Japamala Resort

Japamala was such a lovely retreat from the hustle & bustle of the city! Built on a beautiful, secluded, island and being the only hotel in the area, and having only 15 rooms meant a peaceful, private holiday for all vacationers. Service was personal, warm and impeccable, food was lovely and the rooms were tastefully decorated. It can be a little difficult to get to, the 4 hours drive from KL and a boat ride (2x longer boat ride if you take the public ferry) but all worth it when you arrive in paradise. Highly recommended!

Thoroughly impressed. Enjoyed every moment of our stay. Attentive service made us feel always well looked after. Staff always had a smile on their face, from the moment we stepped on to the resort to the final moment we departed on the boat. Impressed by the twice daily room clean. Complimentary sunset drinks/cocktails from 6-7pm was a highlight. The complimentary provision of nightcap whisky in the room each night was a nice touch. Comfortable beds and rooms. The on-site Tamarind Restaurant offers premium Thai dining with plenty of dishes to choose from. Very vegetarian friendly. Would highly recommend.

Japamala Resort was truly exceptional! It’s started from our first step on the boat with a drink and cold towel, followed by a refreshing tasty lemongrass drink upon arrival. First impression truly says it all. It is amazing how the resort blends with nature. The resort has kept the charm of nature; not destroying any of the natural elements. The staff was truly professional and amazing and always checked in on you. Rooms were very cozy and comfortable, clean, huge and the plunge pool is a plus! We got the Seaview Sarang. Highly recommended. It was relaxing to be by the beach and equally relaxing to stay in the room. The food was amazing, especially the Italian! We will definitely be back!

Greeted by friendly staffs from Genting jetty all the way to Resorts, it was beautiful especially the bar was locates right in the jerry. Food was yum & room was spacious with jetty view in our back ground (prefer brighter lightning in the room)

Stayed at japamala for 4days and 3 nights. Overall it was quite disappointment. Japamala is a private property which is separated by other resorts at pulau tioman. On my 1st day arrival at japamala they welcome me with cold drinks. There is no activities that u can do at japamala other than snorkeling bcoz they wil provide snorkeling equipment as well you can go for kayak'ng rest activities are expensive such as u can go for fishing but you have to pay rm300 for 2hours. Snorkeling to different island is almost cost about rm190 per pax. The biggest disadvantage was internet there is no internet bcoz of the tower isues. If you are having postpaid line then u can able to get internet only at the lobby and restaurant. Never imagine that you wil get line in ur room or other places. If you realy don't want to have any social media during ur stay then u can choose Japamala. On my 1st day I arrived early and they gave me complimentry of a room no 16 sea view bcoz I check in early and my actual room was occupied by another guest. Thanking Japamala for that room. Then I wanted to have my breakfast I went to the restaurant earlier I inform the lobby staff that I wanted to have ala carte breakfast I thought she might inform the restaurant but It was my mistake. We had 1 nasi lemak and one pancake 2 juices which was cost rm180++ it was quite shocking for me but then I admit it was my mistake bcoz I didn't inform the waiter that I wanted to choose ala carte. Foods are very very expensive and doesn't worth at all.nasi goreng kampung cost rm38++ they only served with 1 prawn 3 squid I asked for spicy but didn't came out as requested. I'm paying rm38 for a fried rice my expectations on that fried rice should be high foods are overall full of disappointment..ordered fish steam request the chef to make it lime chili when they serve the fish it was extremely bitter the waiter bring it back and didn't charge for the food. Then ordered tom yam sup I didn't know that tomyam willl be done by using coconut milk that was so terrible. There is no vegetables available in the resort the only vege that they having is long bean and eggplant. My food for 4days 3 night cost me rm800++ for 2 pax which is only lunch and dinner. Rm800 is so expensive and the foods were no worth at all they only have one restaurant food choices is so less. The last night our dinner was sponsored by Mr Mike Italian food was nice and grateful for his treat for us. There is high tea on every day 4pm to 5pm. They gave us Malaysian snack for tea time such as kuih lapis castard kuih banana kuih which is all taste horrible and can't even eat that bcoz it's too hard to eat. Teh tarik was nice from waiter BK. My last day I had to move from japamala around 6am so I request for packed food I request nasi lemak but they gave me ham sandwich some fruits and mineral water. Fruits has been spoiled. After they drop us at jetty it was heavy rain they didn't ask us to be prepare to be with the rain and we have wet in the rain.paid 3.5k for 4day stay but not worth at all. Certain things are totally not acceptable but we had no go through it. While was siting at the restaurant the chair I was siting has broken I fall down bcoz all the chairs seems old they could have done something for it. Overall I would say that japamala is not 5* for current situation. Never forgeting one of the female staff who entertain us well I can't remember her name she was so good towards us. Thank you japamala if you asked me I would be back or not my answer is no.

I had a 2 nights stay at the resort and was supposed to extend another 1-2 nights but decided not to as it is not worth it. I’m suppose to give a one star rating but the additional star is SOLELY for the Bangladeshi team. They are amazing! Great service, great smile, they work with heart. Here are a few highlights: 1. Food: It was bad. First day I waited more than an hour for the food to served. Of course there’s was a power outage on my arrival, but my food doesn’t require electricity to prepare, and the resort wasn’t busy at all. Apart from the waiting, taste was bad for a luxury resort, it has nothing close to a luxury resort. Also worth noting after my trip, I came back to KL and talk about it with my friends, something to take note is the food at their other restaurant in KL, Tamarind Hills; It was super bad as well. Not from me, but from a worth noting food guy in KL. Just FYI. 2. Room: I stayed in the beach sarang which is at the far end of the resort. The whole room was infested with insects and ants. I’m used to beach life and understand we are staying in a jungle, but getting bitten by insects and ants every night is no fun at all. Basically, the whole area is filled with ants and you won’t feel comfortable sitting on the deck, balcony or even use the jacuzzi bath tub. 3. Service: Again, full points goes to the whole Bangladeshi team, they are the best. But I need to highlight particularly on a lady staff (I think her name is Belle, and there’s only 1 lady staff at the resort). She is basically…. Not compatible as a staff, being the person in charge, she is not friendly, fake, and not sincere. Most of the people will not notice that and will give it a pass, but being the person in charge for a ‘luxury resort’, she has fail tremendously to deliver. I will not go into details on what is her issues as is going to turn out to be an essay, long story short, i will try to ignore her whenever I bump into her unless I don’t have a choice. Conclusion: Anyone plans to stay or considering to stay there, please DONT! Is not worth it. P/S: My room is RM2700-2800 a night, I couldn’t remember the exact rate, for that number, they are not even compatible or qualify to call themselves a ‘luxury resort’. Don’t Stay There!

My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed our short stay there as the service from all of the staff was fantastic from the time we arrived till the time we departed. We were given a very detailed room tour and the room amenities was excellent with a spectacular sea view. Moreover, the beach was very clean and the water was clear enough that you could see fishes below the jetty. Furthermore the food was great with a wide selection of local, Italian and Thai cuisine making sure that you won't be hungry. Having a sundowner by the jetty bar with the sea breeze completes each of our memorable day there. Thank you again to Bell, Sheena, Mike, BK, Rihon and the other staff for taking good care of us during our great stay at Japamala Resort Tioman.

We stayed at Japamala Resort for 7 nights - so we had plenty of time to explore the grounds and experience the service. Both were exquisite! We really enjoyed our stay overall so any critique I’m going to give is by no means very serious, but we did find some room for improvement which I’ll go into detail with below. Overall easy to recommend a stay at Japamala - it’s a piece of paradise! Grounds, facilities Japamala is beautifully tucked into the natural landscape with little to no disruption to its natural state. This was also evident by the sheer amount of wildlife we witnessed within the resort - from monkeys to porcupines to reptiles and a wealth of marine life (dolphins, barracudas, blue spotted sting rays to mention a few). Bring your snorkel - the left side of the jetty has some well to do coral and plenty of fish to witness. The closeness to nature also comes with a downside - I’m sure facilities get delapitated quickly in the weather and the last two years of being closed for a pandemic don’t help. There was evident wear and tear around the resort that they were clearly fixing up as well - these were not major things but among others our ceiling fan was entirely rusty and many or the beach furniture and bedding were in bad shape or stained. Hopefully the resort will be up to a higher standard soon. Service The entire team was super hospitable and took good care of us. Maybe the staff could receive some extra training on understanding special dietary requirements and requests and any exceptions in food orders seemed to always be a pain to get correctly. We also really enjoyed all the staff that took us out to our trips organized by the resort, the masseuse etc. Food Food is great - albeit very expensive for local standards but not surprising for a resort, especially a remotely located one. We enjoyed the food for the most part, although some of the Malay food on offer was way too rich and spicy for us. Additionally, we would have loved to see more variance and lighted options both for breakfast and lunch. Especially the lunch menu is very limited, most of the starters were not available for the entire week, which left very limited to non existent array of lighter dishes to be enjoyed in the midday heat which we would have preferred. We really enjoyed and appreciated the complimentary afternoon tea and happy hour as well - these really were well curated.