegant harmony with its surroundings.

The Datai was created in 1993 by Australian architect Kerry Hill and has been recently refurbished to even more exacting standards.

My husband and I stayed in a beach villa with its own pool - and tireless butler, Oscar, who specialised in knowing what we required before we knew ourselves: from afternoon tea and pool inflatables to gin and tonics and a deck of cards for when the sun went down.

The Datai's resident naturalist Irshad Mobarak points out the beautiful birds and butterflies

In touch with nature
The island's white-eyed leaf monkeys paraded along our fence every day. Stepping on to the sands in early morning, we watched the sleek heads of otters swim-ming past and the occasional eagle above.

As well as beach villas there are rainforest pool villas and a new five-bedroom 'Estate', featuring a games room, two pools and a private chef. The other 121 rooms, on a forest ridge, have sea views across to neighbouring Thailand.

A nature centre combines education section, research facility and general chill-out zone for those interested in the surrounding habitats.

Resident naturalist Irshad Mobarak and his team run guided walks around the 750-hectare site to show guests more than 200 species of birds, 49 types of mammal and 400-plus variations of brightly-winged butterflies.

For a better view of such a busy ecosystem, there's a wooden canopy walk winding through the forest. For a true aerial view, there's a cable car rising to 708-metres high Mount Machinchang.

The Gulai House restaurant offers delicious classic Malay curries

I loved a mangrove safari by boat, skimming through tunnels of leafy branches and stopping to observe zany-hued fiddler crabs on the mudflats.
For dining, the Gulai House offers classic Malay curries, served family-style.

I recommend the fish and chicken cooked in brass tandoors. The open-air Pavilion restaurant sits on stilts with views across the forest and serves Thai food.

Moorish influences
Down the road from the Datai, Langkawi’s Four Seasons is known for its Ikan-Ikan restaurant, which offers a contemporary take on traditional dishes, including a tamarind-glazed red snapper and freshly-caught green lobster.

The building style here takes inspiration from Moroccan riads and Moorish gardens. Vast shallow pools reflect the blue of the sky, while brass pendant lights and outdoor showers bring the medina to the Malacca Straits.

It exudes a sort of souk chic, with ornamental infinity pools with gushing fountains and brass statues. The GeoSpa has relaxation platforms floating on decorative pools.

The beach villas are built right on the sand, their sunbathing platforms and floor-to-ceiling windows facing the sea. There's an inevitable opportunity for celebrity-spotting here – we saw a TV star of the 'national treasure' order arrive just as we were checking out.

For the fearless, water sports include the X-Jetblade, which recreates flying on a vertical jet of water - or more gently, the vast hammam-style marble baths are alone worth adding an extra day to your holiday.

Of course we had to leave eventually – but Oscar came to wave us off at the airport, saying: 'We don't say goodbye here. Only see you later.'

First published in The Times - April 2019

More articles below...

For more inspiration, read what travel writers have to say...