The Danna Langkawi Introduction

The Danna Langkawi is a member of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World group. Made up of 520 hotels from over 90 countries, it’s not so much a hotel chain, rather it’s a group of independant boutique hotels which have come together. I’ve actually been to a few of their hotels in the past including The Sandpiper in Barbados and The Lindos Blu in Rhodes and they’ve always been excellent. The Danna is no exception, with a large impressive main building styled throughout with British colonial decor. It feels modern yet classic at the same time and is elegant throughout.

They have a range of rooms on offer from the basic Merchant Room to extravagent suites. I booked a standard room through Booking.com and we were upgraded to a Grand Merchant Room with Mountain View. And if you’re feeling really extravagent then the private beach villas look really impressive. Though starting at about 7,000 MYR (£1,200) per night the beach villas are incredibly expensive.

As you can see from the below map of Langkawi, The Danna is located on the Western side of the island in a secluded bay almost completely surrounded by rainforest. It’s also only about 10-15 minutes drive from the airport making it super easy to get too. Of several luxury hotels on this island, most can be found nearby. With The Ritz Carlton Langkawi and Datai Langkawi being relatively close.

The Room

As mentioned earlier, we stayed in the Grand Merchant Room with Mountain view. It’s an impressive 70 SQM / 753 SQFT and composed of the main bedroom, bathroom and balcony. All of which are very spacious and luxuriously appointed.

The rooms comes with all the amenities you would expect from a 5 star hotel. Coffee machine, minibar, big tv, safe, nice bathroom amenities, bathrobes, slippers and more. Also, the way it has been furnished and decorated is exquisite. All of the furniture is very high quality (much more so than many 5 star hotels I’ve stayed at). It feels sturdy yet comfortable and well built. The decor also perfectly fits the aesthetic of the hotel. With a blend of modern and colonial style which fits perfectly with the tropical island setting.

The large four postered king bed was extremely comfy. Also, something they boast about on their website is that they use a pillow-top mattress. I didn’t know what that was, but as the name suggests it’s just a mattress with an extra pillow-like layer on top of the normal mattress. It was extremely comfortable and so were the pillows. The bedding too felt soft and high quality. My only complaint is that the mattress was a tad too soft, but that’s more of a personal preference.

Lastly, there’s a surprisingly large balcony with a large sofa bed. We only had the mountain view but even that was quite nice. And when cars weren’t driving by it was quite peaceful just sitting there watching birds flying around the rainforest. They did also leave a letter in the room saying not to leave the doors open to stop insects coming inside, so be careful of that too.

The Bathroom

The Bathroom is also one of the best hotel bathrooms I’ve experienced. With opulent stone tiling (marble maybe?) and wooden clading it looks luxurious. It’s also extremely spacious with a his/hers sink and a spot to sit/apply makeup in the middle. That’s on top of the makeup stand in the bedroom itself.

There’s also a large walk-in rainfall shower with a cool wooden floor which the water disappears into. Next to that is my favourite feature is the large bath tub which also has a good view of the surrounding jungle. Lastly, the amenities are high quality from a brand called Laura Tonnato by La Bottega. I’d never heard of them but they were good, and judging from their website, quite expensive.

Pool & Beach

Starting with the pool, it’s massive with one large main swimming area plus at least 3 shallower areas to relax or for children. During our stay it was never really more than half full so there were always plenty of sunbeds available. Most of the sunbeds are around the pool, but a few (pictured below) are actually partially submerged. Not sure how practical that is, but I suppose it’s nice if you want to dangle your feet in the water or something. During the day, staff would come around with water, fresh fruit and ice cream which is a nice touch.

It’s more obvious in my Youtube review at the top of this page, but the whole poolside is lined with magnolia trees. Luckily for us they happened to be flowering during our visit which really enhance the pool’s atmosphere and made it a pleasant place to be. The only downside is that leaves and petals were rapidly falling off the trees, so the staff were fighting a constant battle to fish them out of the pool.

The beach also is lovely. It felt really tranquil with hardly anyone there. It is a private beach for the hotel so it’ll only ever be guests of the hotel there. And we basically spent a whole afternoon lounging on the beach and only a few other people came out into the sea (they mostly stayed by the pool)

Speaking of the sea, it was boiling hot when we visited in June (average sea temp is over 30 degrees in summer). Also thanks to being a secluded bay with some islands protecting it from the open sea the water was extremely calm. Overall a very good beach, and so calm. For the relatively small size of the hotel it is extremely spacious.

Restaurants & Food

Being a relatively small hotel, the restaurant selection is probably one of The Danna’s weakest aspects (still not bad by any means). The food quality is high but the range is a bit limited. They have:

• Planter’s – The main hotel resturant where you can choose from either a buffet or a la carte menu for breakfast and dinner.
• Terrace – A high end Italian restaurant. They have quite a good range of Italian foods and the setting is nice. I just wasn’t particularly interested in eating Italian food in Malaysia since Malaysian food is so good. The set menu at MYR 190 (£32) per person does look like a good deal though.
• Straits & Co – This is a more casual cafe style restaurant open from 11am to 6pm. The menu is extensive featuring Western, Malaysian, Indian and Chinese foods. They also serve English style afternoon tea which definitely looked good. We had a late lunch here and tried the burger and nyonya curry mee
• Verandah – A 1920s themed bar with live music open from 5pm till late. Personally I preferred sitting outdoors so only briefly poked my head in to see the live music. But it is a nice bar.
• Churchill – A cigar room. Good if you like cigars and whiskey, otherwise no reason to go here.

You can see the full restaurant list here. I haven’t included a couple of the restaurants they list as I wouldn’t really think of them as seperate to the main restaurants. The Noodle Bar for example is just a stall setup in Planter’s which is only open between 12pm and 4pm. Then there’s Pit-za Deck, a pizza restaurant on the outside seating area of Terrace. It’s supposedly open from 4pm till late but wasn’t open at all when we stayed, not sure why.

Breakfast at the Danna Langkawi is great. You have either a choice of a la carte dishes like Eggs Benedict, pancakes, dosa, etc. Or you can choose from a buffet selection. We went for the buffet, and whilst not the most extensive buffet in the world it was all high quality and delicious. Whatever kind of breakfast you fancy you should be able to find something you like here. From standard western options like a full english breakfast and continental offering. To local Malaysia breakfasts like Nasi Lemak or Indian Dosas or Chinese Dim Sum. There’s a massive selection of international cuisines on offer.

And of course they have everything else you would expect at breakfast, like tea and coffee which is made to order, and a good selection of fresh juices. Service is quite good here too and waiters were efficient about taking our drink orders and asking if we wanted anything from the a la carte menu.

My one complaint is that when we went at 9:30am on our first morning it was extremely busy so service wasn’t as good. The second day we went 8:30am and it was much less busy. Breakfast is open from 7am to 10:30am so you could go even earlier if you want some peace and quiet.

Other stuff

Besides a brief look through the window I didn’t really use any of the hotels other facilities so can’t really say much here. But if you’re interested you can also visit:

• Spa – They have a spa on the top 5th floor with an extensive and expensive menu of treatments. Though at MYR 430 (£75) for a 60 minute massage I’d say that’s extortionate for a massage in Malaysia, but average for a 5 star hotel.
• Gym – Also on the top floor with panoramic views of the marina and rainforest. They have loads of machines and equipment here including the Technogym Ride, a Peloton-style exercise bike.
• Watersports – There’s a hut on the beach where you can book watersports (waterskiing, banana boats etc) or do stuff like kayaking or paddle boarding.
• Library/Billiards Room – If you feel like staying inside a nice cool air-conditioned room then you could visit the library or billiards room. (I also saw a table football table).
• Kids Club – if you have children but don’t want to be around them

Lastly, I’ll just mention that basically anywhere you walk in the hotel grounds are beautifully designed and well maintained. From the central courtyard presented as a very well maintained rainforest with numerous koi ponds. To the neatly trimmed lawns by the pool and the meticulously raked beach.

Just as an example of the attention to detail, on the third floor residential area they just had a really nice pond with water lillies and stepping stones to walk on. It’s just small touches like that which add to the luxurious and extravagent luxury vibe The Danna gives off.

Final Thoughts

Overall I don’t really have anything bad to say about The Danna Langkawi. Everything was top notch. From the massive Grand Merchant Room which was beautifully finished throughout, to the refined pool and spotlessly manicured beach. Every member of staff we encountered was also extremely friendly and helpful. The Planter’s restaurant was good and Straits & Co Cafe was excellent for some casual dining. I did find the Italian Terrace restaurant a bit out of place. But I suppose it makes sense as Malaysian guests probably want to try something less common than regular Malaysian Food.

Overall I think the price is on point and I would happily return. Maybe next time I’d even stay in a sea view room to change things up a bit.

More from me…

Please feel free to check out other related posts I’ve written:

• The Majestic Hotel Kuala Lumpur – The city’s oldest luxury hotel
• Singapore Airlines Fantastic Regional Business – Saigon to Singapore on a 787-10
• Singapore Airlines Economy from London to Singapore – As Good as People Say?

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