Express yourself…

My daughter had to go to Kuching for some official business so I went with her and we stayed at this hotel…

– the sister hotel of the one where I stayed here and here.

It is located on the 1st floor of this building, the Wisma Phoenix along Jalan Song Thian Cheok…

…but the entrance is at the back…

…which I would think is a good idea as the main road is very busy and it would be difficult or inconvenient to drop off or pick up guests staying in the hotel.

Right in front is the Pullman…

…and to the right is the Ariva Gateway, formerly known as the Somerset Gateway where I stayed once a long long time ago…

This is the reception counter…

…and mind you, this is, in fact, an award winning hotel, courtesy of tripadvisor…

The lobby is very spacious unlike the one at the sister hotel, with one big section here…

…and another section on the other side…

There are also computers available for guests to go online…

…and that was were I was able to drop by and reply to comments in my blog over those past few days.

The standard rooms are cheap ranging from RM49.99 only upwards and you get everything unlike at the one that is affiliated to that cheap airline where you pay for just the room and every little thing that you need or want comes at a price. However, I requested for a big room – the deluxe family with two double beds…

…at RM133 per night and I would say that I was kind of disappointed when I checked in. The room was small…

…and there was no closet for our clothes…

…and there was no complimentary tea and coffee, just water…

Other than that, the rooms have no windows so if you happen to be claustrophobic, you can switch on the tv so that you will be able to see the road outside…

…and one more thing! You do not get breakfast with the room either…unlike at the sister hotel at RM135.00 a night (government rate), just two ringgit more and the rooms there are much bigger and a whole lot nicer too. This one does not give any special discount privileges on the rooms and the only thing in favour of it is the location and the cheap prices if you are staying in the standard rooms (Don’t quote me on this, but I hear they are very small!).

There is a convenience store two doors away…

…and at RM5.99 per head, one can take the shuttle to the airport…

In fact, when making your reservations, you can also request for the transport to pick you up upon arrival.

papakucing would be delighted to hear that even though there is only one storey and all the rooms are on Level 1, there is a lift…but you would need the room keycard to activate it never mind if you are going up or down…and they would only issue one card per room which can be quite a nuisance really as it being a special card, one cannot use any other card to slip into the slot to turn on the electricity in the room. At the sister hotel, they will issue you a 2nd card key but you have to pay a deposit which they will refund to you when you return the card as you check out of the hotel.

Well, this time around, it was good for us as Melissa had to go for something at the Hilton which is pretty close by but all things considered, I do not think I would want to stay here again the next time I go to Kuching. After all, I would get a much better deal at its sister hotel so I might as well go and stay there despite its slightly out-of-the-way location.