Cameron Highlands Resort is now open!

Cameron Highlands Resort Hotel (formerly known as Merlin Inn) located opposite the Golf Course is now open! It looks really good after its refurbishment and renovation. I just can't wait to visit it but I will have to satisfy with the pictures for now until my next plan trip to Cameron Highlands.

Cameron Highlands Resort Hotel is now managed by YTL Corporation. Just to give you an idea, if you have been to JW Marriot Hotel, Starhill and lot 10 shopping center in Kuala Lumpur famous Sungai Wang shopping area, these buildings all belong to YTL Corporation. YTL Corporation has a tendency to do things in a grand fashion. So I suppose the brand new hotel will have a price tag to go with it if you intend to stay there.

Francis Teoh, the current MD and owner of YTL not only do things big, he does it with much pomp and fanfair. I was fortunate enough to attend his Russel Watson concert and celebration last year, it was done in such a fabulous grandiose.

So we shall expect Cameron Highlands Resort to be similarly of high standard and quality.

Below is more write up and info about the new hotel.

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Kuala Lumpur, 25 April 2006

On March 27th 1967, an American businessman disappeared during a visit to the Cameron Highlands. The famous Thai silk king, Jim Thompson, was on a holiday in the highlands with some friends when he went for a walk. The mystery remains to this day and Jim Thompson's name comes alive again in the Jim Thompson Tea Room, set in YTL Hotels & Properties's brand new 56-room boutique property in the Cameron Highlands: Cameron Highlands Resort.

At the Jim Thompson Tea Room, the time-honoured tradition of English afternoon tea may be enjoyed in an elegant setting for the leisurely savouring of finger sandwiches, light-as-air pastries and home baked scones as well as fresh Cameron strawberries. Complementing this delicious spread is a wide-ranging selection of exquisite Cameron Highlands teas.

YTL Hotels & Properties, a leading luxury hotel developer and operator in Malaysia, today opens the doors to its third luxury resort in Malaysia. Cameron Highlands Resort is conceived to complement the luxury collection of world-renowned resorts such as Pangkor Laut Resort and Tanjong Jara Resort.

Located in the state of Pahang, approximately 200 km north of Kuala Lumpur, Cameron Highlands Resort is one of Malaysia's cool and picturesque hill stations, 1,467 metres above sea level, stretching along a plateau set high above the river valley.

Discovered by British surveyor William Cameron on a mapping expedition in 1885, the fame of Cameron Highlands grew during the colonial era. British expatriates would frequent the highlands to relax and escape the lowland tropical heat, and British planters soon realised the potential of its fertile mountain slopes for growing tea, then a prized commodity.

Today, Cameron Highlands is still home to many tea plantations, as well as strawberry and vegetable farms, jungle trails, cascading waterfalls and rose gardens. Much of the highlands' character remains unchanged, exuding an old English charm.

Set on a lush hillock fronting the golf course, Cameron Highlands Resort, with the tagline Trails, Tales and Tradition, is surrounded by flourishing greenery and rolling hills. The property embodies the charm, the adventure and gentility of that old world practised in the colonial lifestyle during the '40s and '50s.

In addition to the luxurious amenities and a level of service that symbolises the rich fusion of traditional English manners and discreet Asian hospitality, distinctive attributes of the boutique hotel include classic restaurants, a unique Spa Village with signature treatments based on ancient tea rituals and of course, the adjacent 18-hole golf course.

Designed and conceptualised to complement its highland setting, the hotel's interior resembles a genteel English colonial home, with welcoming fireplaces in the Reading Room and Highlands Bar. Its 56 rooms and suites boast a distinctive sense for style and comfort and look out to panoramic, unobstructed views of Cameron Highlands. Standard features include four-poster beds, seating areas with comfortable settees and armchairs, and luxurious bathrooms.

An array of dining experiences are set to attract locals as well as out-of-town guests. The Dining Room, with vista windows overlooking the golf course and an outdoor terrace, offers creative all day dining menus prepared using the freshest ingredients and local herbs and spices.

Gonbei, a spin-off of the exquisite traditional Japanese restaurant made famous in the ritzy Starhill Gallery in Kuala Lumpur, is open for dinner and serves sashimi, soba, tempura and bento sets. For leisurely evening cocktails over a game of snooker or the traditional stengah, the Highlands Bar is a warm and comfortable venue.

Cameron Highlands Resort also features the third wellness centre of the award-winning Spa Village, with a wide range of sophisticated treatments and healing therapies inspired by the restorative properties of tea. Each guest luxuriates in a signature tea bath before every treatment. The Cameron Highlands Spa Village offers tranquil indoor and outdoor treatment rooms, tea bath rooms and a fully-equipped gymnasium.

The hotel's Grand Ballroom will provide for intimate and exclusive social and corporate gatherings in an elegant setting for up to 200 persons. Complementing this facility is a range of seven other functions rooms. Professional banqueting and meeting planners are at hand to work with every organiser to ensure successful events held here.

With its magical hilltop location and cool refreshing climate, the boutique Cameron Highlands Resort will be the picture-perfect setting for the sophisticated traveller looking to escape humdrum routine and experience a sense of intimate country-style living with attentive yet unobtrusive service.

For reservations and enquiries, please contact YTL Travel Centre at (603) 2145 9000 or e-mail travelcentre@ytlhotels.com.my. For more information on the Resort, log on to www.cameronhighlandsresort.com.


Source article:
http://www.ytlcommunity.com/commnews/shownews.asp?newsid=22837



Want to know more about Jim Thompson?
See also:
The Mysterious case of Jim Thompson
Jim Thompson House in Bangkok
Cameron Highlands Resort


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