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Reviews of Sand & Sandals Desaru Beach Resort & Spa

4 out of 5
Sand & Sandals Desaru Beach Resort & Spa
P.O. Box 29, Bandar Penaear, Johor,, Bandar Penawar, Johor

Reviews

6.8
Rating 10 - Excellent. 6 out of 91 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 44 out of 91 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 26 out of 91 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 12 out of 91 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 3 out of 91 reviews" "

6.6/10

Cleanliness

6.8/10

Staff & service

6.2/10

Property conditions & facilities

Reviews

2/10 Terrible

Verified traveller

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

2nd time been there.. still the same nothing must have change..

8/10 Good

Pin Ping, Singapore

Liked: Staff & service
Old place, but staff has great attitude! Kudos!
Singing trio at the open air bar (between the beach and the swimming pool) was fantastic! Would love to stay on if not for mosquitoes. Tip: Bring a mosquito repellent. Room is in an repairable state - understandable now, why renovations are ongoing. Breakfast could be better. Human touch is excellent. Where the hotel itself is old and in need of a face-lift, I can appreciate the staff's helpfulness and excellent attitude throughout it all. Loved spending time at the swimming pool - slide is great fun, even for me, a soon-to-be 40 year old adult.

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Disliked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
It was not our first time stay with Pulai. The hotel was under some renovation and we were placed besides the renovation site. The conditions of the washroom was not pleasant at all.

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Disliked: Property conditions & facilities

4/10 Poor

Karen, Singapore

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Dated hotel. Bad dinner restaurant food.
Believe hotel staff upgraded us which was great but registration took almost 30min as staff couldn't find hotels.com booking - I made booking under my account but there were two rooms so I was probably prompted to enter two names. that's why they couldn't issue 2nd room that is not under my name (how dumb).. Anyway room n toilet condition is so dated. Will not consider going back..

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service

4/10 Poor

Iylia, Singapore

Disliked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
Needs renovations.
The room is spacious but certain parts needs renovations. Cleanliness could be improved on. But overall it was a reasonable stay.

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Staff & service

4/10 Poor

Verified traveller

Disliked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Not up to international standards
Quite an outdated hotel, not worth the trip.. over priced for what it is.

6/10 Okay

cyrille, singapore

Liked: Room comfort
Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
friendly people but service is just really bad. hotel need some serious maintenance and renovation beach is nice, pool nice. restaurant really average and service is SLOOWWWWWWWW

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
It could be better if we can get wifi access in our room too.

8/10 Good

Siti, Singapore

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Short getaway with a 1 year old.
Checked-in after a visit to the Ostrich Farm which was about 15mins drive away. Smooth check-in. Greeted by pleasant staff. Got some tips of cheap and good seafood nearby from a staff. Housekeeping service was prompt after calling for towels and floor mat as they were not placed in the room. Room was very spacious and clean with good view of the pool area. Facilities were well-maintained. We enjoyed the children play area at level 1 and the pool. Good variety of food during breakfast. Went to a near by museum and the crocodile world after check-out.Enjoyed the stay very much!

6/10 Okay

jane, malaysia

Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Close to the beach
Room not very clean and the bedsheets got blood stains .

8/10 Good

MUTHUKARUPPAN, singapore

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice environment beside sea shore

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

8/10 Good

Ella

Good short family trip
Ideal for short getaway trips from Singapore. Drive down so that you can have your meals in small eateries, less than 10 min drive.

4/10 Poor

Verified traveller

Liked: Room comfort
Disliked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Good for short getaway but don't expect much
Stayed at lotus a night before and realised that lotus has larger compound compared to pulai...the only add on for pulai is for clean beach and the kids club though it's rather small also.. room service was terrible. Had requested extra bed before check in and it wasn't delivered till dinner time after several complaints made. The open area for breakfast also has birds and flies flying around which make it not hygienic.

10/10 Excellent

Yusof, WOODLANDS SINGAPORE

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
why travel far if u can get it all here in Pulai D
it was marvellous.A place for relaxation with nice atmosphere nice good staft and friendly.keep it up.Amenities is good.Even though the hotel is far in but with the transport provided tats make it more pleasant..

4/10 Poor

HOSSAIN, Singapore

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort
Not Recommended
Hotel looks great, room was just so so. Towels were smelly and torn, got room cleaned after called them 3 times. The only selling point is desaru beach and hotel landscaping outdoors, otherwise it truly is horrible. And its not near anything so you will be stuck in the resort unless you are willing to bow to the locals extortionist demands. RM120 for a ride to the local market nearby? Ridiculous. Exchange rate at hotel is understandably lower than outside market value, but earning over 20% profit on currency exchanges is just a low blow. Lesson: Never go Desaru without your own car.

6/10 Okay

Weng Kee Leslie, Singapore

Liked: Staff & service
Check in was fast, and they gave us a bigger room with an extra bed for my 5 year old without extra charge. Much appreciated. However water was leaking from pipe under sink. Hotel could do with a little Reno.

8/10 Good

Sri Liyana

Liked: Cleanliness, room comfort

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Relaxing and an ok trip
The staff are friendly and helpful. The hotel was ok just that the bedsheet doesn't look that clean and it have a smell. We were planning to go to fruit farm and ostrich farm but they no longer have a service there however they are able to arrange a cab for the trip. As for the fruit farm they require a minimum pax of 4 in order to arrange the trip. Since we are a family of 3 we don't get to go. It is quite convenient if you are driving. You can have lunch or dinner at bandar penawar. If not the hotel can arrange a cab for you at RM30 2 way to there. They also have atv ride service. Though the track wasn't that big we still had a good time. If you are looking for a relaxing weekend, it is recommendable to stay here.

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice hotel, beautiful beach.
My family and I stayed for 1 night only. Check in was quick. The room was spacious, very clean with a private balcony. The only thing is they dont provide towel/mat for bathroom.So a little bit messy with water after use toilet / sink at the bathroom. My kids love the swimming pool. We enjoyed relaxing at the beach.We really enjoyed our stay here, and will definitely come again.

6/10 Okay

Richard, Singapore

Liked: Staff & service, room comfort
Great R and R Niche
Great place to rest and relax after long ride.

6/10 Okay

J, London

Liked: Staff & service
Decent hotel for Desaru
Generally, it was a pleasant enough stay. Staff were very polite and welcoming. However, as Desaru is not the most popular of holiday destinations, the hotel is somewhat aged. There were a few dead cockroaches lying around, which I presume was due to the open plan of the reception area that is continuous with the outdoors. These were removed the next time I wondered into the area. Breakfast was standard. The beach connected to the hotel is not the cleanest of places with quite rocky areas. This was my second stay at Pulai and I would visit again.

4/10 Poor

chai, johor bAHRU

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
NO A GOOD ,ALL FACILITIES OUT OF FUNCTION

2/10 Terrible

Christina A.

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort
Unhappy ozzie
Having read other people's previous experience I did not expect much but it was lower than my low expectations. Booked 2 rooms both rooms smelled of mildew and the mustiness. It gets worse. The bed had smell of sweat and whatever. The sheets had old blood stains and worse new blood stains. Shame on management. Such lovely location. A bit of hygiene would be good. Chris

6/10 Okay

Chee khng

Liked: Cleanliness
Was a quick getaway, room was ok, very quiet and peaceful stay. room however no wifi, would be much better if room has wifi.

8/10 Good

SEAN, Camborne, Cornwall, England

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort
Stay in the renovated block not the main building!
Stayed here many times, this time brought the in-laws with us. At first they put us in the main building which was very depressing. Asked to change to the renovated block where we have always stayed and that was done promptly, thanks to the nice receptionist, I think her name was Aion. Good place for a night or two although not much choice in this area. Overall, after changing rooms (blocks) - very happy as usual!

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
Quite and nice beach
Average food, room condition need improvement and beach nice and quite. Overall condition of stay was good.

8/10 Good

Chau Jack, Singapore

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort
Great beach resort to relax
I wish they could retain the tennis court, instead of converted to Paint ball shooting galley. I wish their Paint Ball Shooting Galley is operating full time & with less onerous conditions. Currently it only available for: 1) minimum 15 players, 2) 3 days in advance booking/notice.

6/10 Okay

lee hooi, Johor

Liked: Room comfort
Satisfying room but disappointing gym facility
Room is big and comfortable. Buffet breakfast were ok. Quite disappointed with the cleanliness in Mini Gym room. The equipment were stained with sweat and fingerprints.

8/10 Good

bonafido, Singapore

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Comfortable and nice view
When I first check into the hotel,I m greeted with the friendly staff, the room is big and spacious. It's quite clean as well.only issue is the two of the lamp are having intermittent problem. Overall experience is good.

6/10 Okay

Brian, Vientiane, Lao.

Liked: Room comfort
Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Not good enough.
Hotel was Ok, have stayed there before, but the housekeeping is in need of an overhaul. No towels, only realised AFTER I had a shower,so had to skate to the phone and then hide and wait. Not acceptable . Room service did not take away dirty/finished plates even when they had to move them to put down the food the next time they delivered something. Water was not replaced the whole two days and two nights ..

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
we love the spaciousness of our room
we had an awesome stay at Pulai Desaru Resort

8/10 Good

Rodney

Liked: Property conditions & facilities, room comfort

8/10 Good

Aileen

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

8/10 Good

Ng

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort

8/10 Good

Ginnz

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

4/10 Poor

kek

Disliked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

6/10 Okay

Lee, JB

Liked: Room comfort
Disliked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
Good location, pool & breakfasts; rough otherwise
Check in was rough. Had two rooms. One of them was OK. The other was a smoking room, and it was dirty, and the fridge was broken. So we changed rooms. The new room had a broken fridge and toilet. They sent maintenance to fix it while we waited in the lobby. Once in the rooms, the new room was fine, though the other room turned out to have one big problem: ants. Hundreds of them. Anyway, the pool and the beach are the two main attractions. The pool is nice, though the actual hours it is open are 9:30 to 6:30. And towards the end of our stay, the slide stopped working. The beach is passable. The real highlight of the hotel is the breakfasts, which are phenomenal. For lunch and dinner, the prices are exorbitant, so I'd recommend going to Desaru Utama, a few km to the north, where there are a few good restaurants. Check out was also a bit of a fiasco, as they had tacked on a charge to our room and wanted to wait for the waiter from the previous night to come down and verify that it wasn't us. He wasn't coming. I'm not even sure he was working. After a while, about fifteen minutes, he gave up and decided to trust us and let us go. Overall, your choices in Desaru are limitied, there are really two hotels. This was is pretty run down, but I've heard the other one is even more run down, and it certainly looks like it: all sprawled out like a summer camp and caked in faded pastel paint; it looks the worst of the two and that's what we've heard from colleagues.

6/10 Okay

Wanda

Room lacked comfort
Although the room is supposedly renovated recently, overall the room lacked the feel of comfort. The taps at the bathtub were shaky and the toilet walls dirty, no face towels provided, the bedroom floor was dusty etc. The breakfast was disappointing. Overall, it was not worth the room charges I paid.

6/10 Okay

Martin, Singapore

Liked: Staff & service, room comfort
2D1N stay
Nice place to relax. Hotel staff are friendly. Rooms are very basic. Some stains on the bedsheets. The gym is totally rundown and probably not maintained. Overall stay is still pleasant.

10/10 Excellent

tini, johor

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
It was an awesome staying
Big cosy room with good facilities..variety of food served n the taste was not bad..big pool n nice view

8/10 Good

Rathi, Johor Bahru,Malaysia

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
relaxing holiday
Overall it was a calming and restful stay. The room was bigger than i anticipated and the shower was lovely! However, the menu was rather limited for the breakfast buffet and the lobby ladies room was extremely unpleasant. We were shocked that it obviously had not been cleaned the whole day!

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Nice hotel with less crowded beach
There's only 3 hotels within desaru vicinity area. Therefore the beach are more 'clean and fresh'. Recommended for weekend escape with family.

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Disliked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities

6/10 Okay

Ian, Singapore

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
Comfort Hotel near beach with nice swimming pool
The swimming pool is still great , the beach is still wonderful. The room is spacious. the breakfast is still nice.The hotel is recently renovated but as a constructor, the workmanship quality is bad. the facility in common area is getting old and run down. I must say the mattress we slept is comfortable . Good sleep there.

8/10 Good

Lim, Singapore

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Wonderful family outing.
Pulai Desaru Hotel is a very beautiful hotel. The hotel room was clean and spacious. Hotel staff were polite and helpful too. Yes, we will visit the place again :)