The Bon Ton Resort: Malay Tradition in Lieu of the Beach

Heading to a Malaysian island known for its beach scene, one’s first inclination might not be to book a place inland, and understandably so. That would be a mistake on Langkawi, the popular island off of Malaysia’s western coast where the most interesting accommodation by far is on offer at the Bon Ton Resort, a marsh-side piece of land dotted with traditional stilted Malay houses relocated to the property and converted into guest villas.

My boyfriend and I headed to the Bon Ton last fall for a weekend trip from Singapore, where we were both working for a couple of weeks. We booked the Laguna Villa, a 120-year-old structure that turned out to be the best of the bunch, situated on the edge of the property, well removed from the other villas and with a wonderfully bucolic view from its porch, especially during sunset.

Inside, the structure has been left largely as it always had been. It is, of course, now furnished for the Western tourist, rather than to house an entire family, but the bones are authentic. Our king bed was great, there were plenty of spaces for storing luggage and clothes, plus multiple seating options. The bathroom was enormous, with double sinks.

The resort shares grounds with an animal rescue—much needed in this part of the world. Cats roam freely, and you’re bound to run into a dog or two on their afternoon walks. For us, this was a bonus, especially given that my boyfriend’s cat allergy didn’t flare up.

Unless you are looking for a resort getaway in which you never leave the grounds, Langkawi doesn’t work very well without a car. My advice? Rent one. We did so for through the Bon Ton’s front desk for a completely reasonable price, although we had to pay for it in cash. The car was delivered to the hotel and taken away again when we finished with it—and we did indeed take it for an afternoon at the beach, as well as to a waterfall and to Langkawi’s famed gondola, which takes visitors up into the island’s dramatic mountain peaks.

There’s no beach at the Bon Ton, but the pool more than sufficed—we took more than a couple refreshing dips in it, and having it right outside our door felt nicely lavish. The on-site restaurant served good food on a covered open-air verandah and accommodated my vegetarianism without a problem. The view from here, as from elsewhere on the property, was lush and green and far-flung.

The Bon Ton Resort is a locally owned place, and the luxury here isn’t the boardroom-prescribed kind you’ll find at, say, a Four Seasons. It’s better—with hiccups and human flaws that in the end mostly add to the experience.

Still, there are areas for improvement. The breakfast, delivered to the room’s fridge the night before, should have been better at these prices. And our magnificent copper bathtub had sprung a leak, which we learned the hard way. The cocktails, like in most of Southeast Asia, were subpar if you are accustomed to sipping them in New York City, as we are.

But none of that would stop me from recommending the place to one and all. The Bon Ton Resort occupies a truly special spot in the world. In terms of getting away from it all, having an interesting local experience, and maintaining the comforts of home, you could hardly do better.

On our last morning, we had to be out of our room well before it was time to head to the airport. The manager, however, deposited us into another one—the Blue Ginger—which hadn’t been booked for the next night. While smaller and slightly less private than the Laguna, it was no less charming, and its outdoor bathroom—the whole thing, toilet, sink, shower, and tub—was a highlight of my travels all on its own.

It’s a non-beach vacation at a beach vacation hotspot, a stay at the Bon Ton Resort on Langkawi. And blissfully so, it turned out.