Most weekend plans from Kuala Lumpur begin with a long drive. This one does not. Mantin is about an hour from the city centre, 45 minutes from the airport, and the farm sits at the end of a kampung road: 22 acres with a lake, 55 rooms, a gallery full of paintings and 150-odd statues along the paths. Here is what two days there actually look like.
Day one, from 3pm
Check-in is from 3pm (from 2pm if your room is ready), and afternoon tea is waiting when you arrive. The lake is the first thing you see; the swans are usually the second. The afternoon is for the kayaks, the bicycles, the swimming pool and the sculpture trail, all of them in the price. Children head for the rabbits and the goats; grandparents tend to find the gallery hall and its rosewood table.
Dinner at 7pm is family-style, shared dishes brought to the table, and it is included, as is breakfast the next morning. After dinner the lights come on around the lake. The cafeteria karaoke is free until midnight, the pantry (Milo, coffee, tea, bread and pandan kaya) is open until midnight too, and the gallery runs a free cinema room if the children are not done yet.
Day two, from 9am
At nine the caretaker takes everyone round: about two kilometres and two and a half hours, the animals first (this is when the feeding and the parrot photos happen), then up the hill and down to the gallery. It is the only time the animal compound is open, so do not sleep through it. The horse rides are on this walk as well: children from eight ride a round or two, four-to-seven-year-olds sit on the horse for a photo with a parent, and it is all free.
Breakfast is a buffet, checkout is 12 noon, and you are back in KL for a late lunch.
What it comes to
Everything above is in one price: the room, tea, dinner, breakfast, the guided tour, the horse, the kayaks, the bikes, the pool and the trail, tax included. On a Sunday-to-Thursday night two adults pay RM540 in a timber room, RM675 in a lake chalet or RM850 in a land chalet; with two children (4 to 10) that is RM720, RM902 and RM1,012. Fridays, Saturdays and holiday nights cost 15% more. The exact total for your party shows before you pay.
Check your dates, or read the rooms page first.