Get Away From It All: AVANI Sepang Goldcoast Resort Review

Want to live in a cabin on stilts so you can enjoy the best sunsets? Reading this AVANI Sepang Goldcoast Resort review confirms your next destination.

Even if you’re not Aquaman’s dad, you’ll probably have romantic notions from young about living by the sea. The AVANI Sepang Goldcoast Resort may be your best shot at seaside living for a holiday in a self-contained resort.

Everything happens within the compound from the moment you alight from your transport.

The resort caters to 2 types of purposes – vacations and even business. The lodging by the sea offers visitors a relaxing stay, while the ballrooms can serve as conference rooms for corporate retreats.

In our 3 nights there, we saw the conference rooms set up for meetings, and even witnessed a whole filming crew gathered at the lobby for a shoot.

There are 4 types of rooms, starting from the superior room where we stayed. A family villa can house a family of 4. A family of 5 can stay in the 2 bedroom villa, while a family of 6 can take the biggest 3 bedroom villa.

It seems only AVANI is using the Goldcoast association. While AVANI Sepang Resort will do nicely to identify itself, adding another part to the name proves to be a mouthful.

Location

As this is a babymoon trip, we have to fly somewhere. The route of advance is therefore a flight to KL from Singapore’s Terminal 4. Landing at KLIA2, we got a Grab for an hour’s journey to reach AVANI Sepang Goldcoast Resort.

A hour ride for MYR 36 is nothing to complain about.

Except the ride would have been much shorter, if not for a traffic hold up at a cross junction very near the Sepang F1 circuit.

The traffic light was not in our favour, and would let 4-5 cars pass before turning red again. And on the adjacent side, crickets crick innocently mocking our state of inaction.

According to our driver, it’s 5pm so all the people getting off work piled their cars up to cause the jam even along a normally secluded road.

If you’re driving, you can set this destination.

Since it’s a given that staying at a resort is meant to be away from everything else, the location is perfect for that. Along the western coast of Malaysia, the spot for catching the sunset is also set at its most western part of the resort.

That would be the end of the trunk away from the mainland. Imagine the rest of the villas branching out from the trunk, and you get the shape of a palm tree if seeing the resort from a helicopter.

Our room is conveniently along the main trunk, so buggy rides won’t take too long. We were in room 56, right smack between the lobby and the gym/swimming pool.

Comfort

As I would imagine, people coming to resorts are looking for a getaway from city life, so the level of comfort is of utmost importance. This determines the relaxation you’ll get before heading back to the grind again.

While the listing states the room size to be 52sqm, it actually felt smaller than that. Maybe because a large part of it goes to the bathroom or balcony, but the living area does not feel that big.

Numbers aside, the living space definitely feels very spacious for 2 people to live in. Plenty of room to put your luggage and still walk about without constraint.

I like the simplicity of the furniture so it gives the feeling that maintenance is easy. That leaves a lot less room for insects to build nests in the furniture. For example, under the 4 post bed is empty space.

That’s assuring because you can see what’s going on underneath, unlike a platform and a mattress.

There were surprisingly little insects in the room, but that’s probably because they form the staple for the family of lizards hiding in plain sight among the interwoven straws of the thatched roof.

Hey, I’d rather hear the chirps of the lizard than have to swat away sandflies or ants with wings all the time.

The balcony is huge, a little too huge especially since we didn’t spend much time on it. It’s either too hot or rainy to be out there, so unfortunately our bums didn’t warm the wicker chairs at all.

As the lights are designed to be minimal, there’s no way to light up the entire room brightly. That’s cool, because it really helps the body get into sleeping mode at night really quickly.

At the same time, I found on several occasions when I was curled up on the couch typing, that there are some insects crawling up my arm. As I can’t really see them clearly, the sense of touch was enough to get them off.

That’s hardly a deal breaker – it’s expected of seaside resorts after all.

The sheets were mostly clean and white, though some dried blood stains were on ours.

Showering with a full view of the sea is definitely a highlight of the bathroom. Where in Yotel you get to enjoy a full city view, this brings you to the ocean when you cleanse yourself.

The unforgettable parts of the stay are watching the sunset by the pool, and working out in the gym as the sun is setting. These are truly priceless parts of the holiday.

Unfortunately, the pool closes at 7pm, which is too early for an evening dip.

Service

Check in was most pleasant, the AVANI staff Emily was all smiles when she explained the house rules to us.

You can pay the deposit by credit card. We charged our MYR 600 to Amex. Upon check out, you can choose to deduct the balance from the credit card payment or pay in cash.

As the resort involves a 500m end-to-end walk between the lobby and the restaurant, you’ll be glad the buggy drivers are mostly attentive to the pedestrians on the path.

They’ll holler to you if you need a ride, and send you on your way.

The restaurant staff are all very friendly, when you approach and establish eye contact.

Perhaps that’s the difference between walking into random restaurants outside when considering your dining options, versus the F&B establishments within the resort. The ownership of their customers feels strong, because you are all their guests.

This applies to Sepoi-Sepoi and Bila-Bila, where we frequented.

One small lapse was when we tried redeeming our 15 minute head and shoulder massage. Twice we dropped by the AVANI spa above the swimming pool, and there wasn’t anyone at the station.

However, we managed to get it in the end before checking out. You can choose between the foot massage or the head and shoulder massage. There was an offer during January, shared during this massage.

The 1 hour full body massage originally went for MYR 250. The promo price was MYR 170. This was available if you book directly from the website.

Conclusion

The water isn’t crystal clear or dreamy blue along this part of the Straits of Malacca.

The food is pretty decent, with similar spread for breakfast throughout the 3 days’ stay. Quality and variety is good enough to satisfy most tastebuds.

More importantly, families would find a self-sufficient place like this a great way to get away from a stressful life back in the city.

Watch the room walkabout video: