Zotel Hotel

For a short stopover before my flight, Zotel Business & Leisure Hotel was a decent budget place to sleep. The room was clean and the bed was comfortable. But there was a serious security problem: I checked in earlier, then my friend arrived late at night and the front desk unlocked my room for him just because he gave my name. Nobody verified who he was. That raised real concerns about guest safety. The hotel is convenient for airport transit, but management needs to fix this security flaw immediately.

There’s a large mall across from the hotel. We went there after realizing we hadn’t brought a 3-hole plug connector to charge our phones, since we’re from a country where 2-hole plugs are commonly used. The hotel was also near the hospital we wanted to visit, some malls, and Kuching waterfront, so we felt we’d chosen well. The hotel is among bars. It was relatively quiet during the day, though at night we could still hear someone singing from one of them. Our room was fine and clean, and the shower worked well with both hot and normal water.

The service and cleanliness were awful. When I entered room 1119, I thought it was musty, so I turned on the A/C. The smell was bau belacan. I checked the toilet, bin, and even my shoes, then realized it was coming from the bed. I opened the blanket to air it out and sprayed perfume every half hour to cover the smell, but it didn’t work. The toilet seat cover had glass butt stains I couldn’t remove. The wardrobe door was broken and luckily fell into the wardrobe, not onto the bed. That was completely unsafe. There were ants around the table, the washroom glass doors were meant to be clear but were stained with soap and watermarks, and the bedsheet had holes. The next morning I found kutu kamitetep/casebearer on the bed, and I was worried I could get infected. There was no hygiene at all. I left a note as feedback, hoping staff or management would do something for other guests and that service might be better if I came back. After check-out they called and said, “hope we don't meet again in this hotel.” Where was the apology? They took no responsibility. Do not recommend or support Zotel. They can ban me from the place if they like, after that awful stay and call I wouldn’t return anyway. I travel locally to check out hotels and usually come back to places, but not Zotel. I’ve worked as a manager in a 5-star hotel for 7 years, and ZOTEL IS THE WORST!

The room was spacious, and despite being near a few bars, it was surprisingly quiet. The bed was okay, but the AC wasn’t very cold. Service was not bad, and they were very helpful.