We are looking for an expert travel agent or just first-hand advice on traveling in Malaysia with two young kids. If anyone can put us in touch with the right person please do.

Want to take following trip:

2 days in Singapore
2 days in Kuala Lumpur
5-7 days at one resort in Malaysia or Indonesia
5-7 days at another resort in Malaysia or Indonesia

Departing Mumbai on or about Dec. 7, returning to Mumbai 16-18 days later.

2 adults, 2 kids, age 3 and 5

We want, ideally, to have...

Beachfront property
Tennis courts with markers
Immaculately clean
Kids' club (where we can dump kids for a few hours every day)
Decent weather (our research says the best weather then is the west side of the Malaysian Peninsula)
A room where kids are in separate area from our sleeping area (kids can be in fold-out bed or similar)

Out of the way places are fine. Budget is about $300 per night.

Let me know if you can help.

Thanks,

Kurt

You'll have better luck asking this on the Other Asia forum.

Get the train from Singapore to KL, town centre to town centre, cheap and good fun. 5 hour journey, but not really much longer than flying when you take everything into account.

The buses from SIN-KUL are awfully nice, too, as long as you make sure to get the 24 rather than 44-seaters. But if the train has novelty value then go for that.

Have been to Malaysia a dozen or so times, though not on a budget like yours and not with kids in tow. Langkawi sounds like it best fits the resort criteria. Would do places like Penang or Malacca only as historical daytrips.

I think you'll find that you get really excellent bang for the buck in most places on 3-stars, i.e. Hyatt-level places with pools and other facilities in the $30-50/night range in many of the secondary cities, far cheaper than comparable in the west. If you're flexible on a thing or two like tennis courts, you might find very good $50 options rather than $200.

Would also not write off Borneo if you could get a good Air Asia fare. Kuching is very clean and family-friendly, Bako national park is really great (as are the boat rides, cat museum and Sarawak Cultural Center). Brunei also might be a real novelty, and it even comes with a very inexpensive amusement park!

you may want to spend another 1/2 or full day in singapore. get the local newspapers and shop larger travel agencies there. they have many of those "free and easy" packages to malaysia and nearby spots. if you browse some singapore online travel sites you may be able to get some preliminary idea about destinations and cost.

Your priority is to book somewhere over the Christmas /New Year period fast.
All the decent hotels will be pretty full now. For that price range, you may want to consider somewhere like the Pelangi in Langkawi or a beach hotel in Penang.

Considering the fact that you have to travel from one place to another aswell, 2 days in Sin and KL seems a bit thight to me. I would advice at least 3 days in each city.

I think the best you can do, is first to check out the low cost carrier airlines and see where they take you for a good price. Malaysian Airlines has good rates for doemstic flights aswell btw. Air Asia has great fares from KL to places like penang, langkawi, bali. For SIN just take a flight to Johor Bahru and then take a taxi or shutlle bus to SIN.

From Singapore there are ferry's to Batam and Bintan. Batam is pretty boring but Bintan has some nice resorts with plenty of activities aswell.

The most luxery resorts you will find in Bali and Langkawi though I doubt it they will fit your budget during your travel dates especaly if you take your airfare in consideration aswell.

You could check out www.chanbrothers.com for packages from Singapore.

If you need more advice, please let me know (sent PM). But don't wait to long because from now on the prices will only get higher and higher for december

Hi, In Singapore - I would recommend staying with the kids in Sentosa.

In Indonesia, the Conrad Bali has by far the best kids amenities that i've seen in this part of the world - and the rooms can readily accommodate your needs. The food is fantastic at the resort aswell. Tennis is available on site also.

In Malaysia - i haven't stayed at any hotels with a good kids program. However, as a resort, i would highly recommend Langkawi - but perhaps not for 5-7 nights - more like 2-3nights. Flights are very cheap within malaysia so dont worry about flying between different resorts - distances are short too.

Send me a PM and ill be happy to help you out. I know how hard it is travelling with kids!

Thanks.

Although Sentosa is ok (but nothing compared to the resorts in Malaysia, Bali and Thailand), it's not really a convenient place for exploring Singapore. Moreover the rates will be going sky high in december and the place will be packed with Singaporeans taking a break.

For Kuala Lumpur get Mandarin Oriental, you'll be at city centre with a fabulous park view to KLCC park and just next to Petronas Towers, don't know about kid's programs though. It's really the absolutely best hotel location for that city, everything else comes second.

http://www.mandarinoriental.com/kualalumpur/
http://www.klcc.com.my/

In Singapore many like to stay at Orchard area but my vote would go for the Ritz-Carlton, great hotel in a great location, seaviews and seaside park walks, just next to Suntec. Sentosa would probably be heaven for kids but city access takes time.

http://www.ritzcarlton.com/hotels/singapore/