Travel : Small in venue, big on comfort

2011/08/03 ZALINA MOHD SOM  czar-lina@nstp.com.my

Terrapuri’s contribution to the MICE market, the intricate Berang House

The glass wall that overlooks the verandah allows natural light into the meeting room

Malaysia is catching up with the worldwide trend to hold meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions in small venues. ZALINA MOHD SOM checks out the options available
IT is just a simple meeting room. The only nod to modernity is a 40-inch flat-screen television and an air-conditioner. There is neither a pop-up projector nor ceiling projection screen.

But Berang House is no ordinary meeting room. It needs no state-of-the-art technology. This sole function room of Terrapuri — a two-month-old boutique resort of seven villas — at Pantai Penarik in Terengganu just needs an antique Malay house and a priceless hardwood table to make the cut.

It’s a combination like no other. While the eight-seater hardwood table was the very one used by the first Prime Minister, the late Tunku Abdul Rahman, when he chaired a meeting with folks of Kampung Atas Tol in Kuala Terengganu, the 150-year-old classic Terengganu house has its own story.
Celebrated Pahang warriors — Mat Kilau and his father Tok Gajah — stayed in the 8m x 6m house during the British Colonial era.

The house, which belonged to the village headman, was dismantled from its original location in Kuala Berang and restored in the compound of Terrapuri in Kampung Mangkuk, Setiu.

While everything else — its walls, floors, windows and roof — is in its original form, the main wall of the house is now an all-glass door that allows natural light into the meeting room.

Coffee breaks are served al fresco on the verandah which overlooks a charming setting — the resort’s interpretation of a 17th Century Terengganu palace and its compound.

Terrapuri director of sales Maslina Mansor says: “While the surrounding is conducive to board meetings or brainstorming sessions, Berang House is just a small space that can fit only 18 at a round-table meeting.”