I made a trip to Melaka in early October with my mom, elder sister, brother in law, Jovyn and Alex and this time round, I literally took a backseat in planning since my elder sister and brother in law visit the UNESCO city much more often than I do!
For our accommodation, my sister opted for ibis Melaka since it's within walking distance from the ever so crowded Jonker street. Built in 2016, it has 249 rooms across six floors; I didn't feel that there were so many rooms though!
Stepping into the hotel lobby and looking up to a cloudy sky patterned ceiling with a heart-shaped skylight. The skylight could have been expanded to allow more natural lighting and complement the artificial sky.
Always happy to see infused water! I would make it a point to drink one glass when I left the hotel and had another one when I am back, which could be a few times a day given how much I love to explore.
Keycards for our standard room - Room 424. Most importantly, the Wi-Fi username and password which have been extremely important for any overseas travel! I pay quite a bit for data roaming and having free Wi-Fi can cut down my expenses quite a bit.
Why was there a baby cot right at the lift lobby on level four?! Imagine hearing a baby crying at night... p.s. nothing happened throughout our two-night stay.
Corridor wasn't very dim but as our allocated accommodation was the first room on the right from the lift lobby; I couldn't really feel how dim it really was. Personally, I dislike having my room far from the lift lobby as the mind will start to wander.
Room 424; our standard room with twin beds! Compact at just 22 square meters, it was a comfortable size for me. C'mon, if I can survive a 13-14 square-meter room at Sapporo (Hokkaido); this would be okay.
The first thing I loved about ibis Melaka was the provision of bolsters! This bedroom necessity for Singapore homes is so rare in hotels, and frankly; giving me another pillow just doesn't cut it!
View outside the window that faced the huge open-air carpark. You can't see from the above photograph but the greenery at the background should be the location of Bukit China, a Chinese cemetery said to be the biggest outside of China.
I have no idea the purpose for this. It would be more helpful to have it nearer the entrance, where we can sit down to wear our shoes. What could I do with this beside the bed? Sit here to watch television!? I might as well use the bed.
Mini fridge with the complementary mineral water, electric kettle, and the sachets of tea and coffee. Since I am in Malaysia, where Nanyang coffee can be found easily, I didn't have to satisfy my caffeine fix in the room.
Safe was in the the drawer! This should be made available in all hotels as it was much easier for us to put in our valuables. In ibis Melaka, I also noticed a prayer mat in the safe. Shouldn't this be placed outside? Maybe it's a magical carpet.
Now the washroom; equipped with rainfall shower, hair dryer and basic toiletries like sanitary pad, cotton buds and refillable shower gel / shampoo. If you need toothbrushes or bedroom slippers, you can request separately. Not an issue for me as I am all for sustainability.
Loving the built-in mirror lights!
Another thing I love about ibis Melaka; the flooring for the shower area which would be very suitable for the older generation as it was absolutely slip proof! I am impatient and can be clumsy; hence, such flooring is most appropriate for me too.
Gymnasium - this was located on the ground floor of ibis Melaka, at the back. Opened from 7.00 am till 11.00 pm and access would be via your tap card.
Basic enough for us so long we have weights, and treadmills; latter of which I used on the first day whereas I decided to jog along the river on the mornings of day two and three. Nothing beats the great outdoors despite the risk of stepping onto dog shit!
Gym rules for your reference.
Water dispenser with towels and sign in / sign out form. I am not sure about you but I don't have the habit of signing in and signing out. Back at Hotel Royal Bangkok, I noticed the last entry was a year ago!
Swimming Pool - 1.2 meter deep adult pool and a 0.6 meter deep kid pool that came with a small water playground popular with families. No time for me to swim as I needed to cramp quite a bit since I was only there for two nights!
Miscellaneous - an outdoor playground in front of the swimming pool. Well, hardly exciting since such old school design can be found in my estates.
Smoking corner right outside the gym. With logs made into the shape of reindeer, I wouldn't be surprised to find a Christmas tree right in the middle, now that we are going to Christmas season.
Seating area for guests at the lobby, plus desktop computer with internet. In time to come, such internet stations in hotels would be obsolete since a lot of things can now be performed over the phone, which has become an indispensable part of our life.
Cafe corner with options for nonya kueh, pastries and beverages. My reasoning is that you can get cheaper options outside, especially given the hotel's proximity to Jonker Street!
Lastly, the restaurant serving buffet breakfast every morning! We opted for non-breakfast since it's cheaper and we figured we could easily find local breakfast around the hotel. p.s. you can consider the nearby Siang Chiang (香江茶室).
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249, Jalan Bendahara,
Kampung Bukit China,
75100 Melaka, Malaysia
Map
As above.
Website
Pricing
Standard Room - S$81.11
Purchased via Agoda.com.
how did you get to melaka ?
ReplyDeletemy brother in law drove in! If not, you can also buy tickets from Singapore to Melaka using online portals like https://www.busonlineticket.com/
Deletedo you think the bench thing next to bed is for your luggage ?
ReplyDeleteit could be but a bit too far; hotels usually put those benches for luggage nearer to the entrance. and they don't usually have cushion for them.
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