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Depart 29 January 2023

Return 5 February 2023

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What 466 DialAFlight clients thought of Malaysia

Amazing service from Vinnie as always.

Connie has been so helpful. I’ve had additions, cancellations due to deaths, date changes etc and she’s handled it all so efficiently and swiftly. I’ve already recommended DialAFlight to friends and will not hesitate to recommend over and over again. Thank you for all your help. You’ve made everything so easy

Disappointed that only one leg of journey was with Qatar (not your fault!) Malaysian not my favourite airline but BA back to Heathrow very comfortable. I would always recommend DialAFlight and James is always helpful and friendly.

Been with DialAFlight for years and although all the agents I have dealt with have been great, my praises go to Kirsty Farmer. She is not only good at her job, she is friendly, helpful and a really good egg!

Not sure I’d travel with Turkish again as staff very abrupt to point of rudeness. The Datai was exceptional as I knew it would be and the MO in Singapore was the perfect location

Our only challenge is that the flight from Hathrow to Istanbul was due to land relatively shortly before the flight to KL. If we hadn't forced ourselves onto the earlier flight, and downgraded, we would have missed the KL flight. As ever, Stan was a star - he is so good

Abbie was our go to. Very helpfull and professional

Efficient personal service from Riley Ranson

Very helpful and thoughtful service. Particularly liked phone call near departure wishing me good journey. Excellent seat on this flight.

We were happy with everything.

Excellent service particularly the call a few days before departure just to check everything was OK

Excellent advice and support from DialAFlight

As on previous occasions Fergus Convery has provided a first class, friendly and efficient service. He and his team have been pleasant to deal with and prepared to go beyond the simple fact of achieving a sale. Thoroughly recommended.

Good support from Dale with good communications

Troy always delivers for us

Experience was smooth with no hassles. Meals and seats were allocated. Overall a very good experience and would certainly use and recommend in the future.

Everything went well. The hotel in KK caters for groups from Korea and unless you like a barbecue (quite expensive at 168 Ringgit) every night the room service menu is the only option although it can be eaten in the restaurant or bar.

As usual Christian very helpful

We were very happy with the service provided and will definitely use your services again.

After a long wait from our original holiday booked for 2020 we were finally able to go. What a fantastic holiday Troy booked for us in Malaysia. The hotels and locations were excellent. We have recommended DialAFlight to our friends and family.

As usual, all went without a hitch - courtesy of Tristan’s efforts.

Thank you Darryll for your continued excellent service

Great support throughout.

Everything went absolutely according to plan once again. Thank you Karl.

Thanks so much for all your help, and the manner in which it is given

Every seat booked, flight booking was exemplary. Thank you Colin and team at DialAFlight

A shout out to Donovan who was very helpful and got me the best flight deal. He understood the need for me to maximise my time with family during my short visit and got me the best flight schedule possible.

Manny was brilliant

Greg was amazing! The service we got from him and DialAFlight was top-notch. The call just before we went to check we were ready and if we had any questions was a really helpful and nice touch. Thanks to the DialAFlight team and we will definitely be using you for ALL our future travel arrangements.

You exceeded expectations and my flights were great value for money.

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

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