There is really not much except for the room (cliff view) getting a little hot during the daytime despite the A/C being on, but that is to be expected. Even the internet was strong in all places, in contrast to what we had seen in some of the older reviews. Leaving Japamala after 5 days and going back to "normality" was the worst part of our experience.

Everything was amazing. It is a resort that is run with love and care. The location and the rooms are exceptionally nice and there are thoughtful details added to all aspects of the stay. The most exceptional thing is the friendliness and the kindness of all staff. It really feels like the people who work there are happy and they actually enjoy what they are doing. This leads to infectious friendliness all across the resort. There is relatively good snorkelling on the south side of the resort pier. There are several other good places for snorkelling and many good scuba diving spots nearby. I experienced underwater visibility of close to 30 meters and saw several sharks and turtles. We definitely want to go back there.

Stayed in April 2024

The difficult transportation to the resort

The friendliness of the entire staff. The restaurants. The beautiful beach.

Stayed in February 2024

Nothing

Incredible hotel, calm area, tremendous view, charming staff. Definitely to recommend!!

Stayed in February 2024

Superb attentive staff who went out of their way to make our stay special. Beautiful location, lovely food, spectacular private beach.

Stayed in February 2024

Nothing it was perfect!

Wow just wow, Japamala absolutely blew us away! From the ferry pick up with Edwin we knew we were in for a treat in our 3 day stay. The resort ticks all the boxes for us, small , personal, environmentally aware, and just superb service provided in a relaxed and attentive way. It’s clear that the ethos here is to ensure you come away feeling relaxed and pampered just enough, and it works. The food is delicious and the room surpassed all expectations, beautifully appointed, fantastic views, peaceful and immaculately kept with daily cleaning and evening turn down. Kenneth and team are setting the standard in discreet luxury. One of the nicest hotels we’ve stayed in and we shall be back asap!

Stayed in February 2024

Ferry from mersing jetty to genting

Natural view, Environment, service, cleanliness and food

Stayed in December 2023

The staff made the stay a really welcoming one

Stayed in September 2023

Gorgeous resort to reconnect a few days with yourself in a very beautiful spot. Food is great,with different options,all of them great quality.Special thanks to the Executive chef ,Ignasi. Definitely recommended, will be back.

Stayed in September 2023

Some of the facilities were unfortunately out of action (like the boardwalk bar)

The friendly staff, the private beach, the amazing Malay restaurant, the breakfast, the spacious rooms

Stayed in July 2023

non

hospitality friendliness everything

Stayed in June 2023

everything is just perfect

Stayed in May 2023

Area under refurbishment. More variety with food choices. More sun beds or cabanas.

Stunning location. Quiet. Lots of thoughtful touches in the room. Every member of staff is lovely.

Stayed in April 2023

facilities are a bit worn down

very nice and attentive staff great view from our bungalow food is nice

Stayed in February 2023

avoid December month as it’s the monsoon season, can’t do diving or other sea activities. The hotel is secluded and there isn’t access to places outside of the hotel. only one restaurant and it’s quite expensive

comfortable beds, wonderful sea view from the room, very friendly staff, nice beach

Stayed in December 2022

-

The staff were friendly and incredible. The food was excellent. The location of the resort was exclusive and pristine. One of the best island living spots in my opinion and the perfect place to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life!

Stayed in December 2022

Lovely chalet with en-suite bedrooms and spacious living area and balcony. Stunning views! Wonderful staff who looked after us and helped arrange snorkelling trips, boats, taxis, etc for us. Great food for breakfast and superb Malaysian cuisine for evening meals.

Stayed in November 2022

Considering the price of the stay the 5 minutes pick up from the jetty could have been included in the price. a bit weird to have to pay that much for such a short boat ride. Part from that it was a bit annoying to get 5 text before even arriving about extra taxes and fees. Not a 5 star resort worthy.

the beach is amazing and it’s the perfect place to relax. Great service and very great pizza.

Stayed in August 2022

nothing

very well maintained. also high aesthetics

Stayed in July 2022

Nothing

We spent three nights at Japamala after staying in a five star hotel in Singapore. The location of the resort is just amazing. It is built to go in harmony with the jungle. Allegedly no trees where cut down during the building of the resort, and the materials are mostly reused wood from the jungle. Which also makes it a green choice. It is a calm and relaxing place, with a great beach, pier and a freshwater pool. The staff is always smiling and there to help you, whatever and whenever. The food was just terrific. They have the main restaurant which serves local Malay/Indian food, and a Italian restaurant where the pizza was like in Naples. Our cabin was great, with sea view and an outside sitting lounge which we used in the mornings and evenings. The internet was great. Good enough to stream Netflix on the large flatscreen. No problems at all. Overall the stay was perfect, and we regret not staying longer. We will most definitely come back!

Stayed in July 2022

As the chalets are on the edge to the rainforest, they have a lot of animals around. A little bit annoying was that there are ants of any kind everywhere. The service on the reception was a little bit "from above" and impolite. Overall, there were a couple of hick-ups which should not happen for such a pricey hotel.

Overall, it was a stunning experience. The environment, the rooms, the restaurants and the service personnel is perfect.

Stayed in June 2022

perfect getaway at the beach. Not so good for people with walking disabilities.

Stayed in April 2022

property in need of maintenance, only one restaurant open. maintenance needed on all structural areas: pathways, steps, swimming pool, deck’s, etc.

amazing setting, unique rustic set-up, no children, friendly and helpful staff

Stayed in February 2023

My place was too high from the ground floor that made me frustrated before taking my steps on the way back and I was surrounded by monkeys when I was resting at balcony side that made me difficult to get out sometimes.

friendly staff and cozy and calm place. I felt freedom of whatever distraction as no stable connection of internet or network in the place. Moreover I felt full of privacy since not so many people are there and hard to see others.

Stayed in July 2022

The not so greats: - got at least 10+ sandfly bites from lying around the beach for an hour each day (tbf they warn you about this via in-room letter, but still couldn’t believe how bad they were, just a pity to not be able to lie on beach sand having travelled all the way there) - rooms were too dark and humid (very yin in energy) - not suitable to stay in for more than a day or two. they could do with putting in dehumidifier and brighter light options - limited sun beds; they are quite big so basically block out sunshine all day until 5pm. Due to sandfly issue, you can’t actually tan anywhere - pool is … either natural or dirty, can’t tell; didn’t go in as didn’t look inviting - naturally there are bugs in treetop rooms, and we did see a big roach - monkeys nearby the property love to throw pits at people walking by them, had one charge at us when we were contemplating whether to walk by them - no phone signal, so communication with housekeeping and reception is via WhatsApp; that’s fine but staff takes a long time to read messages even if you need them urgently, as they don’t carry the phone when walking away from reception - so so Malaysian food - salads tasted more like saucy lettuce than healthy greens - took too long to get there from SG - 7h drive on the way up, 5h on the way back down; boat leaving Genting has to go via 4 other stops before heading to Mersing, which meant a 2.5h boat ride when it was 1.5h on the way to Genting. Plenty of other options to sit on a beach for that amount of travel time (sans sandflies also) - all around bit dated of a property for this price range

Really wanted to love this property… The positives: - lovely beachfront nested on the edge of the jungle, proper nature getaway - woods used on premise are all reclaimed wood - sustainble! No plastic used to service either - free flow happy hour for one hour at sunset (if you book direct via hotel website) - kind and friendly restaurant staff, always enthusiastic to help - delicious savoury pancake at breakfast, and solid breadth for smoothie choices - clean snorkels for use to swim around premise - surprised to swim and see stuff around so close by! - knowledgeable and kind boat staff for excursions - quite a few menu options on excursions list - reasonably priced - solid wifi signal for even video steaming and calls - wow! - decent pizzas! - stunning boardwalk

Stayed in July 2022