Villa Takun Templar Park

Villa Takun & Takun Suites – Kuala Lumpur

Villa Takun & Takun Suites – Kuala Lumpur

Photos: Han Sen Hau
Words: Jacob Weber

It may be the personal barbecue dinners. It could be painting bears. It might be the stunning design philosophy and immaculate attention to detail that whisks you away to a whole new world — just 30 minutes outside KL.

It’s probably all of them and so much more. Villa Takun, an intimate retreat tucked away in the forest reserve of Templer Park, isn’t your average staycation. It’s a whole experience.

(“Painting bears” will make sense in a minute.)

After a pleasant drive out of the city, we pull up on a quiet residential street, wondering if we’ve got the right place.

Then the front gates open, and our jaws drop. Fluffy ducklings are following their mother around a large courtyard leading to a reception area, surrounded by perfectly manicured plants. There’s even a baby goat trotting fearlessly around the place. There’s casual alfresco seating in comfortable canvas chairs, a small gift shop full of curious, custom-made artwork — and loads of free snacks.

Villa Takun Templar Park A Friendly Greeting
A Friendly Greeting
Villa Takun Resident Goat
Resident Goat

Past the reception is an open lounge area looking out to the towering Bukit Takun and a neat garden with a small pool. It’s a minimalist masterclass in boho chic with wabi-sabi charm, blending Mediterranean architecture with thoughtful Southeast Asian elements. Light and bright, with lime-washed walls as a nod to the surrounding limestone cliffs. Rattan furniture and large, lush green plants blur the lines between indoors and out. Huge white sofas and lounge chairs offer plenty of comfortable seating. The antique table, piano and vintage artefacts add a touch of sophistication to the serenity. A cute white-pebbled courtyard area completes the picture. (‘Picture’ being the operative word; it’s very Instagram-friendly.)

Villa Takun Reception Location
Reception
Villa Takun Templar Park Lobby with Snacks
Lobby with Snacks
Villa Takun Templar Park
Villa Takun

On the other side of the villa, a “Quiet Zone” — a beautiful bright space with a sunken seating area and vintage radio — provides an even more peaceful sanctuary. (As if you’d need more peace, really.) Behind the curtain on one wall is the Theatre Room, which can be booked for private movie nights. Remember to stock up on those free snacks.

Villa Takun Quiet Zone
Quiet Zone
Villa Takun Theatre Room
Theatre Room – BYO Popcorn

A short stroll down to the lower grounds of the residence reveals a wide open space with caravans and large metal A-frame ‘tents’ — Villa Takun’s Glamping Field. Köré, a coffee shop operating out of a converted caravan, has pride of place in the centre of the site. The Glasshouse, a cosy cafe with floor-to-ceiling glass doors on all sides, is just next door and our first stop on the tour. We have a steaming cup of coffee from Köré, whose in-house blend changes daily, with a heavenly slice of their Pandan Cloud Cake.

Villa Takun Glamping Field
Glamping Field
Villa Takun Templar Park Glamping Field
Glamping Field
Köré Cafe
Köré Cafe
Pandan Cloud Cake & Awesome Coffee
Pandan Cloud Cake & Awesome Coffee

Then it’s time for the day’s activity: hand-decorating cute little plastic bear keychains. (Make sense now?) You can also choose to make your own bath salts, or a coffee workshop with the resident barista, which we decide we’ll save for tomorrow. This is all part of the experience at Villa Takun: good old-fashioned, family-friendly fun that’s a welcoming and mindless distraction from all that hustle and bustle in the city.

Villa Takun Fluid Bearbrick Keychains
Fluid Bearbrick Keychains
Make Your Own Bath Salts
Make Your Own Bath Salts

For dinner, we go for the Barbecue Set (RM238/2 pax.; RM298/4 pax.), which you can choose to have in a private tent in the Glamping Field or in the open area by reception. Either way, it’s a lot of fun cooking up a feast on the personal grill (yes, it’s grill-it-yourself). There are beef, chicken, prawn and vegetable skewers, sausages, and massive, juicy scallops that you can brush with the homemade kombu butter. And, of course, there are marshmallows to toast over the coals for that quintessential campfire touch.

Prawns from the Barbecue Set
Prawns from the Barbecue Set

Tropical Rooms

The converted caravans and trendy A-frames have huge appeal, but if you’re looking for the ultimate comfort for your jungle retreat, Villa Takun also offers the Tropical Rooms. Elegant and intimate, these five rooms (with different sizes suitable for couples and small family groups) have been carefully and consciously designed with a natural aesthetic, luxurious amenities, and unique features that celebrate Villa Takun’s stunning surrounding scenery.

My room, ‘Dandelion,’ has a comfortable sky hammock that looks directly out towards the misty hills outside the large glass doors at the foot of the comfortable king-sized bed, which shares the same view. The office desk also looks out over the lush green jungle, but doing any actual work here is the last thing on my mind.

Villa Takun Dandelion Suite
Villa Takun Dandelion Suite

Other Tropical rooms offer semi-outdoor bathtubs (with absolute privacy), hot tubs, spacious living areas, and other thoughtful touches like cosy nooks and crannies with lounge seating where you can curl up with a good book (or your phone). The soft furnishings and natural fabrics soothe the weary city slicker’s soul. 

Serenity Suite
Serenity Suite
Serenity Suite
Serenity Suite
Villa Takun Serenity Suite
Villa Takun Serenity Suite (Mon says make your bath salts on arrival so you can use them in the bath)

After a blissful night’s sleep to the sounds and stillness of nature, we breeze down to the Glasshouse for breakfast. We’d planned a 7 am trip to the nearby Kancing waterfalls, but woke up to a rainy morning, so back to bed it was. (Oh, dreadful, I know.) The smell of coffee grounds from Köré stir the senses on a pleasantly chilly morning, and we order a brew before anything else. The breakfast is a modest local and continental spread, from nasi lemak and fried noodles to American-style pancakes and hash browns, plus fresh fruit and eggs made to order. Today’s “Milky Summer” coffee blend is excellent, so we order another.

Villa Takun Templar Park
Buffet Breakfast at the Glasshouse

With the clouds and rain putting anything too adventurous on pause, we were quite happy wandering around the villa, lounging on different sofas (for the purposes of this review, honestly) and making the most of the deliciously peaceful downtime.

At the Coffee Workshop in the afternoon, we meet the award-winning barista, YC, who sources Arabica beans from all over the world to roast the in-house blends. He teaches us how to hand-grind some freshly roasted beans and gently prepare the perfect cup of coffee — what better activity for a misty weekend on a ‘campsite’ in the hills? It’s just a shame this stuff isn’t available in the instant sachets in the room. Nescafe Classic just won’t cut it anymore.

Coffee Workshop - Making Dripbags
Coffee Workshop – Making Dripbags

Takun Suites at Villa Takun

We’re stepping it up a gear for our second night and staying at the Takun Suites, a short trip up the road. This is more glamour than glamping; the exotic, extravagant cousin to Villa Takun, with three massive Moroccan-inspired five-star suites in an opulent, practically palatial residence. It’s bold but not overbearing, an expertly curated blend of statement pieces and understated luxury, with black-and-white mosaics making the bright orange furnishings, shimmering gold accents, and art deco paintings really pop.

Takun Suites
Takun Suites
Takun Suites Entrance
Entrance
Takun Suites Lobby
Takun Suites Lobby

The huge bedrooms all have private balconies with outdoor seating and spacious bathrooms with Japanese toilets, giant rainfall showers, and semi-outdoor bathtubs. Major brownie points: excellent water pressure that fills the tub in minutes and makes you never want to get out of the shower. More brownie points: a friendly staff member delivers a “bath bomb experience” to the room; a wooden platter of bath bombs, essential oils, and even a rubber duck. And after plenty of pampering with the premium amenities, there’s still plenty of time before dinner to get into one of the extremely comfortable bathrobes, flop down on the king-size bed, and fire up the 50” Smart TV. 

Takun Suites
Corner Suite with Balcony & Direct Access to the Pool
Takun Suites Private Balcony Connected to the Suite
Private Balcony Connected to the Suite
Takun Suites You Could Fit a Family in Here!
You Could Fit a Family in Here
High Tech Shower with Precision Temperature Control
High Tech Shower with Precision Temperature Control
Takun Suites
Another Chance to Use Those Handmade Bath Salts
Bathtub Amenities Can be Arranged
Bathtub Amenities Can be Arranged

The communal highlight of Takun Suites is the signature Infinity Dipping Pool, exclusively for guests of the Suites. With clear panoramic views across Templer Park and two private balconies with sofas and swinging chairs on either side, it’s a peaceful and pleasant spot to watch the world go by.

Infinity Dipping Pool
Infinity Dipping Pool
Takun Suites Lounge Area
Lounge Area

The elegant dining hall and fully-equipped communal kitchen are a classy and convenient touch, especially if you’ve booked the place out as a group. If you’re not dining at Edible, the conceptual private dining experience at Villa Takun, Takun Suites are quite happy for you to order your own food and host your own feast, and have provided the facilities to do so. (There are also loads of free snacks in this kitchen, too.)

Takun Suites
Dining Room with Coffee Machine & Snacks

Before reluctantly checking out the next day, we go all-out and get the Floating Breakfast platter. It’s an upscale version of the East-West continental spread down the road, with nasi lemak, fried noodles, or (strangely) carbonara or aglio olio pasta, plus sides like kaya toast and fluffy croissants with kombu butter, and a long list of beverages like fresh juice and coffee.

Floating Breakfast
Floating Breakfast

Check-out is back down at Villa Takun, so we slowly drag ourselves down the hill to hand back the keys. But of course, there’s still time for one more Köré coffee before we leave, so we can squeeze out a few final drops of serenity in this stunning retreat before it’s back to reality. But we’re quite sure we’ll be back — those caravans look seriously comfortable, too.

Reasons to visit Villa Takun & Takun Suites: tranquil retreat in the hills of Templer Park, surrounded by lush greenery and limestone hills; soothing, minimalist Mediterranean and Southeast Asian aesthetic; free creative activities and workshops; premium glamping experience and luxurious accommodation.

Villa Takun
6, Jalan 3/3A, Templer Park
48200 Rawang, Selangor, Malaysia
www.villatakun.com @villatakun

Link to Villa Takun location on Google Maps

Find more recommendations for awesome places to stay here and stay up-to-date on the latest luxury travel finds via The Yum List on Instagram and The Yum List on Facebook.

2 Comments

  1. Diandra Soliano

    This place looks amazing!

  2. What a nice place. Sweet Resident Goat 🙂

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.