When a much-revered hotel closes for renovations, it's a worry for regular guests. Will it emerge all tarted up and shiny? Will it lose its character and inherent magic? Some places get it right; sadly, others don't.
Standing by the Datai's glimmering pool overlooking the Andaman Sea with a breeze whispering through the tropical rainforest, loyal guest Mr Tan is beaming. He has visited the luxury hideaway on Malaysia's Langkawi Island 44 times over the past 25 years. "It's just like it used to be – but even better," he says.
This is a real endorsement for French architect and designer Didier Lefort. He was nervous about the task of renovating the award-winning hotel, originally designed by the late Australian architect Kerry Hill in the early 1990s.
"People kept saying, 'Don't kill the Datai,' " Lefort says. But the French designer was the perfect pick for the job as he worked with Hill on the original project.
Lefort, who visited Hill before he died last year, says the architect was happy to know the refurbishment was in good hands.
The Datai was groundbreaking in its day for being one of the first resorts to be set back from the beach. Located on a 40-metre-high ridge 300 metres from the beach, it is embraced by the surrounding ancient rainforest. The views of the Andaman Sea from the main building are stunning.
One of the most luxurious resorts on Langkawi Island, it reopened in December after a $US60 million ($85 million), 12-month refurbishment.
The renovation included remodelling all the guest rooms, public areas and swimming pools. While he kept the original structures, Lefort changed the lighting, the furniture, the fabrics and updated the resort's technology. The elegant bathrooms were redesigned with a composite stone bathtub, Corian washbasin, ceramic tiles and tropical timbers. The marble used in the original bathrooms was from a local quarry, which is now shut.
The Dining Room and Pavilion restaurant have been extended and a pedicure-manicure salon added to the spa.
Additions include three new pool villas, a five-bedroom Datai Estate villa, and a new boutique and atelier (a space for local artisans).
A new nature centre on the beach and the forest canopy walk are central to the renewed focus on the environment plus there's a permaculture centre and a water-bottling plant.
"We went very detailed to see what we would change and we would keep from the past," Lefort says. "In our profession, we need to adapt ourselves to what is there. When you restore an old building, you have also to maintain a certain spirit. We wanted to bring as much modernity as we could without destroying the spirit or DNA of the project."
The main restaurant is the most successful part of the project, Lefort believes. During a 2006 refurb, it was remodelled in black. "It was terrible – nobody wanted to go there. So we came back to the original design but in a modern way."
The resort is a jungle getaway for those who like their luxury low key and nature-based. Rainforest villas gaze into the trees – the only noise I hear in my villa is the tinkling creek, the monkeys scampering across the verandah and occasionally the buzz of a golf buggy (staff are on call to whisk guests around the 18-hectare grounds). It's the sort of place to which many guests return (more than 50 per cent) and it's not unusual to come across long-time staff embracing familiar guests on their arrival.
The impressive new nature centre is proof of a renewed commitment to the environment. Headed by well-known naturalist Irshad Mobarak, the bamboo structure was inspired by a tribal longhouse. It comprises a library, a lounge, a laboratory and staff including a marine biologist and three assistants.
The highlight of my visit is the morning jaunt with Mobarak (who has worked with botanist David Bellamy and others). Tall and imposing, Mobarak remains passionate about the rainforest 25 years after he first started leading walks in in it.
We're still on the beach when we see a brahminy kite swooping nearby, followed quickly by a sacred kingfisher. When we enter the rainforest, Mobarak points out a reticulated python – even with binoculars it takes a while to find the snake, which blends in perfectly with the branch it's napping on.
The resort is part of a 10-million-year-old, 750-hectare rainforest at the base of south-east Asia's oldest mountain, Machinchang, which is in Langkawi's UNESCO Global Geopark.
We learn the island is home to 52 species of butterflies and 45 per cent of the world's biodiversity of mangroves. Our guide has been watching the strangling fig we pass slowly devour its host tree over the decades.
When we reach the new canopy walk, an 18-metre-high elevated timber walkway, Mobarak does his famous impression of the call of the great hornbill – quite a performance. We finish back on the deserted Datai Bay beach, voted among the world's top 10 beaches by National Geographic in 2015.
The hotel has 124 rooms varying from rooms with balconies in the main building to rainforest villas, some with pools, and spectacular beach villas with separate living and sleeping areas, a 10-metre pool and a gate to the beach. The new Datai Estate villa will appeal to extended families.
As the resort is hidden away in the north-west corner of the island, the dining options are important. The casual and breezy Beach Club is on trend with dishes such as sushi and quinoa. The Pavilion, set on top of 30-metre-high stilts, specialises in Thai cuisine – we are, after all, only 10 kilometres from Thailand. Gulai House, serving Malaysian dishes, is a lively place to eat while the Dining Room offers French cuisine at night with a good selection of wines and drinks.
Not surprisingly, the spa is a big drawcard. Set beside a winding stream, the rainforest outlook is mesmerising. The most difficult thing to do during the average two-hour session is to stay awake. Malay medicinal plants are used and treatments by the celebrity French podiatrist Bastien Gonzalez (who has treated Cate Blanchett, Robert de Niro and others) are a new addition.
Coincidentally, Langkawi International Airport has also had a renovation this year and capacity has tripled.
The writer was a guest of the Datai Langkawi and Malaysian Airlines.
The Datai Langkawi Jalan Teluk Datai, 07000 Pulau, Langkawi, Malaysia, +60 4 9500 500. Rates Rooms from about $870 a night including breakfast (low season).
Malaysian Airlines flies direct from Sydney and Melbourne to Kuala Lumpur with a connecting flight to Langkawi.