Category Archives: My Hotel Review

Desa Damai Chalet, Pengkalan Balak

November 4, 2020 Azmil Leave a comment

As we were unable to travel far because of the lockdown in Selangor. Also, my children miss the beach at Pengkalan Balak. Combined with us having 2 days to spare. I arranged an outing there. As we never stay at the same place twice. The only time we broke that rule was at the Legoland Resort Johor. But that place was special. The last time we stayed at the Kampung Pinang Sebatang Chalet. From there I discovered four little chalets in a little compound. Called Desa Damai Chalet.

Desa Damai Chalet comprise of 4 wooden style chalet. The design of each chalet is of the Traditional Melaka House. Every chalet has a queen bed, coffee making facilities, standing shower with heated water and TV with local channels. I could attach my mobile phone utilizing my Basues USB HUB docking station. So we could watch Netflix. These days TV channels is never an issue when we travel. As long as the TV have HDMI slots. For the young boys we rented a mattress at only RM30.

For dinner we headed to our favourite spot D’Ribut where serve yummy Prawn Char Kway Teow topped with 4 big prawns. Both days lunch we had at the Mak Jah shop just on the beach after the entrance of Pengkalan Balak. We ate and ate. Food at Pengkalan Balak was really nice.

My Verdict

A decent spot to have family get-togethers. In the event that you have four families, you have the entire spot to yourselves. They even rent out BBQ pits at just RM30. As the chalets is fenced up with just a little door, my children were allowed to wander around. My girl had fun playing with two little kittens there. Room was quite clean and also the surrounding. They even served breakfast for two with plain tea in morning for breakfast.

DESA DAMAI CHALET

Address :- Desa Damai Chalet
Jalan Persiaran Pantai, Taman Perindustrian Pengkalan Balak, 78300 Masjid Tanah, Melaka

Telephone :- 019-234 8966

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Melaka, My Hotel Review

Kampung Pinang Sebatang Chalet – A Short staycation

June 27, 2020 Azmil 1 Comment

Our first staycation after the Lockdown. I needed to escape as I had a busy fourteen days. Picked some place close by as I had two days off. What’s more, didn’t want to drive far. So the closest beach destination from Port Dickson was Pengkalan Balak. Pengkalan Balak is a popular picnic destination with the local Melaka residents. There are a great deal of little chalets and homestays across the street from the beach.

For dinner we took a walk to this cosy restaurant just on the beach called D’Ribut. Food was nice. My son had their Prawn Fried Rice which came with 4 large prawns and the wife had a Prawn Noodle also came with 4 large prawns. Both cost about RM12 each. The rest of us took the normal fried rice. We also had yummy coconut shakes. All in all the food was really nice.

My Verdict

A nice cosy place to stay with the beach just across the beach. Request the seaview rooms, see is marvelous. Rooms are clean and equipment in good working condition. At the time when I stayed there the pool was shut. Be that as it may, it look like small pool. Not to worry cause you have an large ocean right across the street. Staff is friendly. A word of advice. For those older and special people. You may have a few difficulties as there are no lifts in the chalet. What’s more, there are alot of stairs. Food is accessible simply strolling separation.

Kampong Pinang Sebatang Chalet

Address :- Jalan Persiaran Pantai, Taman Perindustrian Pengkalan Balak, 78300 Masjid Tanah, Melaka

Contact No:– +60193586778

Website :- Kampong Pinang Sebatang Chalet

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Kedah, My Hotel Review

Alor Setar Attractions, Kedah. Educational Road Trip

May 5, 2020 Azmil 1 Comment

A Visit to the Rice Bowl of Malaysia

This school holiday, our educational road trip was to Kedah. The state of Kedah is known as the rice bowl of Malaysia. Its where the main supply of rice in Malaysia comes from. I wanted to show my sons the paddy fields and how paddy is cultivated. Most off the journey after you cross the Kedah border, you will see fields of paddy. It absolutely was so beautiful and peaceful. Being a city boy, I’ve always cherished scenes such as this. Some areas were being replanted and some were being harvested.

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Places of Interest Around Alor Setar

Alor Setar Tower

One of the must visit place in Alor Setar is the Alor Setar Tower. The tower is over 500 feet above sea level and gives you a 360° view of the Alor Setar Town. It is really breezy up there. We even bought their tower shaped Mineral Water bottles for souvenirs. The view of the padi fields and Gunung Jerai Mountain was awesome. The read my review on the Alor Setar Tower please click here. Alor Setar Tower – “Alor Setar Landmark”

Rumah Kelahiran Mahathir Mohammed

Another place that I was anticipating to visit was the house that our legendary two time Prime Minister grew up. The house of Doctor Mahathir Mohammed. But alas it was closed for renovation work. Maybe next time.

Muzium Padi Kedah – Paddy Museum, Kedah

Being the rice bowl of Malaysia, Kedah has of course a Paddy Museum. Displaying all things related to paddy from planting to production. Right up to the different products derived from rice. When you visit the museum be sure to go up to the second floor first. What beckons you is a 360 degrees auto rotating floor with a 3D mural of the surounding landscape. You will have a view of beautiful paddy fields and the famous Gunung Keriang. This 360 degrees paranomic view mural is the going ons surrounding the Paddy Museum. To see my review on the Paddy Museum, visit Muzium Padi Kedah – Paddy Museum, Kedah

National Science Centre North Regional Branch- Kedah, Malaysia

Discovered this place from a Sightseeing Brochure at the Holiday Villa Alor Setar.Another hidden gem in Malaysia. Its not even listed on Tripadvisor’s “Things to do in Kedah”. It is a science centre similar to the Petrosains in Kuala Lumpur only smaller. Its located just next to the Paddy Museum. This kind of place is a great learning experience for kids. Here there is a lot of interactive displays where kids can participate. Click here for my review on National Science Centre North Regional Branch- Kedah, Malaysia

Where to stay in Alor Setar, Kedah

There are alot of accommodation in Alor Setar but I guess most of them are four star and below. There’s the Grand Alora, Royale Signature, Starcity, Holiday Villa and more. We stayed at the Holiday Villa which was in the oldtown of Kedah. The reason we chose Holiday Villa cause the Holiday Villa Subang and Cherating was well maintained. There was nothing much to write about the hotel. The hotel room was clean and sufficient. The deco and furniture was rather dated and old. Check in and out was fast. You will find a mall next door but what I discovered only sell handphones. There is also a McDonalds in the Mall. That’s where we had our breakfast on our first morning in Kedah. For the second day, we had breakfast at Pekan Rabu. In case you are in Alor Setar come here for breakfast, there’s something for everyone. From the local dishes to even egg and sausages. Taste was also nice. Pekan Rabu food court was really busy, so you had to pay immediately when your food or drinks turn up.

Verdict on Holiday Villa Alor Setar.

Rooms were clean and adequate. Its not five star but you cannot expect much for RM150 nett. Check in and out was really quick without much hassle. For food you need to drive out. My advice is avoid eating in the hotel coffee house. Food was rather badly cooked. So after the first day, we opt to eat out. Met some locals they recommended staying at Alora Hotel. According to them its in a modern area with food stuff just walking distance from the hotel.

My Hotel Review, Penang

Hard Rock Hotel Penang, A ROCKIN Good TIME

April 9, 2020 Azmil Leave a comment

Took this opportunity on the cheap rooms rates offered to see what Hard Rock Hotel Penang was like. This time around we got the rooms at half the normal price. We arrived at around 2.30pm. Registered. Also, as the room was not ready, we went for our late lunch. At a decent cafe just walking distance from the hotel. Food there were decent and service was quick.

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Arriving back at the resort, our rooms were ready. I took 2 rooms as mum in law was also following. We booked the seaview room and it was worth it. The view was spectacular. Its nice to get up in the morning to a beautiful view of the ocean with no obstructions. It was worth the additional cash spent. We got the rooms on the fourth floor.

Room was modernly decorated, spacious and very clean. The rooms had all the typical amenities that a five star hotel would have. There’s also movie on demand with all the latest movies anytime you want. No need to follow a schedule. But we didnt spend much time in the room.The children loved the pool as there were slides and little fountains at the children area. There are a lot of lifeguards around and as with all staff at Hard Rock Hotel Penang. They were friendly. There’s additionally two more adult pools side by side to the children’s pool. But we spend our time at the kids pool. The hotel is additionally on a nice beach. However we didn’t swim in the ocean because of the jellyfish. Fortunately a lifeguard was nice enough to caution us.

Apart from the pool there is a Gym, Kids Room with hourly activities for the younger kids without their parents. A Tween club with video games, snooker and foosball for the teenagers. There’s also a restaurant by the beach. A pizza place Pizza place.

The breakfast was awesome. There were so much choices to choose from. Even the cook that was doing the omelette, prepared perfectly. I haven’t seen a omelette prepared this way in such a long time. Thought those abilities a were gone with the more older chefs. Credit to the culinary team. On the last day of our stay, we needed to pack our morning meal as Malaysia was on lockdown. Here you could see the helpfulness of all the staff. They made the process so easy for everybody. Thanks guys.

One thing we noticed was that the bus service in Penang especially on the Ferringhi Beach was very frequent. So transportation wouldn’t be a problem.

My Verdict

A wonderful hotel and full of experience. Definitely will come again. Overall our stay has been pleasant one and staff were great The staff are an absolute asset. They were always ready to help and knew their stuff. Didn’t go the Hard Rock Cafe as we had little kids with us. To the team at Hard Rock Penang. YOU GUYS REALLY ROCK!!!! Will surely visit again.

Hard Rock Hotel Penang

Address: – Batu Ferringhi Beach, 11100 Penang, Malaysia

Email: info.penang@hardrockhotels.net

Tel: +60 4 8811711

Website :- Hard Rock Hotel Penang

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Johor, My Hotel Review

Legoland Malaysia Resort, Johor. Revisit

December 6, 2019 Azmil

My second visit to this amazing resort. Stayed here before in 2016. That time we stayed in the Pirate Themed room. My two young boys had a great time then. Came back again this time cause my little girl was a baby the last time we stayed here. She was grumbling that, she never experienced staying in Legoland Hotel. This was after seeing the family photo of our holiday at Legoland Malaysia Resort.Disclosure: This page contains affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, we earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase.

So this time we took, a Kingdom Room for my little princess. As normal it was a comfortable and amazing stay. Service was excellent as usual. Staff were friendly and took extra effort to make the kids happy. Check in and out was fast. There is a huge area in the lobby to keep the children busy with Lego bricks. Kept my children occupied during our stay. So we spend very little time in the room. This time around there was a magic show in the lobby.

The room was spotless, beds were comfortable. The room and washroom was decorated with lego figures and the wallpaper to suit the kingdom theme. The bed with a roll away bed at the base could sleep 3 children. There is a children sink which my princess adored brushing her teeth. This time there were kids amenities too like little room sleepers and children toothbrush. My three kids rushed to find the clues with information to open the safe which had little presents for them.

KIDS AMENITIES

Food was nice. We had their BBQ on the first night. Nice varieties of colourful desserts. For the next day dinner, we walked out to Medini mall and had dinner at the Oldtown Cafe. There is lots of food outlets at the Medini Mall to choose from. There’s KFC, Burger King, a Thai Restaurant, Pizza Hut and more. Now there is even a grocer there. There ia even an ATM machine at the Mall. Breakfast at the Brick Family Restaurant spread was awesome. But it was a bit crowded and noisy. Can’t expect much, after all this is a family resort.

Don’t worry about the check out time. Cause the resort will validate the parking ticket that allows you to go out anytime after you check out. And you could either store your luggage at the concierge counter. Thats what we did, check out at 10.30am. Left our luggage at the concierge. Went again for another round at the theme park and the Sealife Malaysia. Then only left the area at 3pm.

My Verdict.

Great experience. Although its quite expensive but recommended at least once. Staff are really courteous and friendly. Kids were kept occupied with lots of lego blocks around the lobby. Overall a good vacation and the kids had lots of fun. All in all, we all enjoyed ourselves. As in all my reviews. Don’t listen to the moaners. Try this place at least once and you will not regret it.

Address :- LEGOLAND Malaysia, No 7,

Jalan Legoland, Bandar Medini,

79250 Nusajaya, Johor

Telephone :- +607 597 8888

Website :- Legoland Malaysia Resort

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