Sekeping Serendah
There was once when Sekeping Serendah was the trendy retreat location and many online news portals and articles were writing about it.
Tucked away in the sleepy town of Serendah, it is roughly an hour’s drive away from Kuala Lumpur.
Along the road to Serendah, you will drive through 2 orang asli villages. In fact, one of the activities you can do here is to visit the orang asli villages!
the design and concept
Sekeping Serendah adopts a rather open concept—one that brings us closer to mother nature. Therefore, the sheds are mostly transparent, but far away from one another to have your own privacy.
As there were 9 of us, we booked glass shed 1 (4 pax) and glass shed 2 (4 + 1 pax) because apparently only 2 additional guests are allowed for each shed.
I will say that we paid for another glass shed only for sleeping and bathing, so it wasn’t really worth the money. The glass sheds were spacious and can potentially fit up to 10 people each.
Definitely a place to take really instagrammable pictures with family and friends.
Ng Sek San is the architect behind this materpiece. The walls and doors of our sheds were all whole glass panels, designed to assimilate human with nature through a visual impact.
There were neither blaring car horns nor squealing of trains; only singing crickets and the gushing water of the creek. Yes, there are creeks here.
Living room
The first thing that welcomed us after the outside BBQ area was the living room. The wooden-based design and iron rod couch added a minimalist touch to the postmodern design of the glass shed. From the picture, you can see leaves surrounding the glass shed and everywhere you look, there was nature.
Sleeping quarters
Sekeping Serendah’s beds give a honeymooney feel to it. Again, the frames of the beds were made with iron rods. Insect nettings were also provided, though I don’t see much need for them.
The place was generally clean and minimal. Pillows and blankets weren’t dirty, at least none of my colleagues complained about itchiness or allergies.
Toilet
Before coming to Sekeping Serendah, I’ve browsed through pictures online, showing the open-air concept of the toilet. Bathing and peeing were done on a whole new level of weird. It just gives you a feeling like you’re… exposed. Or being watched.
I wasn’t used to looking at trees and leaves-covered sky when I use the toilet. Though I must admit, such exotic way of using the toilet did not really arouse my interest as much as looking at the photographs from the internet.
In glass shed 2, the toilet seemed to be working fine. In glass shed 1, the toilet bowl kept gurgling up bubbles of water that goes “proop, proop, proop!” at intervals, and it did not cease. At night, it did get pretty creepy to be honest.
Maybe it was a bad idea to use the toilet at night, but during the day, the whole perception changed with light. The toilet looked magical again the next morning.
Online Reviews
I’ve read many bad reviews about Sekeping Serendah from Tripadvisor, but it seemed like the management has done all they can to improve their services over the years. It was after all, built in mid 2000s. The percentage for good comments still topped the bad ones.
Certain comments mentioned about how the place creeped them out as they experienced supernatural occurrences at night; creepy caretakers; and “odd vibe”. Well, we did have an odd experience with that, though not a conclusive one.
Supernatural occurrence
As the building was built with mainly wooden and metal materials, unfamiliar sounds were especially amplified. Before we slept, we could hear banging and knocking on the glass panels, but we immediately cleared those thoughts and drifted off.
At midnight, a loud “bang!” woke the 3 of us up instantly. We exchanged glances through the silent darkness to make sure what we heard was not a dream. Another colleague woke up sleepily and told us it was the “thunder”. Of course, we knew it wasn’t as it wasn’t raining.
Even so, I wouldn’t complain, because we’re in an area surrounded by nature. If we respect nature, nature will respect us. Staying in a retreat or staying in nature would definitely be creepy, but that’s mainly because we aren’t used to staying in the middle of a forest, no?
Mobile service reception and signal
Since it’s called Sekeping Serendah Retreat, it would mean a time away from the hustling and bustling of city life—that also includes detoxing from your mobile phones or any other electronic devices.
Most of the mobile services had no signal here in Sekeping Serendah. For an odd reason, my Umobile did have signal. For that reason, remember to inform your family members where you’re going so as to not worry them!
Outside BBQ area
This area qualifies for my favorite spot during my time in glass shed 2. It is an open area to sit and talk to friends and family and to spend quality time together in open air surrounded by all shades of green.
Outside BBQ area is a photographer’s playground. The design itself made this place the best place to capture some bokeh images. Although there was nothing particularly interesting with the landscape, trees were enough to make the image look magical.
The kitchen
Glass shed’s cooking area was cramp yet open at the same time. Kitchen utensils provided were basic wok, cutleries and cups. As there were many of us, we also brought our own pots, induction cooker, portable gas stove, knives, and so on.
Sekeping Infinity Pool
You must visit the swimming pools in Sekeping Serendah! Swimming amidst nature is an odd and relaxing experience. They have swimming pool 1 and 2 (infinity pool). I only took a picture of the resting area beside swimming pool 1 because there were a lot of ladies in the pool having a photoshoot.
The aesthetics of Sekeping Serendah
At the BBQ area on day 2 morning, sunlight started squeezing through the trees and dispersed throughout the outside BBQ area. It was a magical and enchanting sight to behold.
In A Nutshell
I adopt a very neutral position in encouraging people to come to Sekeping Serendah.
First of all, the price point was at the higher end.
Two glass sheds cost us RM580 for 4 pax (glass shed 1); RM630 for 5 pax (glass shed 2). They amount to a staggering RM1210 for 1 night!
Coming to Sekeping Serendah for a retreat with colleagues or friends will be a great idea. Just sitting amidst nature and enjoying the tranquility it provides make the whole experience rewarding. In fact, between colleagues, we had heart-to-heart talk and bonded overnight.
Sekeping Serendah is also perfect for nature photography! Not only that, it is definitely a great spot for taking wedding photographs. In fact, many people came here for their honeymoon trip!
All in all, our stay was an enjoyable one.
