Legend International Water Homes, PD

When I say Legend, I mean The Legend International Water Homes, a new hotel right next to Legend Water Chalet which I was sure was under the same management. I was invited to attend a weekend talk there a couple of weekends back and brought the boys around on tow. We were put up at the Water Homes, on the 7^th floor. Puan Anita was initially disappointed as she was hoping to get a chalet rather than an apartment, but her disappointment soon evaporated when she saw the room interior.

The room was huge, the size of probably a flat in KL. We had the main bedroom, which had 2 queens bed, with ample space to walk around. You walk in, through a small kitchenette and then a dressing area and the bathroom. The width of the room alone was around 20 yards. You then exit through a door by the bedroom, into a swimming pool. Yes, an indoor swimming pool - not just an oversized bath - but a proper one, and it was for our unit alone. Amazing!

Behind the pool, there was an outdoor shower in the private courtyard, with plants and a great view of sunset in late evening. What more can you ask? Well a good in-room dining for a start, but more about that. First order of business as soon as we checked-in was to jump into the pool. Wohoo! The boys were super excited. Unfortunately, I can only join them for half an hour as my talk was about to start. They stayed on a bit longer.

We returned to the pool later that afternoon after my talk. All in, goggles on, life buoy on tow, everybody in! The depth was only 4 feet, but it was still too deep for the two of them. I managed to teach them how to peddle with the buoy, making my job babysitting them that much easier. While we were having a dip, Anita ordered room service. The service was prompt, but unfortunately the food was not that good.

Didn't take much to mess the room upI then enjoyed an outdoor shower in the sunset, but while turning the water off, I damaged the tap. Oh dear! A quick phonecall to reception and the plumber was in within 10 minutes and the thing got fixed straight away. That was excellent! I had to go out for dinner that evening, leaving the boys and Puan Anita to again order in. This time, they decided to order Western - the boys had some tomato mozzarella pizza. It turned out that the chef there was more inept at preparing Western food rather than local, so bear that in mind the next time anyone visits the place. I had a barbecue dinner on the 9^th floor - which was the rooftop. It was OK, great company, but as the company which invited us started with a show - asking for audience participation, the hall quickly emptied!

Armed and dangerous

Another plus point for the place was free internet. And it was proper internet, not just snail-paced connection. I was downloading at speeds exceeding 100kb/s. Very decent! The TV channels were also very good. They had all the major sports channels as well as movies and Disney’s - I can watch United that evening, but alas I was too tired and fallen asleep. The beds were very comfortable and the lighting in the pool was very soothing at night. We slept well, and woke up late for breakfast.

Breakfast was another surprise. It was very good. They had a decent buffet selection, and the omelet was very well made. They had children in mind with the selection of cereals and tit bits. We spend nearly an hour down there.

All in all, it was a decent resort and we enjoyed the stay. I made a few inquiry and apparently the cost for the room we had was around RM500 which I thought was very reasonable, considering you would have to pay more than that for a smaller room at Avilion, close by. And that room does not have an in-room swimming pool. There were many pluses - free Internet, decent breakfast spread, friendly staff - they actually referred me as Dr Haris after finding out my room number, great maintenance when we called for the plumber, and decent selection of TV channels. It was not often that I get to watch my beloved United playing in the room when I room in a hotel.

As far as the minus goes, they could do with a few extra lifts. The couple of guest lifts doubled as porter lifts as well. I decided on a few occasion to take the stairs rather than using the lifts. The in-door dining could have been better and if you must order, make sure that you order Western.

Would I recommend the hotel to anybody - yes, definitely. In fact we were actually planning to return there at some point and we would not mind paying for the room. It appeals to small family and to be honest, I could have shared the room with my sister and her family if we wanted to as the room were big enough. Carry yourself a couple of sleeping bags and you are done! The hotel is situated to the north of the town centre and was very well sign-posted. You can’t miss it!