Nestled on the serene shores of Cherating Beach, Club Med Cherating offers a unique escape from the ordinary. As the largest Club Med resort in the world and the first in Asia, this secluded tropical haven has been welcoming travelers for over four decades.
Set amidst lush jungle surroundings and perched on the world’s longest wooden structure on stilts, Club Med Cherating promises a one-of-a-kind vacation experience. From all-inclusive amenities to captivating nightly entertainment and the chance to forge lasting friendships with the welcoming Club Med staff, this is a destination where you can come as a stranger and leave as friends.
What Makes Club Med Special?
Club Med, the pioneer in all-inclusive vacations, invites you to discover a unique concept. But what is an all-inclusive holiday? It means that everything you need for your vacation is already included in the price you pay. This includes accommodation, all your meals, drinks, sports and leisure activities, childcare, nightly entertainment, Wi-Fi, and even travel insurance during your stay.
Unveiling Club Med Cherating
Club Med Cherating, the world’s largest Club Med resort and the first in Asia, opened its doors in 1979 amidst the lush jungle. It’s built in a unique longhouse architectural style, featuring the world’s longest wooden structure on stilts with an 850-meter long corridor. Monkeys and lizards are common sights around the resort.
Understanding Club Med Lingo
Club Med has a few lingo used in the resort to get your started:
- GMs, or Gentle Members, refer to the resort’s guests (that’s you!)
- GOs, or Gentle Organisers, are Club Med staff from various countries who help run the resort. They’ll join you for meals and entertain you in the evenings at the theatre.
- GEs, or Gentle Employees, are the local Club Med staff who assist with housekeeping, kitchens, and reception.
- CDV, or Chief de Village, is the General Manager of the resort.
- ‘Crazy Sign’ is a signature Club Med dance performed by the pool, on the dance floor, or after the theatre show.
Club Med Cherating Accommodation
Club Med Cherating offers 3 types of accommodation – Superior, Superior Sea View and Suites.
Superior
The Superior room is 21 square meters and faces the garden. It can accommodate up to two adults, one child, and one infant. It comes with basic amenities like a hairdryer, safe, kettle, an empty mini-bar, and a separate toilet and shower.
The bedding consists of two single beds that can be combined into a double bed. Each room has a small balcony, but be cautious about leaving items there, as monkeys may take them. Interconnecting rooms with maximum occupancy of 4 adults, 2 children and 2 infant are available for families.
Superior Sea View
The Superior Sea View rooms used to be named Deluxe Rooms. They now have the same amenities as the Superior Rooms. The only difference is the sea view, and the hand bidet in the toilet. These rooms are the same size as the Superior Room. Interconnecting Superior Sea View rooms with maximum occupancy of 4 persons are available for families.
Suites
The Suites are situated at the end of specific blocks for added privacy. These rooms are spacious, covering 55 square meters, with a separate living room and a terrace equipped with deck chairs for sunbathing. Suite guests enjoy room service with a continental breakfast and a daily replenished non-alcoholic mini-bar.
Full Board Meals
Club Med Cherating boasts three restaurants: Mutiara, Rembulan, and Enak. You can eat to your heart’s content, as all three restaurants are included in your package.
Mutiara Restaurant
Mutiara is the main restaurant, located in the central area. It’s open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, offering an international buffet with live cooking stations. The menu includes Chinese, Malay, Japanese, Italian, Indian and Western dishes.
Rembulan Specialty Restaurant
Rembulan, situated on the other side of the resort at Pantai Beach, serves late lunch with a buffet-style selection of main courses and appetisers. For dinner, reservations are necessary and should be made at the bar in the morning. Seating is limited, so it’s best to be early. Dinner is à la carte with the option to upgrade your meals at an extra cost. If you’re still hungry after dining here, you can head to Mutiara for the buffet.
Enak Restaurant
The Enak Restaurant is open for late lunch and late dinner when Mutiara is closed. You can choose from a variety of noodles and soup bases. Meals are à la carte buffet style, so you can order as many bowls as you like.
Snacks Cart
Light meals like sandwiches, fruits, cakes, are available in the main bar area and Zen Pool in the late morning, afternoon and at night.
Club Med GOs may join you during meals
One unique aspect of Club Med is that the GOs may join your table for lunch or dinner. I’ve had many interesting conversations with GOs, and some have become my friends.
Free Flow Drinks
Club Med Cherating has three bars: The Orchid, Bayou, and the Zen Bar. You can enjoy unlimited drinks, which are part of your package. Sometimes, the drinks may taste a bit light, so feel free to ask the bar team to make your cocktails stronger.
The Orchid
This bar is in the central area of the resort and offers a wide selection of drinks, including coffee, tea, beer, wine, cocktails, mocktails, and juices. You also have the option to purchase premium drinks like champagne and wine.
The Bayou
The Bayou is the beach bar, located at Pantai Beach near sailing, kayaking, and beach volleyball activities. The drink selection is not as extensive as the main bar.
Zen Bar
The Zen Bar is at the Zen Pool and offers a more limited choice of drinks.
Sports & Leisure Activities
Club Med is the largest sports school in the world with more than 60 sporting activities in all Club Med resorts and Club Med 2 sailboat. You can do as much as you want or do nothing at all. It’s your choice.
Club Med Cherating offers an extensive list of free activities:
Main Area
- Jungle walks
- Aqua fitness
- Flying trapeze with circus activities
- Tennis
- Badminton
- Squash
- Archery
- Futsal
- Table tennis
- Yoga
- Zumba
At Pantai Beach
- Rock Climbing
- Kayaking
- Sailing
- Standup Paddle
- Beach Volleyball
Group lessons are included for selected activities.
For those who prefer a quiet space, head to the Quiet Pool, also known as the Zen Pool located at the Pantai area.
Club Med Cherating Childcare
Childcare for children 4 to 17 years is included in the Club Med Cherating package. Just leave your kids with the friendly Club Med GOs and they will look after them from 08.30am to 5pm and 6.45pm to 8.45pm. There is even a pyjama party from 6.45pm to 11pm when GOs will babysit your children while you relive your younger days with a late dinner or dancing.
| Kids Club | Age | Cost |
| Baby Club Med | 4-23 months | RM160 – Half Day RM320 – Full Day |
| Petit Club Med | 2-3 years | RM150 – Half-Day RM290 – Full Day |
| Mini Club Med | 4-11 years | FREE |
| Passworld | 12-17 years | FREE |
| Pyjama Party | RM168 for 1 child |
Ensure that your children bring the proper attire – swim suits, hat, sun cream, sports shoes and change of clothes to participate in the childcare activities. Parents bringing their babies to the Baby & Petit Club Med will be required to show their immunisation records.
Club Med takes exceptional care for the little ones. A Baby Welcome package includes a baby cot and a bathtub in the room, while the Baby Corner located beside the Mutiara Restaurant includes steriliser, blender, bottle warmer, microwave, mineral water, small jars of baby food and yoghurt.
Nightly Entertainment
Club Med has a dress code every evening, ranging from all white to neon colors. The theme can be found in the Club Med app and announcements made every evening before the theatre show. The next morning, the theme will also be displayed at the boutique. It is not compulsory to follow the theme but since majority of people are dressing up, why not join in?
The nightly entertainment is performed by the GOs in the resort. Theatre shows from musicals, comedies to acrobatic are performed nightly. After the show, there will the Club Med signature dance, the crazy sign followed by dancing or live entertainment at the main bar area. After 12pm, the party will continue to Night Club until 1 or 2am. Just follow the GOs to the location of the night club.
Come As A Stranger, Leave As Friends
Through the many years that I have been to Club Med, I will always end up making a couple of new friends on every visit. The Club Med GOs are the heart and soul of the resort. They make all the difference in your holiday and we stay connected with each other until today.
How to get to Club Med Cherating?
By Car
From Kuala Lumpur, Club Med Cherating is approximately 3.5 hours by road. The drive is quite easy except for the stretch near Genting Sempah which is a little steep.
By Flight
The nearest airport is Kuantan. Daily flights are available from Kuala Lumpur with Malaysia Airlines. From Kuantan airport, it is approx. 1 hour by road to Club Med Cherating. Airport taxi from
Is It Worth Going To Club Med Cherating?
Club Med Cherating has been open for over 40 years and the building and structure may feel dated.
I would say go the mindset to relax, reconnect with friends or family, relish the friendship that you will make with the GOs and enjoy nature. The rooms are reasonable size and the bed is comfortable for a good night sleep. If you are looking for luxury, this is currently not the place to be.
Club Med Cherating Tips
Here are some helpful tips for Club Med Cherating
- Open air parking inside the Club Med grounds is available for self-drive guest.
- Check the information board outside the theatre for the latest updates on activities.
- Don’t carry food stuff or leave your belongings like phones or iPads on the deck chairs. The monkeys will take them.
- Request for your favorite drink from the Bar Team. Drinks are not limited to the drink’s menu.
- Head over to the Zen Pool for a relaxing morning.
- Check-in is after 3pm. Early check-in subject to early arrival fee.
- Check out is 11am. You need to vacate the room by 11am but can remain in the resort until 3pm. Lunch is provided on the last day of your stay.
How to book Club Med Cherating?
If you are interested to book Club Med Cherating, contact Travelution Holidays and they will get everything arranged for you.
Conclusion
I hope that my Club Med Cherating review has been helpful. If you have any questions, do let me know in the comments and I will do my best to answer them.
Hi. Your Clubmed review has been very informative. I am planning to go too but upon checking their website, they now listed only 4 land activities eg. Tennis, Rock climbing, Archery and Flying Trapeze. I wonder what happened to the others? Closed due to covid? And their daily activities will be the same? Will you happen to know the activities available in mini clubmed and will kids be really under supervision all the time? I am a bit worried as don’t know what to expect if i leave the kids or if they will come our searching for us.
Hi Marissa, the 4 land activities are those with lessons. There are still other activities like Zumba, Stretching, etc. The only activity that is closed is the tree top adventures. The daily activities remain the same.
The Mini Club activities are supervised all the time by Club Med GOs. It’s seldom that kids will search for parents as GOs will keep them busy with activities.
Hi Eugene. Thanks for the reply. I just returned from my trip. I was fun however compared to the time I went there some 15 years ago, sad to say the services deteriorated a lot. They were obviously lack of warm friendly GOs which I missed a lot. Food was awesome. Hope the next time I return will b so much better.
Hi Eugene. Thanks for your informative and helpful review. Fyi, I just booked and the booking confirmation says check-in time is after 4 pm and check-out at 10 am. With such timing, is there still much to do with a 2 nights stay? If I were to arrive early, I can’t join any activity because I have not check-in, right? Am I allowed to head to the beach or roam around first, then? Appreciate it if you can help shed some light.
Hi Judy, official check-in is after 3pm. You can arrive slightly before 3pm (2.30 – 2.45pm) to avoid being charged early arrival fee. Depending on room occupancy, you might not get your room when you check-in as Club Med needs to sanitize the room after other guests check out. Once you complete your check-in, you can enjoy all the facilities and inclusions of the all-inclusive package.
Appreciate for your response, Eugene. Your advise on the check-in time is well noted. Thanks again.
Hi Eugene, thank you so much for your detailed review on Club Med Cherating. I just booked for next month and was browsing for more information and also what to bring.
Your review answered all my questions that lingered in my head!
Thank you sooooo much!
You’re most welcome Pelly. Have a wonderful time at Club Med Cherating!
Hi Eugene, great review! One question though.. are children allowed into the bar areas?
Hi Fong, yes, children are welcome in the bar areas as well. There is a dedicated kids’ area and a special drinks menu designed just for them.