Originally Posted by
Desirees
Anyway - super optimistic, right? I went ahead and used the miles to book us to go to SIN and back in Sep. Now to plan the trip itself. We want to do Angkor Wat ; and then the rest of the time we are thinking of Malaysia. We like the entire luxury hotel experience...and admit - the locations we will go to will be determined based on the 5 star level ( budget around the $800 per night possibly a little higher). I am using points for SIN, and Hyatt Prive for Park Hyatt in Siem Reap...and now to plan Malaysia.
If you are choosing locations based on 5-star hotels, I am afraid Kuching and Kota Kinabalu have fewer 5* properties than Penang/Langkawi. Having that said, the culture, food, and nature of Borneo are not to be missed. There are quite a few exclusive places you can go in Borneo (a little challenge to get there, but it's worth it) e.g. Borneo Rainforest Lodge in Danum Valley (you are in the middle of a pristine rainforest) or Mulu Marriott Resort.
If you want to stick with Langkawi/Penang, there are plenty of luxury resorts in both places (Penang is more of a small luxury boutique hotels like E&O as mentioned earlier, the Edison Hotel, Seven Terraces etc. whilst Langkawi has huge resorts like the Andman, Four Seasons, Ritz Carlton, St. Regis).
$800 (I assume USD) a night is extremely high for Malaysia (you can get St. Regis one third of that price. Malaysia in general is a very cheap country for 5* hotels, especially in KUL).