Tengku Ismail Tengku Su looks tired and withdrawn. From time to time, he looks chirpy, as an idea hits him, before he casts his eyes down.

"There's only me you know. No one else in the family cares, and everyone else outside have their own agenda," he remarks as he takes in the various antiques and memorabilia dotting his home, the famed Pura Tanjung Sabtu.

Pura Tanjung Sabtu is not the usual six star resort. First and foremost it is a private home; home to Tengku Ismail and his brother Tengku Yusof, who lives with his family in one of the refurbished old houses on the estate.

Tengku Ismail was first inspired by his upbringing in the royal family home of Dalam Kota Istana Maziah, a complex of wooden palaces originally built in the early 18th century by Sultan Mansur Shah I of Terengganu (1726-1793), but greatly enlarged by Sultan Zainal Abidin III (1881- 1918) in the early 20th century. As a young boy, he roamed and played in old palaces, and could never see himself living elsewhere.