Club Huis - Puncak

The logo

Hammocks between pine trees

Hello again

The food stall

Outdoor area

As I promised on my previous post, this time I would like to write about Club Huis, the charming café near Pesona Alam Resort & Spa. Actually at that time, we didn’t have any plan to drop by but when we drove up the lane to the resort, there was a banner telling us to turn left – and we followed the banner wkwkwk (we arrived earlier than the allowable check in time anyway). The cute café is located in between the pine forest – a little bit hidden from the main road but if you wander around the pine forest, you wouldn’t miss it.

Knickknacks

The seating areas - indoor and outdoor

A barbecue corn stall was the first sight upon the entrance, offering simple traditional delicacies that brings back the old-time. Few old bicycles and wooden ducklings welcome us to the café. Across and on the left side of the cafe, few white-washed-wooden chairs and desks are placed for those who prefer to enjoy the vast greenery of pine forest and basking under the sunlight and cold breeze. Few hammocks that are hanging between the trees lured us to sit and rest our tired bodies from the journey. At far, we saw some workers were doing the pavement job that leads to another road. On the back porch of the café, few patio chairs blend well with tables made from log, some with garden parasols that provide shading. On the other side, there is a rabbit hutch for kids to play with.

The vintage indoor setting

Charming isn't it?

Enough enjoying the sight outdoor, we went in for order. Inside, the small room is only adequate for 3 groups of visitor but the design are charming. Antique stuff with various kinds of knickknacks decorates the room and shelves. Frames in various sizes are filling the walls with big plush sofa ready. I couldn’t hold myself – the place is totally instagrammable. The foods and beverages here are pretty standard with reasonable price tag too. Enjoying the view with a bandrek or ice blossom tea here is the best way to spend the weekend away

The bandrek

Entrance to the club

Love this sign ^.^

Pesona Alam Resort and Spa - Puncak

Welcome to Pesona Alam

The main road

Hello everyone…how is your day? For me, I still feel refreshed after spending a short weekend at Puncak with family. OK, for those who doesn’t know, Puncak is a famous mountainous weekend retreat for Jakartan and its surrounding. It is cold with plenty natural attractions and it has so many restos/cafes scattered around for you to have a taste. It is just 1hour drive away from Jakarta – if no traffic jam (that means you should leave quite early – since the traffic police often opens and blocks the road to and away from Puncak on certain time frame to decrease the traffic congestion around Puncak). Yes – this place is actually a nightmare for driver (especially a new one) despite its charms to many.

The pine forest

The whole complex from the hotel room balcony

So last week we…finally…able to spend a night at Pesona Alam Resort & Spa (it is always fully booked since its opening and getting few rooms without prior reservation – especially on weekend – are impossible). Not only can be considered as a new hotel (yes – I would prefer newly built hotel especially in the cold area – wouldn’t like to sleep on a damp mattress with molding smell in the room), Pesona alam is perfectly located just a drive away from the famous Taman Safari Zoo and it boasts classic chic design that is very much instagrammable. Nah – did I catch your full attention already (> , <)   

The kids pool in the villa

The family pool in the villa

Yeah - beanbag to float

The entrance to the resort is sandwiched by scarce pine forest which is getting thicker the further we go. Not far from the entrance, there is a cute café on the left side of the complex (will write bout this soon) while on the right side, we can see a row of villas. The villas come with 1 to 3 bedrooms, in which each villa has kitchen, dining room, living room, and a small terrace, with a country-type of design. Natural color is dominant with the usage of wood panel and steel plank. It is minimalist but still oozes the coziness.

The hotel room

The bedroom of villa

The facade and inside of the villa

The bedroom comes with hair drier, industrial shelves to put clothes and stuff, comfy bed and linen, air conditioning (Puncak is not as cold as it used to be and I switched on the air-con so I could cuddle up under the blanket), and basic toiletries. The kitchen itself is equipped with rice cooker, microwave, electric stove, electric kettle, fridge (with refreshment that we can have – free of charge), water dispenser (hot and cold), tableware and some cutlery. Unfortunately, they didn’t provide cooking oil, dish washing detergent, knife and seasoning so if you want to have a cooking fiesta, you gotta bring your own stock or run to the nearest convenient store for it (about 5min drive from the villa). Another lacking from the kitchen is they only provide one electrical outlet so we couldn’t have simultaneous cooking (they provide plenty of electrical outlets around the villa – but that means you will need to plug your kettle behind the door, a microwave at the corner of working desk or probably you will need to move the rice cooker to the middle of the living room – at least that was what we do when we stayed there LOL).

The trampoline

Pony ride - with a small fee

Halimun Lounge

For indoor villa entertainment, they provide flat LCD on each room – yay – no more fighting over the remote, plus another one on the living room, all with cable tv subscription too. Outdoor, they have 2 swimming pools, the kids pool and family one. They have a lounge with fireplace where we could sit and chitchatting while sipping the free-flow hot bandrek (a Sudanese traditional beverage that is perfect for cold weather) and nibbling a steam cassava or sweet potatoes. One minus thing is the fake fireplace otherwise it would be cool ^^ Beside all the above, the villas have a beautiful landscape in which you can enjoy while lounging on the purple-beanbag placed outside the villa…ah…heaven (> . <)

Awesome isn't it?

Part of the villa's garden

The landscape near the villa

If you are looking for something more convenient, you can opt for the hotel rooms instead. Located across the villa (you could use the golf-car as the free shuttle to and forth), they offer 2 types of room to choose. The room size is standard with standard amenities as well such as flat LCD with cable, air conditioning, SDB, electric kettle, hair drier, fridge (no free stuff here ha ha ha) and toiletries. Again, with minimalist interior which is not much different than the villa, the room is comfortable for 3 adults (they have a long sofa-bed in each room). Industrial design can be found on each floor, but the look is softened by - again - wood panels and natural colors around the hotel. The sofas and ornaments placed on the lobby bring out the classy charm too.

Get Bengawan Solo black coffee for free from Club Huis for staying in the villa

Yes - this was what we do...sitting and enjoying the view

Since the hotel is nestled on the top of the hill, the mountain-over-looking lobby (Halimun Lounge) is one place that you definitely can’t miss – especially if you like soc-med. The pool rings-out the lobby gives the perfect view to the mountain, lustful greenery and amazing sunrise – especially if you sit on the round ottomans on top of the pool. The hotel utilized the landscape perfectly by building its hotel few levels down from the lobby. This hotel provides spa, resto, pool and gym, outdoor lounge and for family with kids, no worry since there is plenty to entertain the kids from kids club (they have special performance for kids every weekend), mini football arena, mini outbound and trampoline, bike rental and of course a pony ride.

The small football field

Grand piano in the resto

 I hope you enjoy your stay here – just like us *wanna get back there already    

Pullman Putrajaya Lakeside Hotel - Malaysia

The piazza

Hello everyone...how have we been doing so far? I hope October had been a good month for all of you. This is a latepost but I just managed to add some pics to this post. Remember when I went to KL few months ago, well, I stayed at Pullman Putrajaya Lakeside hotel which was pretty awesome.

Chic lobby

Across the hotel

Location:

Ok, the main reason I chosen this was because it was the nearest to PICC (15minutes of walking distance or 3mins of drive), where I had a conference at that time. Beside, it was pretty close to KLIA as well, only 15minutes of drive (too bad - the hotel did not provide free airport shuttle service). However, if you have nothing to do with PICC on your agenda during your stay at KL, then I would not recommend this hotel. It was far from the nearest shopping mall (another 15minutes of drive with scarce taxi available), another 15minutes of drive to the nearest train station (that connects you to the main MRT station) and a very limited choice of restaurant/cafe/convenient store available nearby (my suggestion, stock up your instant noodle in case you have a late-night carving). Lucky, the hotel provided free shuttle to the mall and train station though it only run at certain period of time 

The Chinese garden complex

The hotel:
Despite all the above, I loved the hotel. It was beautiful with diversed Malay's culture infused on the facade and the complex layout. This 5star hotel was vast (I spent 2 evenings just to leisurely explore the whole area - and of course took lotsa pics of myself wkwkwk). They divided the hotel into 4 areas, the Lotus wing with Chinese' red-brick style, Bunga Tanjung wing with Malay style, Rafflesia wing with Borneo wooden style and Jasmine wing with its Indian style. In the middle of it, it had big piazza that could hold your outdoor gathering activities. Each wing/tower had its own distinctive lobby

The Rafflesia' lobby

The room:
We got the room on the top corner of Rafflesia tower with unobstructed view toward the lake and the plaza...totally awesome (especially during the sunrise and sunset). The room itself, as you can see from the pics below were big and cozy. Basic amenities were available (though I did not get any toothpaste - I was kinda run out of it at that time). I loved the traditional bathroom door that was made from plaited bamboo sheets...so original and I just love the bed (especially I only shared it with my dear hubby)

Our big room

Panoramic view from our room...perfect!

The facilities:
The hotel has 2 restaurants, The Village and B'S but I only tried B'S for breakfast. I was disappointed with the meals provided. They had variety of meals however almost all of them were tasteless. Probably it was due to the number of guest at that time (full occupancy during my stay) but in my opinion, Pullman should be more professional in catering especially during the peak season. Beside the restaurant, the hotel also had a deli, a bar, and a small (with limited stuff on shelves) convenient store. It has 2 swimming pools which unfortunately I did not have a chance to try it out, a gym next to it and a spa. If you are bringing your kids along, they also had a kids club which was vacant all the time during my stay there ha ha ha  :-) The most important thing was...free wifi was available everywhere...yay. It made me stay connected during my stay there (meaning: I could directly upload my pics to the socmed ha ha ha).

Lake-front

Beach....yay \(>.<)/

The surrounding:
From another perspective, the hotel was very strategic. It was located right beside the lake with a view toward the Putrajaya watersport club. A walking distance toward the marina where we could cruise along the lake (another thing that we missed - should have notice the cruise operational hours). However, we got a very nice surprise during my lazy stroll, I found a man-made beach at the far corner of the hotel complex. Yes...beach at Putrajaya...sounded unbelievable but the white soft sands with coconut trees was inviting   >.<   I spent sometimes there just to squeeze my toes around the sun-warm sands. Overall, it was a nice stay and would love to bring my girls there. See ya...

Nite view of The Village - resto

The swimming pool