Sukasuka Lake Retreat

Beautiful place. Traditional Malay style stay. Kids love the kayak.

If you’d love to experience living in traditional Perak Malay houses in a private kampung, this is the place to be. Situated on the water, activities like kayak and fishing are available. Food is traditional Malay. The ambiance is good and with natural air-conditioning! A very beautiful place to unwind and get away from the city.

This was one of the most welcoming and authentic living experiences throughout my entire journey in Malaysia. Being welcomed into a locals home is a truly special experience. We got to live and eat like the locals. I felt like I was a part of this lovely family. The scenery was breathtaking. Our home was situated in a rainforest and next to lake. I remember renting one of the kayaks and paddling out on my own and just enjoying the scenery and silence on the lake. I'll always remember this family and their hospitality. The food was also delicious! We all sat on the floor and ate with our hands as well. True authentic Malay cuisine. If you really want a true authentic experience I highly recommend staying in a homestay.

This place works for me! I always couldnt help but kept thinking... I go blank here and had a great rest. One night here is not enough for me! You can opt to fish, kayak and play congkak here. So far, this is my fav place in Lenggong. I dont wanna expose too much of this place, best for u to experience yourself. I will see u again, Aziz, Asiah and Azam Ps: maxis has no line here and there is no wifi here. But i would say u dont need Internet here :))

Great place, amazing hospitality! The owners are friendly, with their 'balik kampung' concept and homecooked meal, u're never hungry! Fishing, kayak, resting on hammock, and trekking are some of the activities you can do here. Bring insect repellent if you have tasty blood as mosquitos are waiting for their meals. In conclusion, a great getaway place to enjoy nature with minimal yet enough necessities provided. (Be sure to book early as this place only cater to small groups of people at a time)

A tranquil and relaxing place to get away to. Hosted by a very hospitable family, Mr Aziz, his wife Puan Asiah and their son Azam. My family learnt about Malay culture and food. They have a lot of other activities to keep you occupied like kayaking, fishing, swimming and playing traditional games. You should also not miss the guided tours to nearby UNESCO World Heritage Site at Lenggong ??

Place to be with nature and experience the traditional malay lifestyle. Getting to kayaking at Lake Chenderoh is superb. Owner is super friendly.

Nostalgia and The Experience Economy What makes a guest of SukaSuka Lake Retreat go and stay there 68 times? As for me, the first reason I became first-time guest there was to reunite with the owner, Aziz as he had been the manager who hired me into the first company I worked at. Having not met him for more than 35 years, we could reminisce. My second reason was to experience the Malay kampung (village) setting he had created. Boy, was that nostalgic! Dinners taken seated on the floor, the assortment of Malay food that triggered my childhood memories and tongue sensations of my grandma’s and mom’s dishes and how they were prepared, the Malay house architectural design quirks, the sleeping in the mosquito net with just the fan on, the utensils and artifacts that I could have sworn were taken from my grandma’s house, and more. As a bonus, there is the scenic lake and with choice of all the activities that can be enjoyed lakeside and on the lake! And not forgetting taking a boat ride to the other (original) part of the retreat: the island recluse. When Aziz Manaf and Asiah Mohd Ridzuan left city life, they went “off grid living” to become Mr. and Mrs. Robinson Crusoe on this island, much to the surprise of everyone, and later started taking in guests into small chalets. They built the lakeside (i.e. on mainland) Malay village later when it was less practical to send son Azam to school travelling from the island. Aziz said his guest who has been there 68 times gave him feedback that the number one reason the guest comes back is the consistency! Other guests report how they feel the authenticity of not only the setting of nature and culture, but mostly of Aziz, Asiah and Azam. I certainly felt this family of three’s heartful hospitality. After all, as Aziz said, they are merely sharing their lifestyle. Other than those two lessons in superior customer experience, I notice that despite their inventory of hundreds of stories (culture, history, archeology, agriculture, etc., etc.) and lots of permutations of what guests can do, their itinerary and stories for guests are made just enough (truly customised) for the variety of guests. 

Aziz says he is not staging anything. I say he is a master stager. Of course the overseas guests (80% of their guests) get more activities and stories on Malay culture, but yet curated to not become overwhelming. As an aside, I found 17-year-old Azam the son to be highly matured, confident and intelligent, thanks to the guests from 130 countries over the years whom I regard as “bringing international school to Azam” in the retreat. For a Malay kampung boy like me, I got a dosage of nostalgia, laced with stories that appealed to my wife, Marsila and I such as the the area’s history including the 11,000 year-old “Perak Man” and the 1.8million-year-old stone axe found nearby. For other Malaysian guests, they get varying degrees of deeper appreciation of Malay culture. As I was about to check out from our 4 days, 3 nights stay yesterday, a few teachers walked into the retreat to verify what they had read, as they were organising a trip for their school children to come and better understand Malay culture. I think the teachers really got it. Aziz says it is experiential tourism. Joe Pine (co-author, The Experience Economy) and Santhakumaran Atmalingam (Founder, CX Expert Asia) will do a better job than me to unravel more than just the 3 lessons I highlighted. Me, I wrote in their guestbook that I’ll go there 68 more times (despite there being no air conditioning and only patchy internet).