We learned about Tiara Beach Resort from our neighbours. They went to the place during the last Hari Raya. According to my neighbour, Kak Rose, Tiara Beach was better than the Australian Gold Coast. This we had to check out. We had been to the Gold Coast a few years back. This award winning resort carries a tagline,” The Place To Be” and claimed to be “Malaysia’s First of Its Kind Water Paradise Resort”.
Overview of the resort from our room
The place was jam packed when we arrived to check in. One had to obtain queue numbers just to register. It was one of the weekends during the school holidays. The welcoming party was lively with clowns and musicians giving the place the holiday mood.
Nina inside our suite
We checked into a family junior suite. It set us back more than RM500. Pricey! The room was big enough for the 4 of us with 2 single beds and 1 double. Nina is back on holiday from Perth. It looked very basic for a RM500 room. We had some problems with flushing the toilet. The job could be accomplished by lifting up the cover and pressing the lever. It was quite unnecessary hustle for staying in a suite. The toilet and shower area is separated only by shower curtain. It made the bathroom very wet after each shower. I hate wet bathroom!
Gang of 3 before Anas went for a dip
The main attraction for the place was the man-made beach 5 times the size of an Olympic swimming pool. That was the first thing that Anas wanted to go. It has water fall with slides. There were far too many people, mostly kids and accompanying adults, in a small pool. After about 1 hour of wading through the water and swallowing some, I decided to leave the family for a round of golf at Guoman, a 9-hole course nearby.
Anas coming down from one of the 2 slides
We paid an extra RM80 for a barbeque dinner at the Garden Terrace. As with most hotels in Malaysia, the food servings were generous. The place was crowded with holiday makers.
After dinner, there were some shows at the open air theatre/stage. It was located in the middle of the residential blocks. I was too tired from walking through 9 holes of golf and decided to stay in the room for some quiet reading. Somehow, the place at the parking lots below was turned into a karaoke centre. It was loud and the bad singers added insult to injury. So much for peace and quiet! Even Anas found it hard to catch his sleep.
We decided to extend another night at Tiara Resort. It was not so much about the place. I wanted to play golf at the Palm Spring Golf Club located right across from the place the following day, Sunday. Furthermore, we wanted to avoid coming back to KL on that Sunday as the city was expected to be very crowded with the Hindus from Hindraf Group trying to hold street rallies to demand compensation from the British government for bringing their forefathers as labourers to Malaya in the early days. The police had set up road blocks every where.
Tiara Beach Resort is just an expensive family weekend retreat. It is far from being close to Australia’s Gold Coast. If not for the golf, I would have a hard time spending 3 days 2 nights at the place. A’Famosa in Melaka would be a better alternative.
