Club Med Cherating

One of my good friends, Lena Lim worked in Club Med office in KL and introduced me to Club Med Cherating and told me it’s a very nice place for families.  I’d always had it in my mind that Club Med was an exclusive club and very expensive so she asked me to visit the website to find out more details on the price of the packages.  I asked my best friend Suet May to take a look too, and we decided to book a holiday for our two families together.

We booked a 4 days 3 nights stay (15-18 March 2015) for 2 adults and a 2 year-old and Suet May's family booked for 2 adults and a 3 year-old. We drove to Club Med Cherating and it took approximately 3 hours to get from Kuala Lumpur to Club Med, and the trip was fairly pleasant. 

On arrival we were greeted by the GOs, who gave us ice tea, a cold towel and ribbons as our identification. The GOs, (short for ‘Gentil Organisateurs’) played a big part in setting our experience at Club Med. It’s their job to make sure that the GMs (short for ‘Gentil Membres’, i.e. guests) are entertained and have a fabulous holiday. You may say that’s the job of all staff who works at holiday resorts, but the GOs really take things to the next level. Suet May and my husband met the Chef De Village, Jean Benoit Nisin aka JB.

After a short briefing, one of the GOs, named Dario from Mauritius escorted us to our room at block H (H stands for Harimau) and gave us an information pamphlet and other relevant information. The room was spacious - a king sized bed and single bed for the kid, with a shower on one side and toilet on the other side. The internet in the room was bad. Below are the details:-

Room: Our Clubroom was on the second floor (the top) with a view of the garden in front and Cherating beach on the left. Once we are out of the room, we had a beautiful view of the sea. The H block is quiet and it was a long walk to the reception and bar. We did not mind the walk as it helped us work off some of the calories. Toiletries like body lotion, shower gel and shampoo and conditioner were supplied. The resort also provided 2 bottles of water every day. One thing we didn’t like was the air-con. It was not cold at all. We did not complaint because we were out the whole day and only went back to the room to sleep. Also, most important, was to ensure that the windows and balcony glass windows are locked at all times and not to hang clothes at the balcony as there are wild monkeys and insects. 

Food & Beverages: There is a wide variety of food comprising Chinese, Japanese, Indian and Western styles. There are also lots of salad and desserts. The food was ok only. Suet May had been to Club Med Cherating before and she said on her previous trips, the food was much better compared to now.  There was also a free flow of drinks, including beer, cocktails and mocktails throughout your stay and a mini counter for kids to order their cartoon speciality drinks.

The main bar

The mini bar for the kids

Beach: The sea was warm and fairly calm. Nana and Salaree enjoyed themselves playing with the sand and making sand castles.

Cherating Beach 

Cherating Beach 

Pantai Chenang

Pool: The adult pool was big and there are kids and baby pool. We did not go to the Zen pool as we had our little girl with us all the time.

Activities: We had so much fun. We just wanted to stay there as long as we could and did not want to go home. Below are the types of activities offered in Club Med Cherating:-

(a) Trapeze:

Lena recommended to me trapeze and she said I will definitely enjoy it. She was absolutely right about that. The circus team ‘GO’s, consisting of Cruz, Nikki, Frank and ……… taught me the knee hang catch and back somersault. The teaching of the tricks starts at 4pm everyday and after practice, if you are ready, the GO will allow you to do the catch with them. After I successfully did the knee hang catch, I was given a certificate for it.

The circus team - Frank, Yohan, me, Cruz and Nikki

Cruz and me

(b) Yoga, aqua yoga:

Step aerobics: I decided to join the sunrise yoga in the middle of the garden facing the sea at 8a.m. and non-stop pumping step aerobics with GO Sylvie from Mauritius. It was a great workout.

Sylvie and me

(c) Rock-climbing: 

The rock-climbing is far away from the resort and is situated at another beach. You can either take a 15-20 minute walk through the quiet mini forest or take a ride on the Club Med train (which was not punctual and we had to wait for a long time). A week before my trip to Club Med Phuket, I did a full day rock-climbing at Railay beach, Krabi. The rock-climbing at Cherating was a pretty easy climb for me. The most difficult climb at the rock was also quite easy for me. In my view, the rock-climbing in Cherating is more for kids and beginners.

Mini train 

The swamp

Dario and me

Family picture after the climb

(d) Archery & Sailing: 

We did not have the time to sign up for it. Sailing is also on the other side of the beach.

(e) Family Sports Day: 

The GOs were busy going around the resort, dressed in some funny character outfits, trying to persuade families to participate in their fun family sports day. There were four teams of blue, red, white and yellow team. We participated in the white team with our team leader GO Sylvie from Mauritius and we were asked to put white colour paint on our face and body. We did many interesting challenges like go around the stick, passing ball, tug of war, etc. We were given with certificates for our participants.

In the white team. Need to paint my face

(f) Souvenir shop:

This shop sells T-shirts, dresses, toys and small souvenirs like handicraft from Malaysia. The prices here are not cheap. You can get things cheaper outside of Club Med. Even though, there was a sale on most days on their T-shirts, it was still not cheap. Suet May bought 2 water guns and it was doubled the price. Furthermore, one of it wasn’t working and needed to be exchanged for a new one.

(g) Party after 9pm: 

The night is always young at Club Med. There will be party, music and dancing to entertain the guests and the guests can join in the dancing session with the GOs. Party can last until very late.

Performances:

I always look forward to show time by the circus team from 9-10pm. almost every night as they will put up amazing and spectacular aerial shows with their hoop and silk. On our last night of our stay in Club Med, we were pretty disappointed as it was the kids show by the Petite and Mini Club. Our kids did not participate in the performances but Club Med could have put the show at an earlier time and to entertain the guests with other performances. You could just imagine that couples travelling to Club Med may have been bored with the kids show.

We were also entertained by GOs dressed up in celebrity and superstar costumes, imitating celebrities like Madonna, Boyzone, Abba, Whitney Houston, Spice Girls, etc.

Petite and Mini Club: 

We were at the Club to have a look at the place and there was a mini water playground for the children and sand section for the children.

What’s not included in your booking fee?

Almost everything is included in your booking fee, apart from the Baby Club and Petite Club, excursions outside the resort, premium alcohol and spa treatments.

Verdict

We had a great time at Club Med Cherating and will definitely be returning to Club Med Cherating again, after we have experienced the rest of the Club Meds in South East Asia.