We spent a few days here recently, and thought I’d write an update about the remodeled property. Overall, it was a very pleasant stay, and excellent value.

Our stay included a weekend, so I decided to apply a suite upgrade certificate to guarantee a suite. This somehow wasn’t done correctly by the WOH agent, who apparently rebooked us into a 1500MYR suite instead. There was a little bit of confusion at the front desk, but they found my original reservation and got everything sorted out within minutes (on the plus side, I saved my suite upgrade certificate).

We walked to our suite, which was on the top floor of building 4. Buildings 1-3 are oceanfront, and building 4 is set back, but at a higher elevation. I initially thought of going back to the front desk and asking for an oceanfront suite, but we ended up liking our room quite a bit – towering over the resort, away from the pool activity, with a great view of the water.

The suite is large (91sqm per the website), and the remodel has been very thorough. They must have gutted the place, and everything is new. As you walk in, there’s a small restroom to the side, then a large living/dining area, a bedroom, large bathroom. A giant fruit plate and box of chocolates awaited us. The suite comes with a Nespresso machine, and a free minibar (soft drinks and snacks), freshly baked cookies/chips (refilled daily).

The resort has undergone a very thorough remodel, and perhaps the only thing that still dates back to the 1980s is the plaque in the lobby commemorating the original opening. The pool, restaurants, bars, public areas are all re-done and look very nice.

At the moment, the resort is still in the “soft opening” stage, which means that some restaurants aren’t open yet. Staff were mixed – most just fine, some exceptionally friendly (including the women at the club and a couple people at the restaurants), and a few somewhat disinterested.

For guests with club access, evening happy hour is at the club lounge (6-8), and breakfast is at the restaurant (I don’t know if this will remain so once the club is fully operational). The restaurant breakfast buffet is extensive, with high quality foods (Western, Malay, Indian, noodle soup/congee station). We especially liked some of the local options like chicken rendang. It’s important to note that the breakfast restaurant is outside, with no air conditioning, and it’s HOT in Kuantan.

Evening happy hour at the club lounge is middling. There are four hot items, usually a quiche (filling varies), Western item (puff pastry or meatballs), Asian fried item (wonton or spring rolls), and a daily local special (Indian or satays – these were quite good). There’s also some salad, vegetables, cheese. Extensive dessert selection, all very tasty. Liquor (Bacardi, Absolut, etc) and mixers are available, self-pour. The club area has of course also undergone a thorough remodel, and looks generic; you might be in Scottsdale or Monterey. Not a bad thing, just the usual Hyatt style, nothing particularly local about it. There’s plenty of indoor seating (air conditioned), as well as an outdoor area (which to us felt like a missed opportunity – this isn’t by the ocean, but rather at the far end of the property, looking at a lawn and a wall). The club was relatively deserted on the weekend, and on Sunday night we were surprised to walk in at 6.30pm only to learn that there was no buffet – we were the only club guests that night (and also the following nights), and they handed us a restaurant menu and told us to order whatever we wanted. We had some delicious salad, satays, prawns, and seabass, and minutes after the food arrived, the club attendant came over with the menu again and asked us to order more, pointing out that the lobster is their specialty. It felt quite wasteful to have the club staffed all day, refrigerators stocked and bar set up, just for us, so I suggested that we’d happily eat at the restaurant instead, but the club staff were adamant that the club needs to be kept open.

There are two pools, one that’s more of a lazing/relaxing pool (with swim-up bar), and one that’s large enough for lap swimming. Occupancy was well under 50% for most of our stay, but the on weekend it did fill up a little, and most loungers were taken. There’s plenty of extra space to add more, which I assume they’ll do during busy periods. The beach is very nice – white sand, very clean, almost deserted. The beach is probably a mile long, and there’s a three-way split. If you step out onto the beach from the Hyatt and walk to the right, you’re basically on your own (except for maybe a couple locals fishing). Right in front of the Hyatt, there are a couple loungers, and a handful people by/in the water. If you turn left, you’ll get to the public area, which is very busy on weekends. This area has a number of fast food places (McDonald’s, KFC, Subway, Starbucks), some stalls selling souvenirs, and a handful of local restaurants (nothing outstanding, sadly), and some cheap hawker-style food stalls. The locals beach is fairly deserted at daytime (people don’t seem to flock to the beach before 4pm), but does get very busy in the late afternoon, with live music, street performers, lots of kid’s activities. All very low-key, but we found it quite enjoyable. And of course, if you don’t want any of this, just walk to the other end of the beach, where you’ll be alone.

Getting to Kuantan is not very easy. There are a few flights from KL, but they’re not timed for midday arrival, one daily flight from Singapore, and one from Penang. We were in KL before, and upon considering the time it takes to get to KLIA/check-in/security/40-minute flight/get bags/taxi to the hotel, decided instead to take the bus. In theory, this is a fine idea, it takes about 3 1/2 hours on a freeway, comfortable 1-2 seating with domestic First style legroom. Only problem was, we encountered crazy traffic leaving KL, and then the driver tried to make up time by going at breakneck speed as the freeway curved through mountain roads. We were in the first row and saw the speedometer – we took one curve that’s restricted to 70km/h at over 120km/h. Strangely, once the terrain flattened out, the driver slowed down to the speed limit (I’m guessing that part is patrolled). Even more surprising, about 45 minutes before arriving in Kuantan, we took a 20 minute restroom break. Long story short, don’t take the bus!

Having been to all Hyatt resorts in SE Asia (and quite a few in other parts of the world), I want to offer some comparisons:

- First off, Hyatt Kuantan is easily the best value in the entire Hyatt system right now. I played around with dates before booking, and for some reason, there was a lot of variation based on length of stay; picking just the right duration brought our rate down to 234MYR/nt (had we stayed the weekend only, it would have been just over 300MYR, still a steal). Back in the day when Hyatt’s BRG was more honest, I had $60-80 rates at HR Danang/Hua Hin/Phuket, but those are very hard to attain these days. I assume HR Kuantan is hoping to raise rates, but anything under $80-100 here is a strong buy, and if you encounter higher rates, it’s a good Cat 1 redemption.

- Food prices are very reasonable, with a room service or poolside lunch costing perhaps half of what you’d pay at GH Bali or HR Danang (22MYR for a plate of Nasi Goreng or a chicken Cesar). Some TA reviews mention that alcohol is expensive, but to us it appeared to follow the usual resort formula, whereby a cocktail sets you back as much as poolside lunch (22MYR for a 30ml shot, or 28-35MYR for a cocktail).

- In terms of club lounge, judging based on the days with regular buffet only (obviously the order-whatever-you-want option is an outstanding deal, but unlikely to be encountered by many), I would rank the place slightly below GH Bali, but on par with HR Bali/Danang/Phuket/Hua Hin. Considering the tasty, full buffet breakfast at the restaurant, I’d say it’s a very good club benefit.

- In terms of the suite, we were very impressed, and I’m tempted to put this place first as far as standard suites are concerned. At HR Danang and GH Bali, we’ve been lucky with frequent upgrades to suites higher than entry level – those are slightly ahead of what we got here. Hua Hin and Phuket, of course, don’t really compete in this category.

- As mentioned above, in terms of ease of getting to, Kuantan doesn’t look great compared to Phuket, Bali and Danang (which have flights from all over Asia), but it’s still better than Hua Hin. A good itinerary including Kuantan for someone not living in Asia might involve stops in Penang and Singapore.

- The beach was very good when we were there – clean, white sand, and you’re basically alone on two thirds of the beach. I asked staff whether it’s always this clean, and the answer was that during the rainy season, trash can wash up. This sadly is an issue anywhere in Asia these days – for instance, when we were at JW Marriott Phu Quoc, the beach was unbelievably nasty, while friends who stayed a few months later had beautiful, clean water. In ranking the Hyatt beaches, I’d put Danang first, then Kuantan (due to cleanliness and the fact that it’s swimmable at high and low tide), then GH Bali (beach disappears at low tide), then HR Bali (same problem as GH, but the beach is a little less grand), and of course the Hua Hin/Phuket properties shouldn’t even be considered when talking about beaches.

- Finally, in terms of things to do, Kuantan town and region isn’t an amazing choice. You can take Grab to a bunch of malls, there’s a small downtown area without much compelling reason to walk around, other beaches, some waterfalls. Bali is obviously more exciting, and even the Thailand properties and Danang have more sights/activities in easy reach. HR Kuantan is a great choice for relaxing, but that’s about it. In terms of things to do in walking distance, we did like the public beach area at night a lot, it becomes very lively with families, local musicians, and a good atmosphere. It’s a Muslim area, so 90% of women are covered up, there’s no wild partying, no alcohol, no hookers trying to solicit customers. For us, that was just perfect, but if that’s part of your vacation plan, Thailand and Bali are obviously better options.