Holiday Inn Malacca

Our trip to Malacca recently was in conjunction with our 8th anniversary on 11th January. I didn't remember the date, initially I thought I just wanted to just get away from KL life and wanted to go somewhere nearby. It doesn't matter where, for as long as it is out of KL. So I told Mr D I wanted to go somewhere near and he agreed. Mr D did all the bookings and he booked Holiday Inn Malacca, located at Jln Syed Abd Aziz at the city centre. It wasn't until we reached Malacca that I realised he actually wanted it to be our anniversary relaxing weekend *love*. 

 Mr D opted for a seaview room, but what view you can get considering it is Malacca? So the above view was what we got from our bedroom window overlooking the straits of Malacca. Not much of a view huh? 

We were greeted by the reception, friendly looking and welcoming. Mr D paid RM350++ for the room, and the setback is that it excludes breakfast. We had to pay extra RM20++ per pax for the breakfast buffet. The reception however didn't really give us direction of where to find the lift, not that it is much of a problem to find, but what was lacking is that they didn't even explain that the room access card is needed to operate the lift. There's no clear direction of how to operate the lift in the lift either, except the slot to insert the access card which is located parallel to our hip level. They should put it at eye level so that it can be seen easier!!

The room is comfortable, the size is just nice for two. It has normal coffee / tea making facilities, some fruits prepared at the table and quite a complete toilet kit. Bathroom was also spacious and comfortable. The setback is the limited TV channels offered, and the fact that it doesn't offer Wi-Fi for free. Wi-Fi is only available at a fee, can't remember how much was it but which 4 star hotel charge for the use of internet nowadays? They should consider offering the service for free.

Buffet breakfast was served from 6am to 10am. We went down close to 8am and was quite satisfied with the buffet spread. It was just a normal buffet spread with local and western varieties, but the choices was wide enough. And what I love the most is the fact that it has a counter to serve you healthy drinks - you can choose from cucumber, tomato, carot etc, freshly prepared in front of you. Nice. 

All in all, I have not much complaint about the hotel, apart from the minor things which I think will not affect the stay that much. We spent quite some times in the hotel room and it was comfortable enough.

De Hotel, Ipoh

We dropped by at Ipoh on the way back from Songkhla to Subang Jaya. Mr D wanted to just visit his old school, Malay College Kuala Kangsar. So we stayed in Ipoh for the night. 

As it will only be a short stay, so we didn't want to spend too much on hotel. Mr D booked a simple room from De Hotel at the price of RM118. This hotel is located near Fatimah Hospital, and close to other amenities like banks and places to eat. A rather convenient choice.

 De Hotel is located at a shop lot, sharing a building with Courts. It has a small reception at the ground floor and all its rooms are located at 2nd floor. It has more than 40 rooms, and I understand it has many types of rooms available. 

 We didn't expect much initially.. I mean with RM118 you sure won't expect much. Mr D chose to book this hotel due to the good review it has in tripadvisor. We will only be spending the night so it doesn't matter that much. But we were surprised when we enter the room... it was so nice and cosy. The room size was very small, but it is comfortable enough for two people sharing a room. 

 The interior decoration of the room is modern and stylish. It has all you need. Kettle to boil the water, coffee, complete toiletries, hot shower, telephone and TV. I can see that the iron board is located outside the room so people can share it. It has Wi-Fi service but it was very-very slow to the point of useless so we didn't use it.

The staffs are also very friendly. They made effort to talk to us and recognise who comes in and comes out.

The minus point will be its parking. Considering it is a small hotel, the car park is located at the side of the hotel facing the residential area. I kind of worry of its safety, but alhamdulillah, nothing happened.

Do I recommend this hotel? Yes, very much. If size does not matter, and you want a simple basic hotel, this hotel is it.

BP Samila Beach Resort

This time around we didn't book any accommodation for our stay in Songkhla province. Mr D thought it would be easy to find one in either Hat Yai, Danok, or by Samila beach. As he deferred his visit to Malaysian Consulate to our second day in Songkhla, therefore it was just logical to find an accommodation near Samila beach, which is where the Malaysian Consulate is located.

We then just stopped by at BP Samila Beach Resort, located within walking distance from the Malaysian Consulate. The best part of this hotel is its location, it is just stone throw away from the beach, very suitable if relaxing is what you are up to.

We were there on Thursday, so the crowd is lesser. We booked a deluxe room facing the beach at 30% discount, paying 1,750 baht instead of the original price of 2,500 baht. 

 

The above picture is how our room looks like on the second day. In a mess huh? We were about to leave for breakfast then and I was so lazy to at least make the bed presentable. The room was OK, though, like most hotels around Songkhla, a bit run down. You can smell something 'old' even in the lift. It is clean enough though. The space is also spacious for 2 people occupancy.

But there are a number of things I think this hotel should improve to make it more comfortable for people to stay :

1.  The TV is ancient. Really. And for a foreigner, I seriously do not know which channel I should watch. I don't understand a single thing. More English channels please!
2. There's no kettle or coffee provided in the room. What kind of hotel is that? This is the first time I come across a hotel of that standard which do not provide that facility. And being a loyal coffee drinker Mr D is, this have a huge impact on him. Not being able to boil water in the room to drink coffee? BP Samila Beach certainly lost points there.
3. There's no wifi in the room. The internet connection is available at the lobby for the price of 90baht per hour. Are you kidding me? 90 baht per hour? 
4. I was misled by the bell boy. He told me that 2 bottles of mineral water from the fridge is complimentary. But upon check out, I was charged for 40 baht for those two. Should I call you a liar? Or should I assume the bell boy was misinformed?
5.  The breakfast spread is just OK. Not bad, it is edible. I don't know whether the spread is halal. I was told it is. But just to be on the safe side, I just consumed the safe items like bread and such. 

 

But I think the best part of this hotel is if you opt for a sea view unit, the scenery from the balcony is actually pretty breathtaking. Mr D spent quite some time at the balcony enjoying the view. Simply relaxing!

Relaxing @ Grand Lexis, Port Dickson

Port Dickson ... balik-balik Port Dickson kan? But that's the easiest and nearest place to just take a drive to given the limited time. There's nothing to be done there, but if 'relaxing' is the only theme, then it is not too bad.

This time the visit to Port Dickson is for my parents' 68th and 70th birthday. They were born on the same date but in different year. So for us children, it is very easy to celebrate their birthday - we do it together. I decided to book Grand Lexis, the waterhomes built on the sea, as a present for my parents, hopefully they can relax. The last time I went there was in late 2010, when the place was still called Legend Water Homes (I went to Legend Water Chalets).

This time I booked for Premium Pool Villa, with 2 King / Queen beds. The highlight about this villa is each villa has its own pool inside, so we can swim with nobody else around. Even my mum joined us in the pool. The villa is spacious, at about 1,200sq ft. So it really feels like home.

Grand Lexis has no beach on its own, so for those who wants to enjoy the beach will have to go to the other places nearby.