Aman Tioman Beach Resort
We'd arrived on Tioman by way of the village of Tekek, because we had a booking at Berjaya before our stay at Aman Tioman Beach Resort. Whilst Berjaya wasn't bad by any stretch of the imagination, we did feel that arriving at Aman Tioman Beach Resort was like a breath of fresh air.
Why? Well, Aman Tioman Beach Resort is brand new and you can tell. Not only are reception, restaurant and room interiors quite contemporary, but the whole resort design is one of here and now. Berjaya is fine, but it's rather long in the tooth. Oh, you can tell they've tried to prop it up with a few refurbishment's here and there and it's still a decent place to stay.
It's just that when you arrive at Aman Tioman Beach Resort, you realize the starkness of the contrast between the two resorts. Then again, I hear Berjaya has been around for decades. I'm sure it's done its owners proud. But its time in the sun is behind it.
So how good is Aman Tioman Beach Resort?
Well, one aspect where Aman Tioman Beach Resort shines is the way they built the complex with the wants and needs in mind of today's connected travelers. The rooms have a number of USB charger integrated into the wall, rendering USB chargers obsolete. At Aman Tioman Beach Resort, you can charge all your electronic gadgets, gizmos and doodle whackies right from the wall USB connectors. And power sockets are plentiful too.
We also liked the bathroom, which wasn't only spacious and pretty glam, but the rain shower was positively generous, both in water volume and temperature. I find that hotels tend to skimp here by pinching the water flow and fixing the hot water temperature to tepid at best. Not so at Aman Tioman Beach Resort. The shower here rocks.
Incidentally, it's no surprise to learn that Aman Tioman Beach Resort' guests typically are younger than most guests at Berjaya. Aman Tioman Beach Resort is vibrant, bright and colourful and this is reflected by the crowd.
Speaking of crowds, I'm not sure if it was just a one-off of course, but Aman Tioman Beach Resort was quite a bit busier with people than the rest of Tioman that we visited. The Aman Tioman Beach Resort grounds were really alive with folks: couples, weekend warrior-types, as well as with plenty of scubadivers, undoubtedly on account of the nearby scuba outfits. It was abuzz and it's nice. Best of all, even though it was nice and packed, there were still rooms and chairs available at the breakfast buffet area.
By the way, the dining/bar space is stylish and positively gleaming, a lot of fun to hang here, whether consuming solids or liquids :)
One thing at which Berjaya pips Aman Tioman Beach Resort is the actual breakfast buffet. This is where Berjaya excels. Sure, it has been whittled away somewhat over the years, but the Kampong Tekek grand dame still knows how to do up a satisfying breakfast buffet. Aman Tioman Beach Resort's breakfast buffet, whilst a great effort, can't really compete with Berjaya's. Hopefully, Aman Tioman Beach Resort can tweak this into the next level yet.
Actually, there is one more facet where Berjaya is a little better than Aman Tioman Beach Resort and that's the size of their respective premises. Berjaya has a huge plot to its disposal, whilst Aman Tioman Beach Resort's area is more built up. Basically, there's less of a sense of space at Aman Tioman Beach Resort than at Berjaya.
Reserve os seus bilhetes de ferry para Tioman
De Mersing, Jan De Tanjung Gemok: N.A., [Tanjung Gemok = Teluk Gading] Indo para Mukut ou Juara? Clique qui. Pro Tip: Não sabe qual cais escolher ao reservar sua balsa? Normalmente, o ferry pára em todos os cais principais. No entanto, existe excepção, assim que estiver a bordo, confirme a rota do ferry com a tripulação de cabine. Pegando a balsa Tanjung Gemok? Clique aqui / aqui. |
For instance, at Berjaya you have a lot of room to wander, the property is immense, and also the rooms are of the semi-detached type. At Aman Tioman Beach Resort on the other hand, the lay-out is more compact, not so much area to stroll, and Aman Tioman Beach Resort's accommodation is of the terraced housing kind.
That being said, it's not as if you notice any of this whilst in your room, because Aman Tioman Beach Resort's rooms, depending on which you booked of course, are pretty much as spacious as Berjaya's. However, the overall difference in grounds area between the resorts is review-worthy, so best I mention it, especially since all this extra area at Berjaya comes with a good number of amenities and facilities.
Ok, it looks like this review has inadvertently become a bit of a compare and contrast between Old and New, i.e. between Berjaya and Aman Tioman Beach Resort. Now, we're regulars of Berjaya, but Berjaya's breakfast bliss notwithstanding, we'll be giving Aman Tioman Beach Resort a few more tries going forward. Because, apart from the solid Aman Tioman Beach Resort performance noted above, we also feel we get that much more bang for our buck at Aman Tioman Beach Resort than at Berjaya.
I hope our review helps travelers who are not sure yet which resort to book. By the way, Aman Tioman Beach Resort can be booked direct here.
