MaliHom Private Estate

Run-down and dirty rooms. Shower looked like it hadn't been cleaned in months! Black hair (from previous guests) in shower drain. Old worn out furniture and torn chair pad. Power outage at night meant that the AC and fan stopped working. Very hot and stuffy trying to sleep. AC struggled during the day. Very weak, old unit which started making high pitched noises after being on for a few hours. This place needs some serious upgrades considering the prices they are charging per night. They also charge RM90+tax+service charge, per person, for dinner which you're basically forced to accept as there is no other food around unless you have a car to drive down to the bottom of the mountain. The food was OK but we've had equally good food from local cafes for one fifth of the price!

The estate itself is just wonderful. Perched on the top of a hill the views are fantastic. The estate itself is small and intimate and the facilities excellent - infinity edge pool, koi ponds, al fresco dining - perfect! The rooms are really unique/special and are far apart, providing lots of privacy. Each room/building is separate and different. Be aware that the bathrooms/showers are usually on the lower level and may require going outside and downstairs (there is a toilet inside the room though. Didnt bother us, but a tiny bit "rustic" The biggest downside is the access to the hotel. You will be warned the road is steep and 2km long. They are not kidding. You will likely have to have the hotel arrange a taxi because most drivers wont or cant drive up the road. Once you are there, you will need to pay for a taxi to come and go - for example we paid 200 R to go back and forth to dinner at a local restaurant. So unless you rent a car be prepared for some inconveniences in getting around. Immediately below the resort there is a huge network of trails used by locals/farmers which can be hiked. You should have a trail map app though so you dont get lost! Located on the quiet and more beautiful side of the island. We loved it!

I’d been aware of Malihom for a few years and on paper, it’s just the sort of place I’d choose to stay at in a heartbeat … slightly off-the-beaten-track with interesting features like its salvaged Lanna teak rice barns. It’s a privately-run estate - a retreat from the hustle and bustle of urban living. I was prepared for a slower pace at the retreat, the outdoor bathrooms (the bedrooms have a toilet and a sink, but bathroom/showers are mostly out the house and down a flight of stairs), the bugs and chance of wildlife encounters from the surrounding plantation. So far so good. It is however, not suitable for anyone with mobility issues as most of the barns require a fair amount of climbing up and down stairs, often in semi-darkness with few handholds. We visited with my parents, both in their 70s and all the climbing up and down just to have a wash became a bit much for them. The dark teakwood makes it very difficult for anyone to spot obstacles. Guests are requested to remove shoes on entry into the barns and with the low light, creepy crawlies (and there will be some) are hard to see. That’s where my husband got stung on the foot by a dying wasp which was very painful. Another disappointment was the food, which was boring and repetitious. We stayed 3 nights, and had breakfasts and dinners there. The cook’s repertoire was poor - we had the same breakfast twice in 3 days, and a repeat of dishes between the first and the final night’s. We had contemplated staying all day in the retreat and having our lunch catered too, but were informed by Zaki the front desk reservations manager on our first day that the kitchen didn’t have enough food to supply us with that meal. While many reviewers keep going on about how remote Malihom is, if you have your own vehicle, you’re not really very cut off from any part of Balik Pulau or even Penang for that matter. It was just as well we didn’t have any lunches at Malihom because we probably will have been served dishes not dissimilar to what we got at breakfast and dinner. We’ve stayed in other luxury home stays (and at Malihom’s cost, it has to be held at that level) in Malaysia, and had previously had simple, yet delicious home-cooked meals - the Balik Pulau area is agricultural, with seafood, fruits and vegetables in abundance, but what we got were processed, deep fried frozen gyozas (twice!) for dinner, a lot of chickpeas and a lot of eggs in various forms (they have a chicken coop on the estate, so the eggs are fresh). Some other issues are out of the control of the estate but need to be highlighted - we seemed to be staying during a period of heavy maintenance in the nearby farms and plantations below the hill. There was the incessant sound of strimmers and leaf blowers during our time there, so it was not very peaceful. And the estate seemed to be having an issue with the electric grid in the area. The barns we stayed at kept tripping even on dry nights, so I was woken up in the middle of one

The place was Great, Quiet n Relaxing. I went with my daughter. We stayed there for 3days 2nights. The road up at certain point was winding but Don't Worry even an Amateur driver can handle it. It's really a Great place to Stress out n charge Ur Battery 😂 I must say a Big Thank You to the Staffs n Manager Sheau Fung. Very Friendly n Helpful. The Breakfast n Dinner was Yummy. The portion is Big for both of us. If u guys wanna go stay for 3days 2nights is Best. 1 night stay is not enough. Am going again this coming June as it's Durian season 😂