I don't usually opt for package when it comes to free and easy travel but after doing some calculations for my recent Melaka trip, it didn't seem that much of a difference and my friend and i decided to take up the coach plus accommodation package via WTS Travel for convenience sake.
The good thing with package is that the choices for accommodation are usually large hotels popular with Singaporeans and i have personally heard of positive reviews about Hatten Hotel Melaka which was open for business in 2012!
A four-star hotel with over 700 rooms; one key advantage in staying at Hatten is its close proximity to shopping centres even though we have plenty of that in Singapore. Well, it's also not that far from the famous Jonker Street and other historical sites in this UNESCO city.
Key card to our room on the 17th floor; 1740! As we booked rather late, we had to make do with the slightly more expensive Studio Suite as Junior Suite was sold out!
At 37 square meters, it's more than half the size of my 3-room HDB flat and came with a tiny living room that's honestly not very useful in my opinion.
It's obviously pretty with a chaise longue and you can probably while away your time by bingeing on cable TV. However, there's another TV in front of the bed which i thought would be a better location to binge on TV shows! Oh well, you can squeeze in another person on the longue if budget is tight.
King-sized bed and we asked for Twin beds! Since we didn't want to waste time going to the reception and requesting for a change to a room with twin beds, we decided to just take whatever that was given.
The extra television as shown; i think it's only with Alex that i will watch a lot of television in the hotel room. With my elder sister and this particular friend, the TV would either be switched of or with volume turned down so that we can have a quieter environment to sleep.
Let's check out the view on the 17th floor!
View of the Straits of Malacca and that mosque ahead of us is popularly known as the floating mosque! I covered the Malacca Straits Mosque (Masjid Selat Melaka) back in 2013 and you may click here for more information!
Slightly to the right would the Mahkota Hotel which i stayed at in 2013. Want to know about the 2-Bedroom Deluxe Apartment we lodged for a night then? Check out my review here.
More in the room; the coffee making area (with two complimentary bottles of water) that's near the entrance and the wardrobe with in-room safe, iron and ironing board.
Toilet with marble tiles; no bathtub unfortunately but i was still pleased to find a rainfall shower! As mentioned previously, it's getting common to have rainfall showers in hotels.
Free Wi-Fi and as part of the package, complimentary breakfast for two was also provided. I am not a huge fan of hotel breakfast as they seldom impress me and i am not really a breakfast person; preferring brunch most of the times.
Breakfast is on the 11th floor of Hatten in this restaurant called Chatterz. Please be assured that despite the chattering, the noise level was manageable compared to KSL Hotel in Johor Bahru!
Not bad ambience with a wide selection of food; i can bet with you that if my mom were to follow us, she would likely spend a few hours in Chatterz as she did back in the Best Western Premier La Grande Hotel in Bandung.
Snippets of what were available for breakfast; roti prata (or canai as the Malaysians call them) was sucky even for Singapore's standard. A lot of people were queuing for the croissants which were quickly snapped up once they came out of the oven and no, i didn't manage to secure a bite.
Nasi lemak was delicious with sweet sambal and fragrant coconut rice. The accompanying rendang was as good and i am glad to be eating more than just toast with butter and jam.
Hotel Equatorial and Imperial Heritage Hotel were also part of the choices available for the WTS Travel package. In front was the Dataran Pahlawan Melaka Megamall; connected to Hatten, it also housed karaoke chains and a cinema theatre!
Slightly further away would be the historical sites like Santiago Gate, the ruins on Saint Paul Hill, the Proclamation Of Independence Memorial museum etc.
Gym on 12 - pretty well equipped gym and the view ahead when you jog on the treadmill; right in front (with a lot of parking lots) was the built-in-1994 Mahkota Parade shopping centre. That tall structure was the 80-meter high Menara Taming Sari Melaka which would give you a revolving 360-degree view of the heritage site.
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Frankly, if you ask me if i would be back for another stay at Hatten Hotel Melaka, my answer is a straight yes provided i am on another relaxation trip. The issue with maintaining a blog is that we can't resist finding new accommodations to review!
Location
Hatten Square, Jalan Merdeka,
Bandar Hilir, 75000 Melaka,
Malaysia.
Map
As above.
Website