The Datai

Carlsberg doesn’t design tropical hideaways, but if it did, luxury Langkawi resort the Datai would be its blueprint: a collection of deluxe tree houses perched above a postcard-perfect beach populated by beautiful bodies in designer bikinis. Reclining on a sunlounger over powdery sand, I turn to Mr Smith to see if he thinks I can use a lager analogy in my review, but he’s off… He’s heading straight for the water to zip around the bay in one of the hotel's mini catamarans – his way of working off the four-course champagne brunch that's become our regular start to the day since arriving here.

Though it feels like we’ve been here for ages, we actually only arrived at the Datai yesterday. We’d been driving for a while before Mr Smith spotted the unassuming entrance – lucky, as we’d have ended up somewhere on the other side of the island otherwise – and we turned down a quiet, meandering path that took us through the lushest of lush rainforest. The only traffic we came across was a family of Macaque monkeys playing in the road.

Once checked in, we found the resort itself to be equally tranquil and back-to-nature. Our private villa, situated on a peaceful hillside, is just made for holing up with a loved one. The rain shower and bath are both big enough for two, there are his ’n’ hers sinks, an oversized daybed that’s perfect for idling away an afternoon and a bed, swathed in 400-threadcount sheets, that’s big enough for four. The hotel have even thoughtfully placed a ‘things to do’ booklet in our room. Ha! No chance. If all the accommodation at the Datai is as inviting as Villa 35, then I can’t imagine the forest walks on offer get too booked up.

After poking around the 20ft sandstone-and-marble bathroom – which features genius derrière-flattering lighting, incense sticks and candles – we step out onto our terrace to take in views of the 50 million-year-old rainforest we’re smack bang in the middle of. Mr Smith and I swore off eco holidays after spending one week too many being ‘cleansed’ by shamen at a Mexican retreat, but, surrounded by the sights and sounds of the Langkawi jungle, we begin to see the appeal of being at one with nature. Especially when Mr Smith can check Facebook courtesy of the free in-house WiFi and I can satisfy my cravings for Lavazza courtesy of the coffee machine.

Just how close we are to the wild we are becomes apparent at bathtime when we’re distracted from our Molton Brown bubbles by a family of doe-eyed monkeys, peering at us through the window. Watching our furry neighbours munch on their evening snacks, we realise it is probably time for dinner. What to have? Mr Smith and I have the choice of elegant dining in the treetop Pavilion restaurant or a more low-key barbecue on the beach. As it’s my husband’s birthday today, we opt for the former.

As we leave our villa, freshly scrubbed and eagerly anticipating a good meal, I can’t help but notice how seamlessly the hotel design fits with the Datai’s unspoilt location. All hard woods and soft colours, the delicate detailing we’ve already enjoyed in our room is continued into the elegant, open-air lobby building, which houses a sunken cocktail bar and a frog-filled lily pond. All the Japanese screens, Mayan bricks and Malay wood we can see everywhere were brought in by boats and elephants to avoid disturbing the local ecosystem.

The effort was worth it. Nature and design complement each other perfectly. The hotel buildings are linked by open air walkways, and our stroll up the outdoor Grand Staircase to dinner is flanked by perfectly spotlit 50ft tall trees, which frame dramatic Andaman Sea views as we near the top. Up in the forest canopy, surrounded by the soporific buzz of a million cicadas, we are seated quickly by the nothing-too-much-trouble staff and brought delicious, steaming platefuls of Thai red curry and jasmine rice. Somehow they’ve found out about Mr Smith’s birthday, and an exquisitely prepared cake is brought to the table by a troupe of singing waiters. It’s such a lovely moment that all our innate British cynicism goes out of the window…

Next morning, we awake to the sound of tiny toes padding about on the roof above our heads. Who needs alarm clocks when you’ve got monkeys to let you know it’s breakfast time? After that aforementioned champagne brunch and a couple of coffees, we get down to the serious business of doing as little as possible.

Mere minutes later, we’re reclining on sunloungers by the side of the pool as the helpful attendants lay out cold flannels and jugs of iced water at our sides. It’s blissfully peaceful. Families are welcome at the Datai, but the thoughtful inclusion of an adults-only pool at the resort means that Mr Smith and I don’t have to endure any peace-spoiling gangs of noisy toddlers, leaving us free to devour our books and sip rosé in the shallow end without interruption.  

Later, after a cocktail-fuelled game of Scrabble down on the beach and a knot-erasing massage in the Datai’s forest spa, Mr Smith and I retire to our villa to prepare for our final evening at the resort. Sitting on our balcony with cups of ginger tea, we watch eagles glide above us and fish dart like silver bullets in the glasslike water below, and reflect on our ridiculously romantic weekend in the jungle. This may not be the place to come if you want to party till the wee small hours, but this couple found the grown-up elegance of the hotel refreshing and revitalising. Forget the lager analogy, this gorgeous hideaway is more like a premium champagne: effortlessly stylish, wonderfully palatable and utterly intoxicating.