Park Royal Kuala Lumpur

This was our 2nd stay at the hotel within a span of 3 years. The first was in Year 2008 at the orchid executive club which even though the room was at a premium, was a pleasurable experience. This time, we decided to opt for a deluxe room instead due to a longer travel period.

Location
The location was main reason for choosing park royal. With close proximity to major shopping centres like lot 10, sungei wang and times square, you could spend days just shopping in this area alone.

Room
We loved the king size bed as it virtually can fit 3 normal sized adults no kidding!

I am also pleased with the full range of amenities provided and the spacious room. Our room rate also came with free internet service which was great and we encountered no problems with connection or speed. Generally, we had a comfortable stay but we do have a few complaints –
* the furnishings are outdated even though it’s a deluxe room. As commented by some reviewers, most hotels have upgraded to flat screen TVs but not this one and the channels are rather limited. I agree we are not here to watch tv but then we need some entertainment in the early morning and late evenings.
* There is some problem with the water heating system. On our first morning, the water took sometime to heat up. On our last morning, the water refused to heat up and worse, the water that came gushing was yellowish. We had to call housekeeping and problem was fixed after the technician looked into it. We don’t know what was done but imagine waiting around for almost half an hour just to fix this.

* I was spooked by the centralized room system one night. I remembered I tuned the air con to low but it turned full blast in the wee hours and the alarm also suddenly went off when I did not set it.

Facilities
The pool was not fantastic but it was good enough for us to lounge around and for a good swim. We did not try the gym though.

Food
We enjoyed the breakfasts as it has a good variety so we do recommend tagging this to your room. We did not try the other restaurants though.

Service
Most of the service staff are all smiles and polite. The concierge was useful for arranging day tours for us and there is a free shuttle to twin towers at about half hour intervals.

General Comments
There is some improvement in KL taxi system as some taxis are now willing to turn on the meter rather than haggling over a fixed price. In fact, most taxis now have a signage on their doors that spells “metered taxi”. Still, old habits die hard and there are still many who refused to abide.

We also do not recommend getting a taxi from the hotel driveway. We tried getting a taxi from there with our luggage in tow and the concierge was all too eager to persuade us to take the blue limo taxis, which I think charge a premium. When we asked for a normal taxi with meter, he looked unhappy. In the end, the taxi that came charged a fixed price and obviously, the concierge lent us no helping hand.

There are also some hits and misses in terms of food outside of the hotel. One thing we learnt is that while some are bang for buck, there are a few eateries that charge tourist prices and worse, the quality does not justify these prices. If you have recommendations for good eateries around the area, do share!

view from our room

bath room

working area

minibar area with outdated TV

lift lobby

location map


Useful links - Park Royal KL

Meritus Pelangi Langkawi

Spent two nights at Meritus Pelangi Langkawi and here's our experience.

Location
The great thing about the location is that it is very near to the airport and just a stroll away from the beach. It could be the scorching heat or I must have shorter limbs because as opposed to the many reviewers, I found the walk to the local shops and eateries quite a distance away. Also take caution that when night falls, the lighting along that stretch of road is not very good.

Facilities
The environs of the hotel charms with beautifully flowered trees and shrubs. The gardeners are a hard working lot, sweeping away the fallen leaves daily and yet will still greet you with smiles. The lobby is open air but the dark woods provide really good shade from the sun except for the little café right beside the lounge which was covered in glass and hence felt more like a green house to me. The only gripe was that you could tell most furnishing is rather aged and there are stains all around. And do check before you lean or put your hands around anywhere as insects and ants are aplenty. I was trying the hammock on the beach and was almost fell off when I found a HUGE red ant crawling on my arm. The pool was nice and huge with plenty of lounge chairs. Even though its considered peak season, you never really feel that the place is over crowded which is kind of amazing. As echoed by a few reviewers, there’s definitely no free wifi in this part of the world but you can use their internet service at a charge. Many complained about expensive charges but I think they are referring to hourly rate? They do charge a flat rate for 24 hours use (I think RM 50) which I think is very worth it. The only complaint was that the service was down from 11am to 7pm on the very day we subscribe but after giving our feedback, charges were waived immediately so cheers to that.

Room
We booked a double deluxe with pool facing view and was given a 2nd storey room. We liked that it was just a short walk from the lobby. I was put off by the musty smell when we were first entered the room but once the air was cooled, you kinda get used to it. Again, furniture and furnishings definitely needs some refurbishing though the old “malay kampong” feel certainly has its charms. The air con seems old as it failed to cool the temperature quickly especially during the day. I think the high ceiling is an attributing factor. We were also fascinated by the vat of water just outside each hut (apparently it is a malay custom to wash your feet before entering the house), which proved to be very useful after a day at the beach to wash off any remnants of sand.

Food
We tried almost all the restaurants in the hotel except the BBQ boat house. The food at the spice restaurant was horrid in our opinion - sandwich doesn’t taste fresh and my companion’s lasagne had an overdose of salt. The breakfast was served from the same restaurant so the quality failed to excite us as well. As there are cats in the compound, I also observed them jumping onto the tables with the table ware, so you pretty much can imagine what extra “ingredients” you had in your food. The thai restaurant is only opened in the evenings and though there was a smart casual dress code, I think they don’t really bother. The thai noodles had more veggies than noodles and the dessert was really too sweet. Even the ice cream I tried at Horizon bar at poolside was not too good. However, I must say I liked the ambience and deco of the restaurants but the quality of food failed to impress.

We did venture to the local shops but be prepared that 99% of them are not air conditioned and with the hot weather, your appetite really takes a nose dive.

Service
We had a rather smooth check in and most staff were cordial and ever ready to smile and greet you. We had one huge issue on the last day though. We booked for a day tour online from another agent in advance but to our dismay, the agent did not turn up! We went to the tour desk for assistance but as most tours are booked they could not offer any alternatives at all. We felt that they could offer some assistance as it was our last day and we do not wish to leave the island with regrets.

Verdict
The location wasn’t fantastic, food was horrible, service passable and if not for the beautiful landscape, our trip would have been terrible. Not to mention the rates are not cheap either. We would probably give this hotel a miss unless it offers very attractive discounts.

The lobby

Surroundings

malay kampong style room

double deluxe room

view from our balcony

bathroom

toilet

adjoining walk in wardrobe

minibar

This is the Spice Restaurant that serves buffet breakfast

One of the appetizers served with lunch at the Spice Restaurant

hotel pool and sea view at far end

massage hut on the beach

This is the vat that won my approval as it helped to clean your feet after a day at the beach.

pelangi beach resort on the map is the location of meritus pelangi

Holiday Inn Malacca

It was our first visit to Malacca and friends who have been there told gross stories about old and dirty hotels. I did some research and decided on holiday inn based on good reviews from Trip Advisor (TA) and also since it’s a relatively new kid on the block. Being a priority club member, I made reservations through their website instead of a travel agent. It was a big mistake because I realized later that with the same price, our travel agent would have gotten us complimentary breakfast. Talk about being a priority member! Don’t make the same mistake we made, do check with your travel agents before you book. Reservation through email was a breeze though as they were rather responsive.

From Malacca central, we took a cab to holiday inn and was charged RM15. Unlike most hotels, their driveway to the lobby are away from the main traffic. On one hand, you’d feel its rather exclusive but on the other, it means you have to walk out a distance to the main shopping area or to flag for a cab.

Take a look at their HUGE lobby area!


When we arrived, my mum was pleasantly surprised that there was a cold water dispenser for guest consumption! She absolutely adored this great idea by the hotel. Except that the glass table holding it was rather small and can only accommodate 6-8 glasses at any one time. This certainly kept the concierge busy with putting used glasses away and replenishing with new ones. In any case, its a novel idea which we gave two thumbs up!

There’s great room for improvement in terms of their customer service though because check in staff was icy and process rather slow. The key card was also tricky as we could not activate the lights initially and had to call for help. We were glad that help came in a jiffy so that was a plus point for them. I must say the room was huge and clean and equipped with basic amenities. One thing to note, the hair dryer was inbuilt in one of the drawers in the room instead of the bathroom and this could pose a noise problem to your fellow room mates.

Not sure if other rooms had bath tub but not for our deluxe room. Also, I think it’s a common design for all holiday inns that the bath room comes with a panel of see thru glass. Though there are blinds for privacy but due to the corner design, you could actually still peep through if you want to. Hence its not advisable if you in a group of friends. In any case, we were most happy with the room and had no further complaints.

Triple sharing deluxe room with city view

The location of holiday inn is certainly not as good as hotel Equatorial as it is along a busy highway. Here's the view from our room.

Thats the busy highway everyone's been talking about -

Mahkota Parade Shopping Centre on the right -

Plaza Mahkota, which is basically rows of shop houses on the left -

Though traffic seems to give a lot of face to jay walkers, it is still quite dangerous to cross to the other side. There are a few ways to getting around this problem – take the hotel complimentary shuttle bus (two hourly interval starting from 10am only), walk further left to cross under the highway bridge or hail a cab. Many reviewers have shared that you can take a 10 min walk to all the tourist sites and shopping area but if you are with elderly and child, it is quite a feat. Hence, we took taxi most of the time. As we all know, Malaysian taxis are a notorious lot and it was really a chore to bargain with them. To make things simple, we offer a flat rate of RM 10 for our trips and most are willing to accept.

Overall, the hotel is up to scratch and is so much better that some of the Malaysia hotels we stayed. I would not rule out staying at this hotel again but given a choice, I would prefer choosing another hotel nearer to Jonker street to avoid the highway traffic.

location map