Hotel room…

When my girl was little, I would call to make the hotel reservation. As soon as they answered, I would ask them straight away, “Do you have a swimming pool?” If the answer was no, I would just say thank you and end the call. I do not have to do that anymore these days as my girl is no longer so into swimming unlike before.

For our trip to Miri, I went online in search of a family or triple room. In the past, we could all squeeze into a king or queen-sized bed but all of us have grown much bigger now so I would need to book two rooms if there was none available. I managed to get a family room here…

…one of the more established hotels in the city. I did stay there before when I went round conducting courses for English language teachers in the city or state. Yes, it has a nice swimming pool but during those few days when we were there, we did not bother to go and have a look.

We had a nice room with a lovely view…

…of the city centre and Canada Hill in the background – that is where the Grand Old Lady, the first oil well in Miri, is located.

It has been around for a while now and I was delighted to see that it has been very well-maintained, everything in good shape and working order and most importantly, it did not have that unpleasant carpet smell that some old hotels seem to have.

Our room…

…was HUGE…

…unlike the little cubicles that one would have to put up with in the newer hotels these days. The queen and single beds were just perfect for the three of us and the room rate was very cheap too, only around RM225.00 inclusive of breakfast, RM195.00 if you choose to go without.

When we were in KL and stayed in one of the bigger rooms at the hotel with cheaper ones that do not have much space left once I get into one of them – there was a double bed and I had to ask for an extra bed and the total was over RM300.00 without breakfast…and that was some years ago in 2013 – I am not sure if I can get it at that price now. If anyone is interested, a standard room here is only RM135.00 and RM155.00 if you opt to have breakfast (for two) in the coffee house in the morning. You can’t even get to stay at a decent shophouse block kind of hotel in KL with that kind of money!

There is free wifi – the ladies logged in on their smartphones and said it was very fast. You can opt for cable connection too – there is a USB port by the side of that board with the television screen.

You have the usual coffee/tea making facilities…

…and in the cabinet, there are a mini fridge and also a safe, a hair dryer and an electric iron plus the ironing board and in the washroom…

…you are provided with the usual soap, little bottles of conditioning shampoo and bath gel, a complimentary toothbrush & toothpaste, a shaving kit, a comb, cotton buds, a shower cap and so on.

The bathtub looked very comfortable with the headrest at one end but no, I did not attempt getting into it, completely filled with water, for fear that I would flood the whole place. LOL!!!

When you wake up every day, you will find the morning paper hanging at your door…

…and there is also a free shuttle service to places of interest upon request.

One thing I noticed those few days when I was in Miri was how minimal the Christmas decorations were at the malls and places where we went for dinner. The most that I saw was at this hotel lobby…

…which also had Christmas trees all over and a fireplace too – they are currently collecting pre-loved shoes for the poor in the rural areas, their 5th year hosting this charity campaign, and folks can bring their shoes and deposit them in the fireplace…and they had Christmas songs playing 24-7 too!!!

The members of the staff are very efficient and friendly and I was amazed by the handsome and friendly young boys at the concierge counter – they would be by the door in an instant to open it for you and to greet you good morning or whatever depending on the time of day no matter how many times you walk in and out – I sure did that quite a lot!

MEGA HOTEL, MIRI (4.396921, 113.987965) is located right in the heart of Miri city centre at 907, Jalan Merbau.