Tom Westin Desaru Coast Resort was our first stop during a 4D3N visit to Desaru! It has been a while since our last visit to Desaru, staying at the Sand and Sandals Desaru and having fond memories by the clear blue seas. As the ferry has not yet opened up post-COVID, we headed over by land. This time, we snagged a land transfer from our apartment, crossing the customs and dropping us off direct at Westin Desaru, all for the price of $150 (per way). A little expensive but there’s no need to bring your luggage down for scans, perfect for those family trips…
Book with Agoda Here: Westin Desaru Coast Resort
We set off at 615am in the morning and arrived at about 745am. Sunrise was beautiful and the traffic was smooth. We learnt from our driver that there’s actually a small trick while crossing the customs. If you’re heading into Malaysia, follow a Malaysian car, they will clear customs more quickly and smoothly as compared to a Singaporean car. The opposite is true when returning back to Singapore.
Book with Agoda Here: Westin Desaru Coast Resort
Arriving at Westin Desaru Coast Resort
The sun had already rose when we arrived at Westin Desaru and we were greeted by the grand lobby of Westin Desaru. Spacious with a high ceiling of wave design. The best part? The view that overlooks all the way out to sea…
As we still had some time before our room was ready, we decided to check out the hotel’s premise…
We must say that the hotel’s facade is rather impressive. While not the most impressive (read our next post to find out which Desaru Coast hotel is), we love the nice clean lines, water feature, infinity pool and best of all, easy access to the clear blue waters of Desaru, right next to Westin Desaru…
What we really liked about Westin Desaru is its access to the beach. The beach and the beach chairs/umbrellas are shared by both Westin Desaru and Hard Rock Hotel but of the two hotels, only Westin Desaru is right next to the beach. Guests of Hard Rock Desaru will still need to take a short walk over. Of course, Anantara Desaru Coast and Villas have their own private beach next to it, and arguably at the best location along the coast line. But when it comes to price of the accommodation, Westin Desaru is definitely more competitive.
As we were pretty early (arriving before 8am), we decided to hang out by the pool while most of the guests were still having breakfast. We soon found that arriving early is actually a pretty good strategy to extend your stay a little. Not only will you have longer access to the amenities, the pool would be quite empty, and you’ll be able to get some nice instagrammable shots as well…
The swimming pool was actually warm – in the morning! Then we discovered that Westin had chosen the correct tile which absorbed alot of the warmth from the sun, allowing the pool to be heated up even by 9am. The only downside? Remember to wear your flip-flops while walking on these tiles, they can be scorching! Ouch!
This is because, the pool can get rather crowded by 9am in the morning. By this time, most have finished their breakfast and would try to squeeze in a last pool session before checking out. This is what to expect…
Well, the cool thing was that by the time it’s 12pm, the pool would be relatively empty by then. The off-peak then stretches to 2 or 3pm (probably due to the afternoon siestas), then it becomes crowded once again. At about 10am, our room was ready and it was time to check out our Premier Sea View Room at Westin Desaru! We got the room for about $300SGD which comes with breakfast – not too bad a deal given the skyrocketing prices at Desaru Coast.
Book with Agoda Here: Westin Desaru Coast Resort
Westin Desaru Premier Sea View Room Review
Our Premier Sea View Room was located at the top floor (level 7) with high ceilings and unblocked view of the seas…
Once we entered the room, we were pleasantly surprised by the amazing views from the room. You’ll be able to sea the activities by the beach along with unblocked views for miles – a breath-taking view indeed…
The rest of the room was rather luxe as well…
The room itself is actually very large. At 42sqm, there’s a king-sized bed as well as a large circular sofa – perfect for lounging around. Cable TV, ample supply of water as well as a fridge and coffee/tea amenities…
Of the 3 resorts (along with Anantara Desaru Resort & Villas), we were most satisfied with the size, comfort, view and price of the Premier Sea View Room at Westin Desaru. Even the view outside our room of Hard Rock Desaru was beautiful…
Soon, it was time to check out the beach – the must-do when visiting Desaru, checking out the fine sand and clear blue waters of Desaru…
Book with Agoda Here: Westin Desaru Coast Resort
Day at the Beach next to Westin Desaru
We headed over to the beach slightly before 11am and there were still many beach chairs available. The sea was super duper clear…
We started our holiday with a Mai Tai (38RM) and the Aqua Panna (20RM). The mai tai was decent, of course, not as good as the ones we had at Grand Hyatt Kauai’s Luau, but was still a rather good start to an amazing holiday. Needless to say, the Aqua Panna was a rip-off. So remember to bring along the water provided in-room, ice is also provided via room service.
We continued to lounge through lunch, having the Desaru Burger. At 55RM ($17SGD), the Desaru burger was rather good. Comes in a hearty and tasty portion of the beef patty, along with a crisp potato-cut fries. A perfect beach grub.
Like most families at Westin Desaru, we avoided the hot afternoon sun and did a little siesta of our own…
Our Evening at Westin Desaru
Winding down the evening, we had a little cocktail hour of own along with some food which we ordered via Grab…
Although the food that we ordered via Grab was not that great, it was cheap. The 3 dishes you see above, inclusive of delivery, came up to only 25RM. This is in contrast to the 20RM Aqua Panna water featured earlier. The only issue is that you’ll have to send someone (in this case Tom) to collect the food from the hotel lobby of a 5-stars hotel. After our self-prepared hors d’oeuvres and cocktails, we headed out for a walk along the beach…
We were actually scouting the route to our next hotel at Anantara the next day. Apparently, we were told by the staff of Westin that you’d not be able to stroll over as it was “too far”. The concierge also quoted us a 20RM transfer via taxi (with Grab available at only 5RM). However, we saw that Anantara Desaru was actually just next door on Google Map. Hence, we decided to walk along the road plied by the shuttle bus. Then, we found that you could actually walk over and enter by the side gate from Westin Desaru to Anantara Desaru. But you will have to get your reservations ready to show the guards. Otherwise, outsiders were not able to enter its premise.
After our walk, we also played a little game of carrom at the basement (next to the Spa) of Westin Desaru…
As it was already rather late, we collected the carrom from Heavenly Spa but returned it at the lobby as the staff had left by then…
For dinner, we originally wanted to dine at Prego. When at Westin, dine at Prego. That’s what you do right? You’d want to try out the Italian flavours of pasta and pizza from Prego. However, we were told, at 9pm, that the restaurant was closed for an internal staff meeting. Well, that would the kind of reason to give your guests on a Wednesday night with low traffic at the restaurant – I guess. Hence, we went with the in-room dining of Hawaiian Pizza (55RM), the next closest option to what one might find at Prego. But, it was just ok…found the ham to be a little “funky”. Therefore, head to Prego if the opportunity presents itself.
To round up the evening, we stay in our room, hearing the sound of the waves and caught some movies. The night view of Hard Rock was rather interesting as well with its neon lightings…
You may also like: Anantara Desaru Coast Resort & Villas Review: Hotel with the Best Beach Access in Desaru!
Breakfast at Westin Desaru Coast Resort
During our stay, we had to choose from one of the three breakfast timings available at Westin Desaru.
Session 1: 0630-0745
Session 2: 0745-0900
Session 3: 0900-1015
This time, we chose the earliest session so that we could enjoy breakfast with the sunrise and also take some decent untouched food photos for our readers – neh, it’s just our OCD-ness at play 😝
Based on the photos above, you’d agree with us that the breakfast selection at Westin Desaru is very extensive. In the taste department, the selection is above-average and we really liked the Nasi Lemak here. The toast over charcoal was rather good as well. Just that we almost started a little fire while toasting it. Apparently, the chef left the thongs next to the charcoal which made it really hot. We had to use a cloth to wrap around the thongs to use it. Hope the staff sees this feedback and place the thongs at a correct place. Otherwise, we really enjoyed this dish. Omelette was good as well. For coffee, we had double shot espresso with 2 portions of milk which came out nicely. Here’s the other dishes that we tried during breakfast at Westin Desaru Coast Resort…
Although we stayed slightly longer (as we arrived slightly later) than the stipulated timings, no staff came around to ask us to leave. It was pretty much free and easy and we were able to enjoy our breakfast leisurely, trying out all the different offerings at breakfast. In our opinion, breakfast at Westin Desaru was one of the best as well.
Heavenly Spa at Westin Desaru Coast Resort
Our deal at Westin Desaru included a 60 minutes massage experience. For a top up of $100, we were able to add the massage for 2 pax, which worked out to be $50/pax for massage at a 5-stars hotel. This was quite a deal. If you see the offer, do give it a try as well!
Upon entry into Heavenly Spa, we were greeted by the staff who provided us with towels and welcome drink to ease us into our treatment. For our treatment, we went with Urutan Malaysia (Kate) and Golfer’s Massage (Tom)…
Prior to our treatment, we were led to the lounge to just relax. You can choose to have some snacks while enjoying the calming music within. After our room was ready, our masseuse led us to our massage rooms. There’s actually also an option to utilise the wet facilities of steam room, sauna and jacuzzi if you like to, prior to your treatment…
As for the treatment proper, we entered the treatment room and started off with foot scrub and warm towel wrap over our feet. Then we were asked whether we need the blinds to be down as we were able to see the gardens outside – guests do walk by sometimes. As it was an one-directional window (we didn’t verify though), we continued with our treatment without the blinds up. Complete trust in our masseuse. 😅
Both massages were excellent. Especially for Tom, the masseuse was able to focus on the problematic areas, allowing Tom to drift in and out of his snooze. All these, while drooling substantially throughout the treatment. 😴
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Check out this video review of our stay at Westin Desaru Premier Sea View Room!
Conclusion
Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed our stay at Westin Desaru Coast Resort. The service was impeccable – we had all round smiles from the staff throughout the stay. Location of the hotel was good with its position next to the beach. Our Premier Sea View Room had probably one of the best sea views out there which made our stay. Breakfast was shiok while the massage experience at Heavenly Spa was simply perfect. Of course, there are small little areas that could be improved – such as the “cargo-lift” like lifts – which, surprisingly was found across all the resorts. Nonetheless, if we were to choose, Westin Desaru would definitely be a hotel that we’d return again in the future. If you have stayed at Westin Desaru Coast Resort, let us know what you think in the comments section below!
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Westin Desaru Coast Resort Review: Probably the Best Hotel in Desaru!
Anantara Desaru Coast Resort & Villas Review: Hotel with the Best Beach Access in Desaru!
Hard Rock Hotel Desaru Coast Review: Best Access to Adventure Waterpark Desaru
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