Anantara Desaru Coast Resort & Villas Review: Hotel with the Best Beach Access in Desaru!

Anantara Desaru Coast Resort & Villas is one of most luxurious hotel at Desaru Coast. After our stay at Westin Desaru, we decided to check out Anantara Desaru and check out the many instagrammable spots within the hotel premise.

Book with Agoda Here: Anantara Desaru Coast Resort & Villas

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Checking In At Anantara Desaru

After checking out the walking route from Westin Desaru to Anantara Desaru the day before, we entered Anantara Desaru via its side gate…

The check-in experience at Anantara Desaru was…shall we say…strange…

Although the view was beautiful…

We were told that we were not able to wait at the check-in seats as there were many other guests entering the hotel. Hence, we were asked to scoot out of these seats till our rooms were ready. This was despite the fact that it was drizzling. No staff offered us alternative seats at Observatory Bar nor Turmeric Restaurant. Therefore, we had to weather the drizzle and sit at these seats as the rain started to pick up…

Thankfully, the room was ready pretty quickly at about 1pm and it was time to check out our Premier Room at Anantara Desaru…

Premier Room Anantara Desaru Review

First impressions? At 49sqm, the Premier Room was pretty huge. It comes with a king-sized bed, a bathroom with bath tub and his/her vanity sinks as well as a spacious balcony…

Overall, a very welcoming room with ample space in the balcony to hang out and even enjoy a meal if you choose to. As we were celebrating our anniversary, Anantara Desaru also prepared a little red velvet cake for us to enjoy. Nice touch 🙂

After checking out our room, it was time to check out the facilities at Anantara Desaru…

You may also like: Westin Desaru Coast Resort Review: Probably the Best Hotel in Desaru!

Book with Agoda Here: Anantara Desaru Coast Resort & Villas

Book with Klook Here: Popular Activities in Desaru

Anantara Desaru Coast Resort & Villas Facilities

There are 2 main pools at Anantara Desaru. One is the Lagoon Pool and the other, the infinity pool by the beach. We headed out to the infinity pool first as we were the first ones there after the light rain…

Nestled between Sea.Fire.Salt steak house and Infinity Bar, the infinity pool is one of our favourite places to hang out in the hotel. You can grab a drink, head to the beach for a dip and chill out by the beach chairs – all within proximity of each other. We also stopped by Sea.Fire.Salt to ask about dinner reservations for the evening. Originally, we wanted to try out the dry-aged T-bone steak (porterhouse) for 320RM as well as the Australian Beef Tomahawk (550RM). Unfortunately, the fridge used to do dry-aging was under maintenance.

After that disappointment, we decided to head to Desaru Coast Riverside, only to be disappointed again, somewhat…

During our walk, shops at Desaru Coast Riverside were mostly closed. Probably due to COVID-19. The board walk was rather nice nonetheless and it leads to the entrance of Adventure Waterpark Desaru. As we would be visiting the waterpark through Hard Rock Hotel Desaru the next day, we continued our exploration of Anantara Desaru back at the hotel…

For some of the best views of Anantara Desaru Resort, head to Observatory Bar. There is a bridge connecting to the bar and it was here that we were able to catch some great shots of the resort as shown above. Of course, Observatory Bar itself, is an attraction at Anantara Desaru Coast Resort & Villas. Not only because of the 360 degrees view that it offers, it was also named as one of the top bars in Asia with signature cocktails such as Brewing Up Business (Angostura Bitters, Galangal Cordial, Chrysanthemum Syrup, Lemongrass Syrup , Lemon Juice, Earl Grey Tea, Lime Leaf Infused Gin), Pulling On Those Heart Strings (Black Walnut Bitters, All Spice Syrup, Lime Juice, Palas Supreme Tea, Coconut Syrup, Banana Liqueur, Aged Rum) and The Golden Ocean (Bombay Sapphire, Lychee, Lemon Juice, Lime & Gold Leaf Cordial, Yuzu Tonic). Sounds really yummy doesn’t it? And due to the exchange rate, they’re only going for 45RM (or 20SGD).

Unfortunately for us (again), the Observatory Bar was not open during sunset hours! As dinner (Thai-Laysia Night Buffet) was scheduled to only start at 7pm that evening, we wanted to chill out by the bar and have some pre-dinner drinks, only to find it to be closed. Even the staff at the reception was baffled as to why the bar was closed for the evening – particularly during cocktail hours 😑

Book with Agoda Here: Anantara Desaru Coast Resort & Villas

Book with Klook Here: Popular Activities in Desaru

Thai-Laysia Night Dinner Buffet at Anantara Desaru

Thai-Laysia Dinner Buffet takes place on Thursdays and costs 148+RM per person which translates to about $50SGD per pax. Considering that Anantara Desaru is a 5-stars hotel and that food prices are usually quite pricey, $50 for a full Thailand and Malaysian fare is surprisingly reasonable. Also, there’s seafood and BBQ meats included…

After walking around the buffet and taking some photos, we were really impressed with the variety and selection offered at Thai-Laysia Night. There’s seafood, great selection of Thai and Malaysian dishes as well as some sumptuous looking desserts. The only down-side (so far) is that coffee and tea are not included. Here’s what we tried at Thai-Laysia Night Dinner Buffet…

There are a couple of things to avoid at the Thai-Laysia Night buffet though. The seafood. Those weren’t really fresh. Maybe except for the prawns. But we’ll likely skip the seafood section altogether. Due to the location of the salads (near to the doors), there were also quite alot of flies swirling around the salads. Though appetising, we skipped this section altogether as well. Now on to the good parts.

Most of the Thai dishes were really good. We loved the Phad Thai and the stir-fried crab dish. All of the BBQ items were great as well. Satay was good but the seasoning was a tad too sweet. And of course, desserts were very good. Unfortunately there was no complimentary coffee and tea. Else, it would have been perfect. Another thing that was missing, mango sticky rice! For Thai-Laysia Night, mango sticky rice should have been a must.

Now…to the worst part of the dinner. In Kate’s words, “so memorably horrible” – the music playlist! It was a mix of classical, Chinese EDM and random lounge music. It seemed as though it was done on purpose so that the guests would hear the music and be like, “Let’s get out of here!”. Well, not thaaat bad. But almost. Please look into the playlist you guys. 😖

As we were really full after dinner, we took a short walk around the hotel to “aid digestion”. We also stumbled upon the movie night at Anantara Desaru. The hotel utilised the green lawn and set up a screen with complimentary popcorns. Another great option to keep the kids engaged.

You may also like: Hard Rock Hotel Desaru Coast Review: Best Access to Adventure Waterpark Desaru

Breakfast at Anantara Desaru Coast Resort & Villas Review

Breakfast at Anantara Desaru starts at 6:30am. As our room is located at the block next to the lobby (which makes it ultra convenient), we walked past the check-in area and caught an amazing view of the sunrise this morning. Thank the Lord for His creation! 😊

Breakfast at Anantara Desaru is rather extensive.

Here are some of the offerings we saw at breakfast this morning…

As it was still cool out in the morning, we decided to have the alfresco seats outside – listen to the birds chirping and taking in the crisp fresh air…

The breakfast experience at the alfresco area was simply perfect. In terms of food options, we enjoyed the rendang as seen from the several portions shown (and many more not shown) 😋 Prata was fluffy yet crisp on the outside – straight from the prata station! Western selection was great as well. Made our own cheese and ham croissant which was simple but savoury. The other bits we enjoyed were the sweet cut fruits as well as the latte – yes, you can order latte for breakfast!

This morning, we signed up for the Nature Walk organised by Anantara Desaru Resort. These guided morning walks take place on Monday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. There are 2 sessions at 8am – 9am and 6pm – 7pm. Prior to our walk, we strolled by the beach, just before the sun became a little too hot. It was beautiful walking with a loved one – my bearbear 😘

Ah Long was our guide for the morning walk this morning. As we were the only ones, we had a little private tour of Anantara Desaru’s flora and fauna this morning. We started off near the lobby (where we met Ah Long)…

Right off the bat, we learnt that the site that Anantara Desaru is currently built on, was originally a flat piece of land. The hills and contours that we see at the resort are actually man-made. This is to give the hilly feel, overlooking the beach. The photo above shows the Tecoma Tree. Also known as Trumpetbushes, they usually bloom during dry weather. However, due to climate change, it was still raining even though it was supposed to have reached the dry season. As a result, the Tecoma trees in Anantara has bloomed and stopped blooming a couple of times already – seemingly confused about the weather as well.

There are also button ginger and crepe ginger around the hotel’s premise. They are actually an invasive species – meaning they grow very fast. Good for the hotel’s facade but not so good for the gardeners. They probably have to trim them on a daily basis.

How does one identify a fig tree? By looking at the roots. The roots that grows around the tree, specifically. The leaves are good for filtration but the fruits does sometimes cause drowsiness for the birds. Thereafter, we moved towards the beach to complete the tour this morning…

The large sea almond trees that you see along the beaches of Desaru are natives. This is also why the flowers are on the Desaru flag. According to the locals, the leaves are known to cure land sickness – especially when the fishermen have been out to sea for some time. Likewise, the sea lettuce, according to the locals, are good for food. Also at the beach, we were told of the love story between Naupaka (a Hawaiian Princess) and Kaui (a local fishermen). The flowers of the sea lettuce (or cabbage) are half flowers…

Legend has it that the couple was separated (as with most love stories) and thus the flowers found in the hills and the flowers found at the beach are opposites and when they’re placed together, completes the flowers…

We also learnt that Anantara Desaru Coast Resort & Villa has the best part of the beach. No rocks near its premise. Just waters and fine sand. There’s some small rocks at Westin (but largely safe to swim in) and alot of rocky bits at One and Only (good for instagram shots) which makes Anantara’s stretch of beach, the most pristine.

After the nature walk, we bid farewell to Ah Long and continued our stroll towards One & Only Desaru. Waves crashing onto our feet and taking in the nature all around was just fantastic…

Check out this video review of Anantara Desaru Coast Resort & Villas!

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To end off our stay, we decided to utilise our 150RM credit by the Lagoon Pool. This time, we chilled with the Golden Lands Cocktail – a gin-based cocktail with yuzu tonic water. Complimentary iced lemon water is also served by the pool. Although the pool is slightly colder than that at Westin’s, it was still relatively nice to swim in the Lagoon pool. If you have an opportunity to try out the swing bed by the Lagoon Pool, go for it – very shiok.

In all, Anantara does live up to the “instagrammable” sites that it offers by the beach, its lounge areas and the Observatory Bar. However, we felt that Westin’s overall experience was slightly better. It could be because our check-in experience was slightly marred by the need to leave the lounge area while waiting for our room. Otherwise, if budget allows, Anantara Desaru is still a cool place to check out. The next time we’re there, we’d be sure to try out the Saturday Seaside Escape at Infinity Pool Bar. Let us know if you have experienced it in our comments section below!

Book with Agoda Here: Anantara Desaru Coast Resort & Villas

Book with Klook Here: Popular Activities in Desaru

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