Philea Resort & Spa

I wouldn't recommend this hotel at its 5-star nightly rate. The hotel felt creepy overall, and the breakfast was dull with very little to choose from. The cabin-style room had an old, dusty smell, and some fragrance would help. The pillows and mattress were hard. The bathroom looked shabby, with quick fixes visible, including cement plaster around the bathtub. They weren't flexible about late checkout. They said they'd charge RM324 to keep the room from 12pm to 5pm if I didn't check out by noon, even though occupancy was low during my stay.

The quiet forest paths and pool made for a lovely getaway, and the staff were welcoming and helpful throughout, from check-in to the buggy ride to our villa. The room was spacious and clean, with a cozy log-cabin feel among the trees. It's a private, green, calming place. We woke to birds, waterfalls, and fresh air. Philea gave us a gentle spot to recharge with someone I love, and I'm grateful for the care.

We couldn't get a good night's sleep after the problems with Unit No.: 3215. My family was woken by a small explosion noise behind the unit, followed by a total blackout. I Whatsapped reception right away. A staff member came, checked the room's fuse box, said nothing was wrong with it, then went to inspect the power supply outside. We waited for a long time, tired and unable to sleep while we waited for an explanation. When the staff member returned, he said he couldn't fix it and proposed moving us. We were shocked to have to pack all our things in the dark and change rooms in the middle of the night. We've never had such poor facilities or handling at a resort, hotel, or even a lower-star stay or Airbnb. When the guard came to say the new room was ready, we learned it was the ground-floor opposite unit. At check-in I'd emphasized that I wanted a first-floor unit so someone staying above us wouldn't disturb us. But it was midnight, everyone was exhausted and just wanted to sleep, so we tried to compromise. We moved to unit 3208 after 2:15a.m. It didn't seem clean, and I don't think housekeeping had been done at the last minute in the middle of the night. The fan hummed loudly, as if it might fall. With no real choice, we tried to put up with it. Once we finally fell asleep, our upstairs “good neighbour” woke us before dawn. Kids ran around, adults walked back and forth with heavy footsteps and talked loudly. Nobody got a good night's sleep. I wrote to complain about how Philea Resort & SPA ruined my vacation through poor facilities management and how the situation and room change were handled. When I raised it with reception at checkout, my complaint fell on deaf ears. I got the look of “it's your bad luck, and nothing I can do.” They should check the power supply properly before check-in. Avoid Unit:3215 for now, or any other unit with unreported problems.

The room was comfortable, and the service was “very very good.” The shower pressure was poor, but maintenance fixed it right away after we called. Everyone was kind and helpful throughout our stay, especially front desk staff Amira and mini farm instructor Rahman, who was funny with my family and helped us all day. The cafe staff and security were good too. Nice work, Philea. I only have one complaint: the “KIBLAT ARROW.” Please take this seriously. As Muslims, my family and I are very sensitive about the direction of the Qibla. In room 3020 the arrow pointed north, while in room 3021 it pointed east and in room 3022 south. That was very misleading for Islamic beliefs. I prayed in the wrong direction for three days, and my family only noticed before checkout. Please check and fix the pointers in the other rooms too. We corrected our room's pointer ourselves 😂 We'll come back for our honeymoon, insyaallah.