Anantara Hotels, Resorts & Spas has officially entered the Malaysian luxury hospitality sector with the debut of its first hotel – the Anantara Desaru Coast Resort & Villas.
Officially opened on 1st December 2019, the new property offers a range of luxury accommodation, situated in lush tropical gardens on the idyllic Desaru Coast. The resort features a total of 123 rooms, comprising 90 deluxe lodgings in low-rise buildings that overlook gardens, lagoon and ocean; 13 stand-alone luxury one- and two-bedroom pool villas; and 20 expansive three- and four-bedroom residences, each featuring an infinity pool and full kitchen, along with a dedicated chef and butler service.
The resort is complemented by a wide range of stylish dining facilities: there’s a seafood restaurant with alfresco courtyard and beachside dining establishment, named Sea.Fire.Salt; an all-day dining restaurant offering local Malay, Asian and international fare; an observatory bar overlooking the resort and ocean; an infinity beach pool bar; and Anantara’s signature private dining experience, known as Dining By Design.
In addition to the F&B options, Anantara Desaru Coast Resort features two swimming pools, kids clubs, a spa and a cutting-edge health and fitness centre. For business travellers, a conference centre comes complete with a mid-sized ballroom and meeting rooms, offering the perfect corporate milieu in a luxury destination.
Designed by Singapore architectural firm WOW Architects & Warner Wong Design, and with interiors by Environment Design Consultants from Malaysia, the resort is inspired by traditional Malay buildings, adorned with indigenous materials and fabrics such as woven textiles, wicker elements and silhouettes of traditional Malay crafts. The luxurious pool villas are clustered around a lagoon and their design draws heavily from a traditional kampong house, built to suit the tropical Malaysian climate with floor-to-ceiling windows, slanted carved wooden panels and wide-opening doors that allow natural airflow to cool the interior.
Located at the south-eastern tip of Malaysia in Johor Bahru, Desaru Coast is considered by many in the business to be Malaysia’s rising-star luxury resort destination. Anantara’s new resort stretches out over 16 square kilometres along a pristine 17-kilometre beachfront facing the South China Sea. Easily accessible via a 45-minute drive from Malaysia’s Senai International Airport (JHB) and a two-hour drive from Singapore, the Desaru Coast can also be reached by ferry from Singapore.
Attractions in the area include The Els Club Desaru Coast – two beautifully manicured golf courses featuring a total of 45 holes; Ocean Course, which is a 27-hole golf course designed by four-time major champion, Ernie Els; and Valley Course, an 18-hole course designed in collaboration with another major champion, Vijay Singh. Besides golf, the local area also includes an adventure waterpark, a waterfront retail village, a conference centre and a range of other world-class hotels and resorts.
Anantara currently has a global portfolio of 35 properties, located in countries such as Thailand, the Maldives, Indonesia, Vietnam, China, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Mozambique, Zambia, the UAE, Qatar, Oman and Portugal, with a range of projects in the pipeline for Asia, the Indian Ocean, Middle East, Africa and South America.
