Back at Home..

My family checked into the Holiday Villa hotel (HVH) right after the ceremonies of the 50th Birthday Celebrations of his Highness Sultan of Kedah.

There was a stretch of nice cars at the front entrance (this hotel is a co-tenant of City Plaza and has no 'proper' covered porch) which caused a massive jam along Jalan Tunku Ibrahim. One wonders how could this be the top hotel in the city, when its basement car park can only handle like 20 cars, but then again, I'm not from around here.

The check-in was a breeze even though we were slapped an RM80 surcharge for the week being the Sultan's birthday. I was actually expecting a lot because that have put up HVH in the same category as Equatorial Penang, which in my opinion takes a lot of beating.

Anyway, the moment we stepped into the room, we knew who the winner was straight away. HVH, in all its desperation to lock in all the profits derived from the full-house public holiday week stretch, had forgot to check the refurbishments of the amenities in their rooms during the croom make- up process.

No info folder, room service menu, mini bar stuff, etc.

Did I mention it was RM310 for a really small Superior Room? No free internet service, lousy, lousy buffet breakfast, and stingy toiletries and vanity packs.

Now, I won't be saying this if it wasn't due to the exorbitant price. But again, Putra Palace in Kangar, at RM 195 a night, gave a lot more value than HVH, which in all honesty is a total rip-off.

The only good thing is the location, which is along StarWalk, and that gave us enough opportunities to try the Mihun Sup Utara and Laksa Kedah, which really did not dissapoint us one bit.

We were glad to check out the other day and left for Ipoh. The weather was a bit dodgy as it rained down half of the way there and looking for a place was a nightmare in the middle of the Ipoh peak hours traffic jam. We at last settled for Seri Malaysia, which at RM150 was the cheapest of the bunch, but as far as the value proposition is concerned rates higher than HVH in my eyes, just because it has the SAME breakfast spread as HVH PLUS free WiFi!!

The location is also not too bad as it only takes about 5 minutes driving to the 'City Centre' and we did that at 10.50 pm, looking for grub along Jalan Tawil Azar. We were pleasantly surprised to find a Damanasara Uptownesque environment, which also had its own flea market and bootleg peddlars. Fantastic!

After a notable cheap meal of Rojak Basah, Mihun Soto and Char Kuey Teow (shared with the wifey), we headed back to the hotel, got lost, and found our way back - no thanks to Ipoh's elaborate one-way street traffic system!