Sat with a sundowner overlooking the Andaman Sea and looking forward to a frame of billiards and dinner in Planter’s chandeliered restaurant, guests at The Danna may feel that they might have slotted seamlessly into Langkawi life a century or so ago. The Danna, so appropriately named after the Sanskrit for giving generously, exhibits classical service. Guests await a post-prandial brandy in the Churchill room while liveried staff, wearing immaculately pressed light short-sleeved shirts and shorts, sometimes accessorised with a pith helmet rescued before it is sent to an exhibition of yesteryear militaria, clasp their right hand to their heart as a warm greeting every time they encounter a guest.

At the Danna, Check-in has been deconstructed, formality filleted, and gently reconstructed. After an invigorating shot of clove and apple juice to rehydrate, arriving guests are sat on sumptuous sofas, then welcomed with a neck and shoulder massage from the magical hands of the spa’s masseuses.

Like Raffles in Singapore, the Danna harks back to an era of precisely cut cucumber sandwich afternoon teas, jingling ice in gin, and tonics on the veranda. For the record, there is usually a choice of around 130 gins, and gently whirring ceiling fans. Dark wood furniture, rattan screens and cool marble floors figure predominantly in the designers’ retro-style primer.  But the Danna, sat on a long, soft white sand beach with a dramatic rain-forest backdrop, easily trumps Raffles for location.

Although only just over a decade old, there is an old-world spacious splendour to the Danna, the sort of destination where Noel Coward would have pondered on mad dogs and Englishman going out in the midday sun, or where Rudyard Kipling or Somerset Maugham would have written a chapter of an exotic oriental fable before the civilised ritual of afternoon tea. Then, probably writing very little more before sundowners.

Promising peaceful privacy, the Danna relaxes on Langkawi, one of the 99 islands that make up the Langkawi archipelago. The sea just waits to be explored on a jet-ski safari or a sunset dinner cruise. The white-washed hotel, with a hint of Moorish arches to its exterior, is discretely distanced from the busy hub of Cenang Beach. Though, conveniently, The Danna is only a 15-minutes’ drive from Langkawi International Airport.

Ultimate privacy comes as a standard in the detached and secluded beach villas, each with a gate that leads through to a quiet stretch of the beach. Glassy, light-infused pavilions look as though they have been designed for A-listers to host a pool party away from prying paparazzi. Each villa features contemporary architecture and a sizeable private pool, framed by curtained day beds and two beds for private spas. The Empress villas have two bedrooms, but there is no lack of space in the one-bedroom Princess villas.

In the main hotel, where two tall frangipani trees cast their fragrant almond blossom onto the wide infinity pool, room names evoke prestigious comfort. Merchant, Grand Merchant, Viceroy and Grand Viceroy recall days when Langkawi was a cooling haven of luxury on prosperous trade routes.

For travellers there is a calming opulence to the dark wood furnishings, the verandas and ceiling fans – though they are backed-up by discrete but essential air-conditioning. Even from the bathroom, guests can open the shutters so that they can look through the bedroom to the sea or views of the rainforest. This may all be a vision of past splendour, but simultaneously, the rooms are contemporary, with high-tech mod-cons and their own chilled micro-climate.

Langkawi’s cuisine demonstrates how the archipelago has frequently adopted the tastes of those passing through. Dinner at Planter’s Restaurant illustrates how Langkawi has welcomed the rice-based dishes of travellers from China and curries from India. Though rendangs, and meat cooked slowly in a spicy paste, these staples are always at the heart of any Malaysian culinary debate; families vehemently proclaim the superiority of their mother’s recipe.

For that first dinner in the grandeur of Planter’s, a Malaysian tasting platter of beef rendang, sea bass sambol, chicken percik, king prawn curry, papadum, Malay pickle and steamed rice makes an ideal guide to the style of the local cuisine. Likewise, champagne breakfast with Planter’s buffet of Oriental and Western offerings is the only way to kickstart the day.

Straits & Co is more informal, offering coffee, iced coffee, smoothies, tea and light meals throughout the day. Black and white prints recall the heady days, when rubber, a prized 20th-century commodity, brought great wealth to Malaysia.  Alternatively, overlooking that three-tiered infinity pool, is The Terrace: Italian style modern-dining that makes the most of the profusion of freshly caught seafood.

With its four marinas, three golf-courses and rain-forest zip-line, Langkawi is an idyllic tropical playground. The Danna provides restful relaxation and old-world luxury, as guests recharge before their next adventure – or merely another day of tranquil contemplation over the view from their sun lounger.