WHAT do we want from our vacations? More specifically, what do we want from hotels, our brief homes away from home?
For many, it’s enough to get a small room in a big hotel with the bare necessities as just a place to keep their belongings while they see the sights. For others, they want a top resort with the maximum amount of luxury to take their minds off the stresses of daily life.
The Temple Tree Resort Langkawi offers a unique experience that’s a real escape from both the usual travel routine and the modern world. Instead of a concrete and glass tower filled with seemingly cookie-cutter rooms, there are eight incredibly well-preserved heritage houses of different sizes and accommodations for every kind of traveller.
Located just a short drive from Langkawi International Airport, Temple Tree has an atmosphere that just invites you to disconnect for just a little while. From the smell of the fresh ocean breeze to the quiet (with the exception of planes going to and fro the airport every half hour or so), it’s easy to relax.
Irene Vairo, a native of Cuorgnè (Turin), Italy, has lived on the island since 2016, and has been the resort manager at Temple Tree Langkawi since December 2020, falling in love with the place.
“When I first came here, the property gave me a very good vibe, a property with a soul, so different from other properties. I’ve worked in big hotels before and it’s nice, but nothing that captured my mind and made me say ‘Oh my god, this is a place I want to work for,” she said.
The centrepiece of the hotel is the eight heritage houses, seven of which are used for accommodating visitors, with one serving as the location for the reception and the restaurant. Each house is unique, but combined there are 21 distinct rooms and suites that can serve lone travellers, couples, and even families with pets.
A tour of the property
The reception area for Temple Tree Langkawi is in the first heritage house you enter, Ipoh House, which was originally from the Ipoh town centre, the back portion being built in 1900 in the Aceh style, while the front was built in 1903 in a colonial style. The building’s original owners were tin miners.
This is also where the hotel bar and restaurant are located, with retro-style furnishings and brass fittings, as well as great views of the resort, especially during sunsets. The menu is a mix of local favourites and international fare, though it is going through a bit of a revamping to stay fresh. Depending on the night there might also be entertainment, though do beware of mosquitoes – that’s just an unavoidable part of being outdoors.
Going from Ipoh House to the rest of the hotel grounds, there’s the eponymous temple tree, a vestige of the time when the area was a coconut plantation not too long ago. The tree itself is actually two trees, a banyan tree and a palm tree that have grown together for about 100 to 150 years. It’s always been here and they didn’t want to remove it because it was unique. There’s now also a pond with koi fish that adds to the tranquil air.
The grass is well-manicured, with paved and well-shaded footpaths leading to the various homes. There’s also one long swimming pool to cool off in, which is necessary given the incredibly humid weather as of late.
Checking out the houses
Besides Ipoh House, the heritage homes at Temple Tree are Straits House, Johor House, Colonial House, Estate House, Plantation House, Penang House, and Negeri Sembilan House. Aged between 90 to 100 years old, they originate from different regions in Malaysia, and come with their own unique story and ambience – no two rooms are the same.
To keep them fresh, a three-person maintenance staff does daily repairs and touch-ups, including checking the condition of the wood – which is extremely important given the humidity and the saltwater in the air. More extensive repair work is done periodically over the course of a year.
Of course, despite all the mentions of heritage and preservation, the hotel still has some of the modern comforts that visitors can expect, such as Wi-Fi and air conditioning. There’s modern furniture aplenty in addition to a television for streaming content.
Straits House
At 90 years old Straits House is the youngest of the heritage houses at Temple Tree, and contains four bedrooms, each with an ensuite bathroom – making it ideal for families or groups of up to eight persons. There’s also a living room and a sunny veranda with dining table. Not to mention, it is the only house with its own swimming pool for private use.
“The concept of Straits is to keep the heritage feeling, but with a touch of modern, for instance, the furniture. Then we decided to have a colourful wall, no other houses have it, so they decided to have something different to showcase it in the property,” said Vairo.
Whilst its exterior preserves the original charm, the interior has a modern look with bright sunny yellow and vibrant sky-blue hues adorning the walls of its bedrooms.
The house has retained its original wooden floors, which have been sanded down and stained, as well as the lattices on the ceiling. Four Oriental wardrobes were specially commissioned for each bedroom to reflect Peranakan culture and heritage.
Staying there for a couple of nights, despite the unique set-up, the experience is not that far removed from a luxury hotel. The bedroom is spacious enough with its own television that you don’t really need to go into the living room. There’s no kitchenette so don’t expect to do any cooking. There is room service available, and you can even have food served to you in the pool, which while fun, is really something for Instagram. You can have a conventional picnic of local favourites as well. Straits House is also the only house with its own pool, but you don’t get a bathtub – sometimes you can’t have everything.
One thing that does take a little getting used to, at least for an urban dweller living in a condo with multiple layers of security, Temple Tree takes a more old-school approach to security in the form of a lock and key, instead of the digital keycards almost every hotel in this price range has.
“I think the way we live on the island is very safe. I know in the big cities it’s very different, but here it’s a very safe island,” said Vairo on the subject. That being said, there are upgrades being planned, including security cameras.
Johor House
Originally a Chinese farmhouse, with Taiwanese influence in its design, the pink house was built about 100 years ago in Batu Pahat Johor. That heritage can be found all over the home’s design, and a family portrait can still be found on the wall in Johor 2, on the upper level.
Johor House has two two-bedroom suites, Johor 1 on the ground level, and Johor 2 on the second floor. Each suite is 90sqm, and can comfortably sleep up to 4 persons or a maximum of 5 persons with an extra bed.
Colonial House
Built by Arab goldsmiths in the 1920s, Colonial House is a grand home that once stood proud in George Town, and boasts a mix of East and West with its Peranakan floor tiles and intricate European cornices.
Housing three one-bedroom suites and one two-bedroom suite, Colonial House can be rented as one house, for family gatherings, sleeping up to 10 guests, or each suite can be rented individually as the suites can all be secured as private rooms with their own entrances.
“One of my favourite rooms is actually in Colonial (House), Colonial 3. It has a king-sized bed upstairs, it’s got a little balcony where you can sit and watch the trees and the squirrels jumping up and down,” said Vairo.
Estate House
Unlike other houses, Estate, a long single-story building, has one unit only and used to be a room for a worker at a plantation, originally from Pasir Puteh, Ipoh. It comes with terracotta floors, white walls, and thick wooden beams. It is often used by guests who bring their pets along with them, making use of the cosy private garden in the back.
Plantation House
Once a spacious wooden Malay artisan's dwelling, it originates from a plantation area on Penang island. The two-storey house is a bungalow with colonial-style window shutters, high ceilings and thick wooden support beams.
It was built by Malays in 1900, but in 1920 it was sold to a Chinese Hakka family, who then built an adjoining house in their own style. During its time, the house was ‘Tua Chua’ meaning the big house. The owners were the Cheong family, rubber and durian farmers.
This house, one of the biggest in Temple Tree, now houses six suites which can sleep up to a maximum of 18 guests across all suites. In addition, the house also includes common areas with lounge spaces and an airy semi-open-air courtyard.
Negri Sembilan House
Once a family home in Mantin, Negri Sembilan, this raised single-storey house is now a luxury suite with stained-glass windows and a spacious front veranda.
Built in the 1920s, this 120 sq m house features two bedrooms, a living/dining area, an outdoor porch. The special feature of this house is its coloured glass windows which are a vibrant contrast to the overall black-and-white colour scheme of the house.
“It’s a bit of everything in Negri Sembilan, it’s the decoration, it’s the only house where you can book the entire house for you, and these beautiful windows as well, no other houses have them, very traditional and colourful glass,” said Vairo.
Penang House
With architecture that reflects the 131 years of British influence on Penang, Penang House features a unique brand of architecture that combines local, Chinese, Indian, Islamic elements.
Originally situated next to Gurney Drive, this house was built in the early 1930s by a Chinese contractor and is very typical of its time. The original exterior colour has been kept, while the interiors are painted white with turquoise shutters and touches of raspberry and lime green.
Things to do
As one of the premiere vacation locations in Malaysia, there is plenty to do in Langkawi from all the beaches – including Pantai Chenang – island hopping, duty-free shopping, and theme parks, among other things.
That can be a lot of walking, but fortunately, Temple Tree offers an in-house full-body massage service done by locals from the area. There’s a bit of pain involved when toes get popped in and out, but the end result is worth it – or at least that’s what you tell yourself to justify the pain.
Speaking of island hopping, the hotel offers rides on a 44-foot-long catamaran that can go around Langkawi so you can hopefully enjoy a sunset out on the waves with a refreshing beverage in hand. Of course, the seas are not always reliable and it can get a bit boisterous out there.
Wrapping up
Saying goodbye to Temple Tree after a couple of days, it was a much-needed respite from the daily grind, something that is easier to feel when the hotel itself can be a transportive experience. Staying there in between jaunts to the rest of Langkawi, it keeps you in the island mindset. Sure, that probably means a couple of extra bites from the local mosquitoes, but that’s just part of the ambiance.
“I want to tell people when they come here what it’s all about, this property, and why we keep it as it is. I think it’s mostly to share the heritage part of Malaysia,” said Vairo. “I think the beauty of this job for me is to tell a story to my guests.”
She speaks with a lot of enthusiasm for her job and the place, you can tell she fell in love with it and Langkawi in general. The majority of guests come from overseas, and the hotel manager hopes that they spread the word, not just about Temple Tree, but about Malaysia itself. – The Vibes, July 22, 2023
