Gabriel Tan
Google
My parents, my brother, my sister and her two kids recently stayed at Pom Pom Resort and, sadly, had a very disappointing experience.
We generally don’t leave negative reviews lightly, but for my family—who is extremely reasonable and rarely complains—to be this upset, it reflects how unacceptable the service was.
From the moment they arrived, they were greeted by a visibly unfriendly receptionist who offered no smile or warmth. The only thing she was quick to mention was the RM100 corkage fee per bottle if my family was to open their wine at the restaurant. That was, unfortunately, the fastest “service” they received all stay—everything else was slow, unresponsive, or simply absent.
My family booked three water villas. The resort told them each villa had three life jackets, but they found inconsistent numbers—4, 1, and 2 in our respective rooms. When they asked for wine glasses, the staff insisted there were two in every room. After physically checking, only one villa had two; the other two had none. Requests for assistance, such as turning on the air-conditioning while the family went for lunch, were dismissed with “we’re not free.”
Facilities are extremely limited. The spa only had one therapist available on Day 2 despite having three the day before. My family was told the only kayak was broken. Activities like snorkelling or trekking had rigid schedules (8AM and 2PM only), and planning anything felt like pulling teeth. Staff were generally disengaged—when visible at all.
My family attempted to go trekking but were told it would be cancelled with even light rain—no refunds. When asked about the difficulty level (we had both young children and elderly parents), staff said they didn’t know because it was a “new” trail. It’s worrying that the resort would offer an activity without having properly vetted it.
Food was very basic, and in some cases inedible. They also lost a room key while snorkelling, and when they approached reception to request a replacement, the desk was closed—for a break—at 3:30PM. When someone finally tracked down the receptionist 15 minutes later, she returned with the same cold, rude attitude. Her first response was: “You need to pay for the lost key,” without asking what had happened. She showed zero empathy, denied my family’s earlier complaints (even the missing life jackets and lack of housekeeping), and dismissed their concerns with a curt “okok” before turning her back.
Despite putting the “Please clean my room” sign on the door, no housekeeping was done until much later—only after my sister voiced my frustration.
My family paid RM2,400 (US$563) per room per night and occupied 3 of the 5 water villas. With so few guests and such high rates, basic hospitality standards—let alone 4-star expectations—should be met. They weren’t.
The resort setting may be beautiful, but when service is this poor and staff are indifferent at best, it leaves a very bitter aftertaste. We truly hope the management takes this feedback seriously, because this could be a wonderful destination with the right team and training.
Until now, we strongly encouraged everyone NOT to stay at this resort unless you want to pay world-class rates for horrendous service.
— A disappointed Tan Family
