09
Feb
2007
I have just come back from Cherating. I can describe it in one word: Wonderful.Feb
2007
The most outstanding thing about this Club was the GO team. They were simply fantastic – caring, interested, involved, vivacious and happy. Starting with Han, who showed me around with a big smile when I arrived, continuing with the brilliant entertainment team of Mamdouh and Chisato and ending with Albent, who in addition to being an excellent golf teacher turned out to be also a talented singer. And how can I not mention Kutuk and Landy from Sailing and beautiful Mel from Reception?
On top of them all was Karim Fajr, a charismatic CDV, who has been doing a fantastic job. Everything worked like a clock, both with the GO team and the village as a whole. For example, the casino night, which in most clubs is quite pathetic, was as professional as it can get in the real world (without the money, of course…). Karim managed to reinstate the old Club Med spirit which seems to have disappeared from many CMs recently, making everyone participate in the crazy signs dancing after the shows and ensuring that no GM is left alone (unless they want to) when dining. He had also organised disco nights in various places as he realised people wanted them. In the whole, it was a true human and personal experience being there and I enjoyed it thoroughly.
The weather was not good, though, with constant rain in the first four days of my eight-day stay, but the beauty of the village which is surrounded by both sea and forest more than compensated for that. There were plenty of monkeys around but they did not bother the guests other than trying to steal the odd pizza from a deserted table. The swimming pool was great, and as the club was only half full it was never too busy. The crowd included mostly corporate guys from Asia who turned out to be quite interesting and friendly when you came to know them. There was also a contingency of French but hardly any other Europeans.
The only big disappointment was Sailing. There was hardly any sailing at all due to various reasons, some of which I could not accept: “there is not enough wind”; “the tide is too low”; “the waves are too high”; “the boat may break”; “the swell is strong”. In the rare occasion that the boats did go out to sea, the Sailing team insisted that a GO would accompany every boat. They also limited journey time to 15 minutes.
Food was great. There are five main cuisines: Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Western and Malaysian/Indian. This diversity and the fact that the club was only at 50-60% capacity were the reasons why there were only two or three different dishes in each cuisine. Bar was well equipped and the service was outstanding. The same applies to the restaurant service which was superb, and always with a wide smile. I guess this was thanks to the special qualities you can only find in Asia together with Karim’s effective management.
For excursions I ventured privately to Kemaman, a small town 20 minutes ride north, where I had interesting time in the famous Kedai Kopi Hai Peng coffee house (see tip 1 at: http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/7c61b/6be/2/). Another interesting place to visit is Old Cherating which is only five minutes away from the club, as well as the Turtle sanctuary at the gate of CM.
Conclusion: A great club, especially if you can avoid the monsoon season.
