Just An Ordinary Girl

Photo By: Elin Chow
Official Website: Avillion Port Dickson

During Chinese New Year this year, we decided to go on a short family trip in Malaysia. We did not want to go anywhere too far, so we decided to visit Port Dickson, which is located just a 90 minutes drive away from Kuala Lumpur. I have always wanted to stay Avillion Port Dickson as it is a well-reputed resort and on this trip, I finally have the chance to.

Sitting over 23 acres coast scenery and faces the straits of Malacca, Avillion Port Dickson is an award winning beach resort offering 258 exquisitely designed rooms, chalets and villas to suit different needs. We booked two water chalets, but unfortunately, our experience was incredibly disappointing.

Checking In
Our unpleasant experience began when we arrived at the resort. We arrived at around 2.30 pm and proceeded to check in. The reception counter staff checked through our bookings and asked us to wait as someone will call us when our rooms were ready for check in.

Well, I have to admit that I am usually not at my best when I arrived at a hotel. I am tired and impatient, so I am always to anxious to get to my room to wash up. But I also understand that if I arrived before check in time, my room might not be ready. So I patiently waited till the official check in time (which is 3 pm) for key collection. 

However, we did not receive any call. At 3.30 pm, we were starting to get a little impatient. So we went to the reception counter again to ask about our rooms. But surprisingly, the reception counter staffs were unhelpful and unfriendly, or rather a little rude. In fact, they were indifferent and did not even apologize to us for the delay.


> The not so spacious lobby was crowded with people checking in. Even though there were several comfortable seating for guests to sit while waiting, there was not enough for everyone. Luggage was everywhere because everyone was just hanging around the small lobby. It was pretty chaotic.

Of course, we were extremely displeased because we have to stand for an hour waiting to be checked in. Despite expressing our displeasure, the staffs just sort of brushed us off and asked us to wait for someone to call us, without giving us any explanation.

So we continued to wait for a little longer. It was incredibly frustrating because we were exhausted from a long drive from Kuala Lumpur. I believe we were not being unreasonable to expect to check into our room on time. This obviously did not make a good first impression. Our holiday mood were totally spoilt!

Getting Our Room
We finally got our rooms at 4.10 pm after making a fuss. This was also the first time I have to wait for more than an hour to get the room keys, especially at a 5-star establishment. The worst thing is the resort does not even apologize or offer any form of compensation for the delay.


Inspired by a traditional Malay fishing village with Javanese-Malay cultural influences and surrounded by lush greenery, Avillion is a perfect hideaway. Our rooms was located way at the end of the resort, far from crowds. To get to them, we have to stroll through a beautifully landscaped garden. Please note the resort is not entirely wheel chair or stroller friendly and there are a number of stairs to climb. People with mobility issue might find it a problem to get to the rooms and around the resort.

While strolling to the rooms, we noticed that none of the staffs in the resort greeted or smiled at us when they see us. The staffs were happily chatting among themselves and it felt as though we were not welcomed here.

The Room

Perched above water on stilts, the wooden walkway leading to our rooms were very creaky and clearly needed to be replaced. Some of it were starting to fall apart and does not feel safe to walk on.


Measuring 50 metres square, the room was very spacious and can accommodate up to a maximum of 4 people (2 adults + 2 children). It comes with 2 twin beds and a Pangkin daybed (basically a queen sized mattress) by the window with individually controlled air conditioning and ceiling fan.


The beds were very comfortable, not too hard or too soft. However, I find the pillows too soft for my liking. I love that you can hear the waves lapping beneath while you sleep at night. It was very relaxing, at least for me.


The daybed is an ideal lounging spot for soaking up sunlight, watching and listening to the sea below or reading a book. However, you might want to keep the windows and doors at all time because the tropical gardens invite many mosquitoes and sand flies in the resort area. Trust me, you will never want any of these to get into your room.


The room is also equipped with a blurry flat screen screen with limited channels. Free WiFi is available and easily connected, but it is a little slow


Other amenities in the room includes a mini fridge, safe box, coffee and tea making facilities, complimentary two bottles of mineral water and daily newspaper. There is also a large wardrobe with a full length mirror in the room as well.

However, there was a lack of power plug points in the room and each of it were inconveniently located. We have to unplug the table lamps in order to charge our phones in the room, which was so annoying.

Speaking of which, the rooms and housekeeping were extremely disappointing. The rooms were very dirty even though we wasted an hour waiting for the rooms to be cleaned. I do not expect the rooms to be spotless, but at least, they should be reasonably clean.

Stepping inside, I have to put on the hotel slippers immediately after taking off my shoes.
I seldom wear hotel slippers in the room but at Avillion, I have to. The floor was so dusty and sticky that it was so uncomfortable to walk with bare feet.

We actually suspected that they did not changed the bed sheets. The reason why we were suspecting was because the bed sheets does not smell fresh at all. You will see a lot of yellow stains on the bed sheet and feel dust and sand on the bed when you sit down on the bed.

I would love to lay down on the daybed all day, watching the waves if it was not so dirty. It was totally unacceptable because I will at very least expect to be sleeping on freshly laundered sheets, rather than ones left dirty by a stranger, especially after waiting for an hour.


Other than that, the room was also very dated and is in serious need of refurbishment.  The wooden floor were chipped, splintered and worn, as well as the wooden furnitures. The blinds in the rooms were very dusty as well, and starting to fall apart. It is really time for the resort to change and install new blinds in the rooms.

All the rooms at Avillion open out to a private veranda, equipped with two sun chairs, offering a partial view of the sea. But I actually find the veranda a little redundant because there were a lot of  pigeons flying around and we could not spend our time outside. The sun chairs were very dirty and the floor was covered in pigeons droppings. The wooden railings were also wobbly and feel extremely unsafe.





The only thing we did on the veranda was to take a few photos, and that probably lasted only for 5 minutes.




The room boasts a large semi open air bathroom that is almost the same size as the bedroom, featuring an open bath area with walk in rainfall shower, a large bathtub and double sinks. There is an opening next to the rainfall shower area that looks out to the sea below, but it is not covered, which can be a hazard to young children.
You can choose to take a shower under the sky or take a soak in the bathtub while listening to the splashing waves. I love the spaciousness of the bathroom, but just like the sleeping area, it was very dirty as well.

There were poop in the toilet bowl in one of the rooms and you can easily tell that the toilets were not washed. It was so smelly and disgusting. I am a fan of soaking in the tub. But I have to give it a miss at Avillion because the bathtub is dirty and obviously needs a good scrub.There was stains on the glass cup in the bathroom and I felt so disgusted to use it to rinse my mouth when I brush.

Basic toiletries provided in the room  included shampoo, conditioner, sewing kit, cotton buds, facial cotton, emery board and bar soap. There were no shower gel provided, only bar soap which I am not a fan of. This is by far, the only 5-star property I have stayed in that does not provide shower gel in the room. Or maybe they do provide. It is just that the housekeeping staff forgot to replace it. This is possible because the staff actually forgot to put in the towels in one of the our rooms.Other than towels and shower gel,  there was also no shower cap and  hand towels provided as well.

So we called the front desk to ask for the towels and the housekeeping to come and clean the toilet and change all the bed sheets in the room while voicing out our dissatisfaction. The front desk staff who picked up our call did not offer any apology at all. We ended up having to waste our precious time again, waiting for the housekeeping staff to come clean up the room so that we could take a shower and get some rest.

The housekeeping staff who came brought along an air freshener spray to eliminate the odor and freshen up the air in our room. She gladly changed the bed sheet and washed the toilet without any complaints.
One thing I really hate was there was no blinds and curtains for the bathroom windows. If you are a light sleeper, you will be woken up at day break as the lights will come into the room and shine directly right on your face. It was frustrating because I would really love to wake up a bit later on a vacation. But it was impossible at Avillion because I could not sleep with lights.

Things To Do 

There are a variety of activities and things to do at the resort.

Petting Farm 

Avillion has a small petting farm, which is especially awesome for kids. In the farm, you will find a number of different animals and birds such as rabbits, tortoises, chicks, peacocks and many more.


The enclosure is pretty spacious and I love how freely the animals and birds are allowed to roam around. Guests can feed the animals at 10 am every morning or bath the animals at 10 am every Wednesday and Sunday.

Other than Petting Farm, the resort also has an Orchid Hut, a Spice Farm and an Aviary. But unfortunately, we did not have the time to explore any of them since we wasted so much time waiting to get our rooms.

Swimming Pools

Avillion has three swimming pools - Village Pool, Kids' Pool and Cochin Pool.

Village Pool

Surrounded by tropical greenery, the Village Pool is 1.2 metres deep and is open 24 hours daily. It is suitable for families to have fun together. However, I find the water at this pool a little dirty as most people do not wear proper swimming attires.

Kids' Pool
Beside the Village Pool, you will find the Kids' Pool with water slide. The Kids' Pool is only 0.9 metres deep, so it is fairly safe for toddlers.

Cochin Pool

The Cochin Pool, located near the Water Villa, is a strictly adults-only infinity pool lined with day beds and sun loungers. Compared with the Village Pool, the atmosphere is more quiet and peaceful here - perfect for those who wish to relax with a good book under the sun.

Kids' Cabin & Playground

For parents with kids, the Kids' Cabin will be a good place to keep your children busy. The Cabin is stocked with paint supplies, books, DVDs, video game consoles and toys.

There is also a padded outdoor playground for your little ones to have fun in.

Private Beach

For beach lovers, Avillion has its own private beach as well. The beach is quite small, but not crowded with people. You can have the beach exclusively to yourself or share it with a few guests at the resort. However I do not recommend take a dip in the water at the beach as it is really dirty.

Dining

Avillion offers quite a few options for dining. We did not dine at any of the restaurants at the resort, so I am not sure how is the food quality.

Village Court

The Village Court is located next to the Village Pool. It has a casual setting of a pool side open concept restaurant. The restaurant serves around-the-clock, from breakfast buffet spread, appetizers and snacks to entrees, pastas, pizzas and local delights.

Jungle Fringe Karaoke & Bar
As its name suggest, this is a karaoke bar with private rooms, each equipped with a complete set of Karaoke system and wide selection of songs. You can sing to your heart content till the wee hours of the morning.

The Verte

Hidden in a green garden, The Verte is housed in a heritage house with an open plan concept. At The  Verte, diners can dine, enjoy a drink or play a game of pool with family and friends under the sky.

The Gallery
The Gallery is an open-air sunken bar offering a variety of snacks and beverages, including alcoholic and non-alcoholic.

Crow's Nest 

Featuring special timber and rattan furniture, Crow's Nest offers a semi-formal dining experience.  The dual level restaurant serve modern asia and continental cuisines

Avi Lounge

A floating lounge that serves breakfast, sunset drinks and caters to private event daily. It is located at the Avi Spa building but access is free to guests staying at the Premium Water Chalets and Villas only. This means that we have pay a fee in order to enter the Avi Lounge and obviously, we were not willing to.

Conclusion

All in all, the resort is very poorly maintained and service definitely needs to be improved because obviously, the staffs are not professional and well-trained. Every corner of the room was dirty and covered in dust, so cleanliness is really a huge issue here. The resort shows many signs of being worn out and need renovation. Hopefully the management will look into this soon.

Also, there are limited amount of parking spaces at the resort. If you are lucky, you will be able to park at the parking lot located just outside the resort's lobby. However, if that parking is full, you will park at another parking located right across the road, at your own risk.

Even worst, there are no pedestrian bridge, so it can be quite dangerous for you to cross the busy road. So I really advise coming back to the resort early if you have to go out at night.

In terms of the resort's poor condition, it is terribly overpriced. Personally, I really feel that Avillion is not worth the 5-star rating and definitely not worth the price we paid for. For those who plan your honeymoon at Avillion, I would really suggest that you save the money and visit somewhere else. Avillion is definitely not a place for romantic getaway.

Oh, did I mention that I actually wrote a feedback email to Avillion highlighting every of our unpleasant experience but receive no reply from them? Well, I already kind of expected that, but I am still surprised that the customer service can be this bad. 5-star resort? It feels more like a 3-star. I certainly will not recommend Avillion to anyone visiting Port Dickson and will not return again in the future.