More Thoughts on Philea

After the trip to the pool, we went out - via a buggy pick-up to the reception - for a spot of dinner. We decided to try the buffet.

The one opened is called Carvo Carvo. A local and Western diner, which offer a buffet spread - take this, for RM 68 ++. And the spread was really disappointing. It was embarrassing to be honest, both in terms of quality and quantity. They really could do with a new chef. Even their local dessert - ironically sago gula Melaka, you can't get any more local than that - was bad!

I ended up eating my boys a la carte items, which was a lot better. So, don't make the mistake of paying for the expensive buffet. It was not worth it. Go for the a la carte order instead.

The place was nice and peaceful at night. We walked towards the children crèche to see what was on offer. Nothing much. It was meant for toddlers really. But a nice walk by the pool none the less.

At night, the pool and waterfall were lit by floodlights to different colours. There were also a 24 hours room service of you fancy that, as well as free wifi in the compound. Unfortunately, since our room was at the opposite end of the resort, no wifi for us. The Celcom coverage was also on an Edge network. No high speed Internet for us unfortunately.

Saturday night was football night. And football does not know holidays. The room does not have Astro Sports Channels believe it or not, although the bar does. No Internet. No football. I went to bed by 10 pm. And it was Saturday evening!

The Pool is Cool

This place is a blast. In not talking about the food, nor the activities you can get your teeth into, but just the venue. A quick escape from KL by the highway - checked. Nice spacious room - checked. Nice pool with separate area for kids - checked. Kids play room - checked.

So, what more can you ask? More about that later. Let's now concentrate on the positives.

As you arrived at the main lobby, you leave your luggage and then drive your car to the carpark located round the corner - quite far from the main reception area unless you are a VIP. Like anything else in Melaka, VIP get separate treatment re Ali Rostam.

While you're checking in, you were given a fresh towel to clean up and a glass of nice drink to quench your thirst. Argh!

Checking in was straight forward as we had already paid online. The room we got was right on the opposite end of the resort. The honeymoon area I supposed. We should have gone for the villa rather than a standard room. For the price we already paid, the extra wound make much difference.

We were really impressed with the room. It was all timber, with a comfortable bed, a verandah with nice breeze. The tall ceiling with a fan made the room feel cool, and the lighting brought the ceiling window made for an airy feeling. You have a dressing area, a couple of sofa in the room and more seating at the verandah. Once you get into the room, you just wanted to stay indoors and forget about what's going on outside.

But we had to go out, and off the the pool we went. Was it worth the venture out? It was. The pool was real nice. Separate main and wading pool. Nice afternoon breeze on an overcast day. They have small pavilion for you to chill if you just wanted to sit down and nap. We had a whale of a time by the pool and only got out near Maghrib.

Walked back to our room, hit the shower, and then off for dinner.

More about the dinner as unfortunately that was a drag. Suffice to say, the room was excellent. Clearly a lot of effort was put into the built and ambiance. Unfortunately, it lacked a full package to be worth the excess of RM 600 we paid for the stay.