My husband and I spent a long weekend in Tioman and a friend of ours had recommended Double Ace, so we'd booked one of their bungalows.
As it happened, our friend hadn't let us down. Double Ace is a lovely little cluster of bungalows, set on a hillside that overlooks the sea below. Now, this sea is not just any sea, it's positively gorgeous. Crystal-clear and turquoise blue, the sea water here rivals that of Maldives.
Welcome to Double Ace
The cove below is a beautiful scene that's now for ever part of my mind's eye.
The bungalow itself was either new or very well maintained, because it looked brilliant. Later, I was told that Double Ace is a family-run lodging that has a long history of hospitality in Tioman.
Well, suffice to say that this showed. Not only in the quality of the bungalows but also in the kindness and attentiveness of the staff. My husband and I were never left wanting.
Book your Double Ace room now
Our actual room was one of the upper-range ones on offer at Double Ace. This means that it had air-conditioning, a mini-fridge, as well as a bathroom with a hot-water shower. By right, these larger rooms sleep up to four guests, since they have 2 double beds. However, we only used one of the double beds.
Incidentally, the smaller Double Ace rooms only sleep two and do not have air-conditioning, nor a hot-water shower. I'm guessing these more basically-furnished rooms are set up with the constant stream of budget-conscious
scuba-divers in mind.
Another perfect day comes to a
beautiful close at Double Ace Tioman
Let me explain that a little. As ABC is a popular haven for scuba-divers, given the various excellent dive-spots nearby, you'll find many of the budget accommodations there cater to this transient scuba population, of which yours truly is one, incidentally.
However, as said, comfort-wise, Double Ace is a slight cut above most of these accommodations. As such, it has a commensurate room rate of course.
Double Ace runs a little convenience store as well and this was a bit of a life-saver, because we found ourselves thirsty and peckish many an evening. It was indeed
convenient to pop into their little store for a snack, some fruit or a bottle of water. The store is opposite of the bungalows, you can't miss it.
By the way, FYI, ABC is great for snorkeling and jungle-trekking too. Don't miss the waterfall tour, because it's ever so pretty.
Back to the scuba-diving. If you're looking to dive off Tioman, then ABC is probably one of the better locations to stay, because many of the dive locations worthy of visiting are relatively close to ABC. The exception to this is Renggis Island, which sits just to the west of southern Tekek.
But don't let this discourage you from diving Renggis, because this tiny little island is still a relatively short boat-trip away from ABC and it is arguably one of the best dive locations in Tioman. Certainly flora and fauna-wise.
Final words of wisdom? Double Ace serves its purpose as a lazy hideaway from noisy, hectic city life. But apart from just lounging, there's plenty of fun things to do too outside of your Double Ace bungalow.
Put it this way, Double Ace now has its own entry in my Rolodex.
Tip:
Nice as they are, Double Ace has only a couple of bungalows on offer. In practice, this means that most of the time, Double Ace will be fully booked. If you've set your sights on one of their bungalows, then I recommend you book way early, either by Agoda if they're available there, or by contacting them on their website, because unlike many of the Tioman budget hostels, Double Ace does have a website, and a decent one at that. Oh, Double Ace has Wi-Fi too, but it costs 10 MR per hour. And lastly, if you have a phobia for cats, better looks elsewhere, because ABC has a pretty sizable cat population.
[Edit: Double Ace is now called
Tioman Restu Chalet]
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