Hotel Seri Malaysia Taiping

The hotel is old, but the price is reasonable. During Ramadan, though, the breakfast arrangements left me feeling that non-Muslim guests weren't welcome. Breakfast was split between Muslim and non-Muslim guests, which I didn't mind. But although service was supposed to run until 10, by 9am only meager leftovers remained, with no coffee, tea, or eggs. After I insisted, they offered four eggs for our family of five. I pointed out that paying guests shouldn't be treated this way, especially since we'd paid for our youngest child because breakfast only covered two adults and two children. Thirty minutes later the eggs arrived, but they were served incorrectly, there was no soy sauce or pepper, and the waiters kept disappearing. They also insisted those condiments aren't used in the cooking.

We stayed in a family room right in front of the pool. The linen and pillowcases were fresh, and the room was acceptably clean for the price. The building is old and has some minor wear, as you'd expect at this rate. It was a good stay for what we paid. If you expect a five-star standard, choose somewhere else instead of expecting that at a low price.

The room smelled musty and had loads of ants. Paint was peeling off one wall, making it feel like a RM50 room despite the RM199 nightly charge. There's no minibar either. Breakfast was poor: just keutiau goreng and green nasi lemak, which seemed to be left in a big heap because nobody was taking it. Only the kueytiau had run out. Seriously, the hotel needs proper maintenance. It's charging a lot for cheap quality.

Some things in the room were in poor shape: the toilet door was damaged, the wardrobe had no door, and a few electrical outlets didn't work. Those weren't a big deal to me. What bothered me was hearing dragging or knocking sounds in the ceiling at night, even though we were already on the hotel's second floor. If paranormal stuff really gets to you, you might want to avoid staying here.