Review: The Chateau at Berjaya Hills

After visiting the Kraks de Chevalier in Syria last year, I had the privilege of spending a night at another 'castle' closer to home - The Chateau at Berjaya Hills.

The Chateau is modeled after 18th Century medievel Haut Koenigsbourg castle in Alsace, France.

Here's Haut Koenigsbourg in Alsace, France:

And here's The Chateau in Berjaya Hills:

Similar?

Apparently former Malaysian prime minister, Tun Mahathir Mohamad travelled to Alsace in France, fell in love with Haut Koenigsbourg, and suggested to Berjaya Corporation Chairman & CEO, Tan Sri Dato' Seri Vincent Tan to build a castle like that in Malaysia. The rest ... as they say ... is history.

My trip started at the Berjaya Times Square Hotel & Convention Centre where I took the Shuttle Bus to The Chateau. It's the best option if you don't have your own transport or you're afraid you can't find your way along the meandering road that leads to The Chateau.

Return shuttle bus services from Berjaya Times Square Hotel to The Chateau are available daily. Click here for shuttle times, tickets and reservation. The journey takes between 45 minutes to an hour.

Tickets must be booked 3 days in advance and can be paid via online transfer or credit card authorisation form. What sucks is that you'd need to collect the tickets from Berjaya Times Square Shopping Mall during working hours. And it's a problem if you're a busy person like me who can hardly find time to go collect tickets.

It would be good if Columbia Asia that operates the shuttle bus service give passengers the option of printing out their tickets like what budget airlines do.

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"Bonjour" was the greeting I received at Reception when I checked-in. After that, the staff refered to me as "Mademoiselle Julie". They use French phrases to complete the French chateau experience. So I also used words like "Merci" and "Sil vous plait" - want to show off my French skills after attending lessons at the YMCA :-)

After checking in, I started checking out the room and the bathroom was the first place I stepped into:

Green tiles - probably because The Chateau is the world's first organic wellness destination spa resort. So the green has to reflect it.

I thought it's a nice touch to brand the toilet rolls. So sayang to blemish the roll that I left it in its pristine condition and used the tissue on the table instead, hahaha.

The Chateau uses VOYA products in its rooms and spa. VOYA products are made from hand harvested organic seaweed from the Atlantic coast of Ireland, produced especially to clean and nourish the skin. Reminds me of California Rolls that are wrapped in seaweed :-)

In line with the philosophy of The Chateau, i.e. "We have a Heart for Our Planet", all guest amenities are made from 100% biodegradable cornstarch material, just like this shoe thingy (can't remember the name) which is made of cornstach. I couldn't believe it myself when Jose the Front Office Manager told me that.

I bet this pen is made of recycled fiber, cause I've seen one like that in Doubletree KL.

Love this booklet because of the sketched picture of The Chateau.

If this telephone could grant me anything, I'd ask for a hunky chevalier to sweep me off my feet. And then my experience at The Chateau would have been complete ;-)

And of course I had to drag myself out of bed the next morning because of the ultra comfy bedlinen which are made of 100% organic cotton by Coyuchi.

On the second day before taking the 3.00pm shuttle bus back to KL, I headed to La Sante Organic Wellness Spa for my appointment. 

Reception area at La Sante

La Sante is an integral part of The Chateau that offers an illusive experience of an European inspired state-of-the-art organic spa. Check out this herbal bath that looks like the hammam I experienced in Damascus: 

First time I'm seeing a herbal bath like this in a Malaysian spa. Image source.

La Sante offers personalised therapies like body pampering, beauty, stress relief, fitness, weight loss and body cleansing. Selected treatments are available for men. There are also special spa packages that lasts from 2 nights up till 7 nights and includes accommodation, meals and treatments.

I opted for the Organic Sea Salt Glow and Stress Relief Massage that left my skin feeling like it has lost a layer of dirt and stress completely drained away.

My masseuse Mary Chu is so good with her fingers and hands that I fell asleep during the massage. I dread thinking that all that pampering's gonna go to waste when I get back to chaotic KL.

The spa also has a gym with full facilites. I had 2 rounds of workout here to lose the 8-course French dinner I had at La Rissette. Foie gras is damn fattening, you know ...

Just before hopping onto the shuttle bus back to KL, I managed to snap a photo of the Orchid Garden in all its orchid glory. I think it would make a good location for wedding photos.

The Orchid Garden has 3 batches of orchids that are rotated every 3 or 4 months and costs RM40,000 per rotation. Whilst one batch is on display, the other 2 batches are kept at the nursury for some TLC. 

Where Were You on Sept 11?

Today is the 10th Anniversary of Sept 11 - the day the world will remember as a day of carnage and sorrow.

The media is having a field day featuring interviews with people on where were they on Sept 11. So I thought I'd share my story too.

It was 10 pm and I was sitting in front of the telly waiting for The West Wing to start.

Image source

The West Wing is a drama series about people who work in the White House. It was one of my favourite drama series at that time as I learned alot about the American political system.

Suddenly broadcast was interrupted for special breaking news. It's extremely rare for any Malaysian station to interrupt the usual programmes to feature breaking news. So, it's GOT to be important.

Then the images started appearing on screen. By the time the broadcast reached Malaysian telly, both planes had already hit the towers and thick smoke was billowing from it.

Image source

A reporter in the background was giving a description of what was happening and they kept repeating footages of the planes crashing into the towers. And then the towers came crashing down ...

Image source

Since 9-11, and probably after a few other attempted terrorist attacks in other countries, travelling on planes have never been the same. You can't bring in sharp items in your hand luggage and the maximum volume of liqud allowed in a container is 100ml.

Sometimes I forget these rules and almost had my pen knife confiscated on a Qatar Airways flight to Egypt. Thankfully the officials allowed the flight attendants to keep the pen knife for me and I could collect it when I land in Egypt.

But there was one time when I tried to push my luck, and my expensive sunscreen got confiscated in Bali. I pleaded with the officials but they were strict. Thankfully the sunscreen was not as expensive as some facial products that costs hundreds of ringgit.

Even boarding flights have become a nuisance as some airports require passengers to remove their shoes and belt. On a Ryanair flight to Oslo, the guy in front of me almost dropped his pants literally when he removed his belt for inspection. I had to giggle.

9-11 sparked off a series of events that ultimately led to the death of the man himself - Osama Bin Laden. However there're probably many more Osama wannabes being trained to mastermind more terrorist attacks around the world.

I pray and hope that humankind will never have to experience another terrorist attack that is as horrifying and catastrophic as 9-11.

Journeys of a Lifetime

The quote, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step" has always been one of my favourite travel quotes. Some websites attribute it to Confucius and some to Lao Tzu; just goes to show that nothing on the net should be taken as the Gospel truth.

Another quote I like is, "Success is a journey not a destination" by writer Arthur Robert Ashe Jr.

Lea Salonga also sang about The Journey which I've listened to death at church camps when I was much younger.

The world is laden with quotes and songs about journeys. And that is precisely why I bought this book at the recent Popular Bookfest held at the KL Convention Centre:

The book's by National Geographic which makes it credible. And being priced at RM29.90 doesn't hurt either, especially when it's hardcover and printed on glossy paper.

This book has 500 trips which I'm gonna use to plan my travels. Some of these places I haven't even heard off before, which makes it even more exciting!

So let the journeys begin!