The Legend Cherating Resort

In conjunction with the school holidays we’ve decided to bring our kids for a stay at The Legend Cherating Resort in the east coast. We meant to go on boxing day but unfortunately our trip was postponed because we couldn’t get out of our hometown in time for the trip. Although the terms said we would be charged the full amount if we changed dates or cancelled, the hotel and Booking.com was sporting enough to move the stay date 2 weeks later without any extra charges



So today when the flood had all but subsided on the east coast, we finally made our way safely to the elusive resort east of Pahang near the Terengganu border. The trip took just over 3 hours from KL and using the East Coast highway (LPT) the journey was very smooth and easy.



First impressions: the hotel was very nice. We booked a double single bed and got a room overlooking the beach and the sea. There’s no bath tub in this one but the bathroom is still nice nevertheless. We get to use many of the resort’s facilities like sauna, gym and other recreations but on overnight stay is simply too short to try it all.



The kids love to stay at hotels very much so needless to say the enjoyed their time there. We went swimming in the pool twice and the next morning my wife and I went for a little jog along the beach. Complimentary breakfast was provided but only for two and children above 4 years had to pay individually. That’s about 16 ringgit each after discount.



Since hotel foods are super-expensive, we did the sensible thing and went for dinner at a local restaurant nearby. After reading several reviews on Foursquare and blogs we settled on Warung Awang Ikan Bakar (WAIB) located along the road to Kemaman. The seafood (calamari to be exact) was really good but other delicacies like tom yam etcetera was so so. Price wise, it’s about the same as in Kuala Lumpur if not more expensive. Being so far away at a beach side location some more you’d be hard pressed for bargain, value for money eateries really. WAIB is the best we could find (and recommend).



I had nothing much to complain. Yes the bathroom sink was leaking and we could have hoped for a less expensive breakfast (not gonna happen) but for RM255 including 16% tax we couldn’t be so demanding. The hotel room was clean and comfortable and the beach was beautiful. Beware of sand flies on the beach though. This minuscule invisible bug bit me all over my legs and I had to endure an insufferable itch for the next 5 days. Remember to protect yourself with some sort of ointment whenever you’re on the beach in Cherating or better cover every inch of your body with clothes. No wonder I saw nobody else swimming or playing on the beach that day. It’s either the bug or the big waves because of the monsoon season.



Overall I’d give the Legend Cherating Beach Resort 3.5 out of 5 stars. Kudos to them for allowing us to change dates for our stay.