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Tanjung Sanctuary Resort to Undergo RM152mil Facelift
Tanjung Sanctuary Resort in Langkawi will undergo a RM152mil makeover in the next few years to raise it to five-star status.
"The resort currently has only 32 rooms in 16 stilted chalets and we plan to add in about 60 rooms in the makeover," said General manager Megat Shahrul Azman Abas.
Megat Shahrul said the refurbishment would include creating exclusive Asean 'villages', where the rooms were decorated and built according to Malay, Balinese and Thai concepts.
The resort's occupancy rate averaged 70% throughout the year and the rate would reach 95% during the peak period between November and March, he said.
This is a vast difference from when River Eternal first took over the resort in 1998 when the occupancy rate was only 1%. "When I first came to manage this resort, it was in bad shape and I was actually told to shut it down," he said.
However, Megat Shahrul fell in love with the resort and decided to turn things around. With only 10 employees to help him, he literally took things in his own hands by repairing and repainting the resort buildings.
'River Eternal did not have a big budget so we had to do most of the repair works ourselves and look for affordable contractors to do the more complicated works,†he said, adding that he had also pleaded with local taxi drivers to promote the resort.
His hard work paid off, and in the third month after taking over, the resort was actually bringing in profits. Now the resort is a popular retreat for European tourists and has about 50 employees.
Keeping to its theme of 'sun, beach and natureâ€, Megat Shahrul said there would not be many high technology or 'noisy†facilities added to the resort following the upgrading.
'There will be basic facilities such as a swimming pool, spa, restaurant, water sports activities, a convention centre and a lounge, but the rest are mostly just what nature has to offer,†he said.
'We aim to cater to families and middle-aged guests who are looking for a quiet environment so we will not have karaokes or nightclubs, but we will continue to offer breathtaking sea views, lots of greenery and even nature trails for the adventurous,†he said.
Other than the upgrading works, exclusive sea-fronting villas and low-rise boutique apartments for sale were also in the pipeline.
'The land owned by River Eternal actually covers 25.5ha and the resort currently takes up only 2.4ha so we have a lot of forest area to use,†Megat Shahrul said.
However, the natural environment of the land will be preserved and the additional buildings would actually be built around the thick foliage.
'We plan to build about 40 villas and 150 units of apartments along the coastline in the unused section of the land area to sell to those interested to have a holiday home here,†he said.
The apartments are expected to be priced from RM500,000 while the villas from RM2mil onwards.
Langkawi 21/03/2005
