The Best Golf Resorts in Langkawi
Langkawi compresses a serious golf island into 99 jungle covered islets: Ernie Els' bunkerless masterpiece at Teluk Datai, Max Wexler's mountain foothill layout at Gunung Raya, and the reborn 99 East above Kuah, with some of Asia's finest resort hotels scattered between them. Only one hotel has a great course on its doorstep, so geography decides this ranking as much as thread count. Here are the five bases that matter.
Photograph: The Els Club Teluk Datai, by Riho Taring, via Google
How we chose
This list was researched and written by the GolfForKings editorial desk, with every designer, fee and distance checked against course and hotel published sources in June 2026. The golf math first: the Els Club Teluk Datai, Ernie Els' complete 2014 rebuild of the old Datai Bay course, is the headline, a par 72 of 6,760 yards through ten million year old rainforest with five holes on the Andaman Sea and not a single bunker on the property. Its published 2026 visitor rates run MYR 695 from late April through December 20, MYR 770 in the January to April high season and MYR 800 over the festive window, buggy included, plus a 10 percent service charge, indicative; always confirm directly before booking. Gunung Raya, Max Wexler's design beneath the island's highest mountain, costs an indicative RM318 with cart, and 99 East, Ross Watson's 2012 par 72 above Kuah, has been reopening in stages through 2026 with nine holes in play. The full price picture sits in our Langkawi green fees guide.
The hotel math is just as decisive. The Els Club's only doorstep resort is The Datai, because its other neighbor, The Andaman, has been closed since a 2021 fire and has not reopened. Everything else on the island is a drive, so we ranked the five bases that pair genuine luxury with workable golf logistics, leaning on the access detail in our guide to how to play golf in Langkawi. All five resorts are public to book, all three courses sell tee times to visitors, and the island's duty free status makes the nineteenth hole the cheapest in Malaysia.
The best in Langkawi, ranked
The Datai Langkawi, Datai Bay
The reason traveling golfers fly here. The Datai sits inside the same ancient rainforest as the Els Club, close enough that the first tee is effectively an amenity, and guests get preferred rates and prime times on a course that is routinely ranked among the best in Asia. The hotel itself would carry the number one spot without the golf: villas under the canopy, one of the world's great hotel beaches, and a published 2026 golf package from MYR 3,000 per night that folds in an 18 hole round for two, breakfast and airport transfers. Hornbills at breakfast, monitor lizards on the fairways, no bunkers anywhere. Our verdict: the best golf hotel pairing in Southeast Asia, full stop.
Access: hotel public, golf bookable through the resort's golf concierge; book festive season months out. Check stay and play rates.
Four Seasons Resort Langkawi, Tanjung Rhu
The luxury counterweight. The Four Seasons spreads down the mile long white sand of Tanjung Rhu on the island's north shore, all Moorish pavilions, adult quiet pools and a spa among the mangroves, and it gives the non golfing half of the party the strongest hand on Langkawi. The golfer pays for it in windshield time: roughly half an hour west to the Els Club and about 25 minutes south to Gunung Raya, manageable as a daily commute but no stroll. For a couples trip where the golf is two or three mornings rather than the spine of the week, the trade reads exactly like the brochure promises. Our verdict: the finest beach on the island, with the golf a comfortable drive away.
Access: hotel public, golf booked with the courses; hire car or resort transfer advised. Check stay and play rates.
The St. Regis Langkawi, Kuah
The town end of luxury. The St. Regis is an all suite, butler serviced address on a private stretch of shoreline just outside Kuah, and it owns the best golf logistics after The Datai: Ross Watson's 99 East is five minutes up the hill, Gunung Raya's mountain backed fairways are about twenty minutes inland, and the Els Club is a scenic 45 minute cross island run saved for the marquee morning. The over water bar does the sunsets, the suites do the space, and Kuah's duty free shopping and ferry jetty are practically next door. Our verdict: the polished base for golfers who want the island's two value courses at hand and the Els Club as an event.
Access: hotel public, golf booked with the courses. Check stay and play rates.
The Westin Langkawi Resort and Spa, Kuah
The practical family answer. The Westin shares the St. Regis' useful corner of the island, minutes from Kuah town, 99 East and the jetty, and converts it into a bigger, busier, more affordable resort: four pools, a proper kids club, workout and spa floors, and rooms and villas that absorb a multigenerational group without strain. The golfer's week works the same as next door, 99 East and Gunung Raya as the regulars and the Els Club as the day trip, but the room bill funds noticeably more rounds. It lacks the hush and the butlers of the entries above, which is rather the point. Our verdict: the value and family pick, with the same golf map as the St. Regis.
Access: hotel public, golf booked with the courses. Check stay and play rates.
The Ritz-Carlton, Langkawi
The stylish compromise. The Ritz-Carlton tucks its villas into a private rainforest cove on the west coast, between the cable car crowds of Pantai Kok and the restaurant strip of Cenang, and sits closer to the Els Club than anything south of Datai Bay, roughly 25 minutes up the coast road. The architecture is the draw: pitched Malay rooflines over a horizon pool, a spa set in its own bay, dining on the rocks at sunset. The golf case is honest rather than heroic, one great course in easy reach and the other two a cross island drive, which keeps it fifth on a golf list it would top for romance. Our verdict: the honeymooner's golf base.
Access: hotel public, golf booked with the courses; hire car advised. Check stay and play rates.
Designers, opening years, distances and fees verified June 2026 by the GolfForKings editorial desk from course and hotel published sources. Rates shown carry their season and year and are indicative only; always confirm directly with each property before booking. Tee times at all three courses can also be compared via our tee time partner.
Plan a Langkawi golf trip
Tell us roughly when and who is traveling. One concierge books the Els Club times, pairs the right resort with the right rates, and prices the trip honestly. We reply within one working day, with no obligation.
Building the trip
The classic Langkawi golf week is five nights split around one base: the Els Club at dawn twice, when the rainforest is loud and the heat is kind, Gunung Raya once for the mountain views and the price relief, and the rest of the trip given to the beach, the mangroves and the duty free cellar. Fly in via Kuala Lumpur or Singapore, both under 90 minutes away, and pair the island with the mainland courses in our Malaysia golf holidays page if the trip stretches past a week. The island's layouts hold three of the spots on our ranking of the best golf courses in Malaysia, and the regional context, from Vietnam to Thailand, lives in the best golf resorts in Asia. When the shortlist is down to two hotels, let plan my trip price both in one brief.
Related
The Tee Sheet
Tee time releases, access changes and the booking windows worth moving on first. Every other week.
Researched and written by the GolfForKings editorial desk. The Els Club Teluk Datai's Ernie Els redesign, 2014 opening, par 72, 6,760 yards, bunkerless design and published 2026 rates of MYR 695 to 800 plus service charge verified June 2026 against the course and The Datai's published rate pages; Gunung Raya's Max Wexler design and indicative RM318 fee, and 99 East's Ross Watson 2012 design and staged 2026 reopening, verified against course published pages and 2026 visitor reports; The Andaman's continued closure since the January 2021 fire verified against current reporting. Hotel locations and facilities verified against hotel published pages. Last reviewed June 2026.