Note: This is a superbly long post, but it's information-loaded. Enjoy the video at the end too! ;)
What's the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of the east? For me, the first thing that comes to my mind will be SUNRISE! You can't really catch a good view of the rising sun peeking from a hill in the heart of KL city center, but you can be sure to catch such a magnificent view in Kuantan, right from the cozy room of Mega View Hotel Kuantan :)
Sunrise view from our hotel room
I'll post up more sunrise photos in the Day 2 post :)
Mega View Hotel Kuantan
567, Jalan Besar
25000 Kuantan
Pahang Darul Makmur.
Tel: (+609) 517 1888
GPS: 3.805955,103.3241792
It was our first time staying at the newly renovated Mega View Hotel in Kuantan. This Kuantan riverside hotel has been serving customers since 18 years ago! It has seen the various changes & evolution of the sleepy town of Kuantan 'til its busy days today.
The current exterior, which will possibly go through a face-lift soon
I must say that as a 3-star hotel with 94 rooms, it's worth every penny spent for the facilities, accessibility & hospitality that you'll receive. From RM117.00 nett/night/room, you'll get to enjoy a clean, comfortable stay in the heart of Kuantan town inclusive of wifi, breakfast & welcome drinks.
There are ample parking spaces opposite the hotel
The hotel has been going through renovation recently, phase by phase, floor by floor, so the fresh, new color scheme & updated design provides some pleasant vibes to every customer who walks into the hotel, although it's still located on one of the oldest roads (with still old looking shop houses) in town.
Many eateries are within walking distance if you don't have a car. If you're a fan of bah kut teh, there's a corner coffeeshop selling bah kut teh right outside the hotel (2-minutes walk). The most popular mango cheesecake shop, Kula Cakes, is just across the road. One of our favorite nasi briyani in town, Restoran Bombay, is also a 5-minutes walk from the hotel, opposite the hotel, facing the other side of town. Dinner isn't a problem as well if you choose to not have your dinner at the Ramin Coffee House (their food is good! I'll talk more about it later) as a well-known Chinese "dai chow" is down the road (the 'dai chow under the stairs'). There's also a shopping mall within 1.1km radius, a 15-minutes walk from the hotel. This hotel is TRULY convenient! Oh, talking about convenience, there's 7-11 & KFC nearby as well...hahaha...
The hotel lobby
Free-flow welcome drinks
Currently, there's a neat looking photo booth area to capture memories of your stay
Currently, as part of their 18th year of service, the hotel has some promotional rates for their rooms. The rates are as below:
There are various room types to suit various needs. You can scroll down this post to see the differences of each room on still images & even in the short video that I've captured :)
- Deluxe (Standard)
- Family
- Family Premier
- Studio
- Designer Studio
- Executive Deluxe
- Executive Premier
We had the
Executive Deluxe room on 8th floor, the highest floor, featuring a panoramic view of the Kuantan river that branches out to the South China Sea. The availability of a
balcony overlooking the Kuantan river is the main difference between the Executive Deluxe & the Deluxe rooms.
Upon exiting the lift on the 8th floor, we're welcomed by a pretty-looking mural
And more murals along the corridor of that floor
Every room is equipped with:
- Double/twin bed(s)
- Air-conditioning
- IDD telephone
- Astro services (selected channels)
- 32’' LCD TV
- Mini bar
- Coffee & tea
- Hot & cold running water
- Rain/normal shower
From the door to our bed, the passageway was somewhat narrow. My big bear & I can't walk side by side or else we'll get stuck between the wardrobe & the bathroom door...hahahaha....Having said that, the
bathroom was spacious & clean for a single person up to a family to use at the same time (1 using the toilet, the others (adult + up to 2 young children) at the shower area). Of course to greater comfort, families can opt for either of the 2 family rooms, which also comes with a small bathtub that children will love! You'll see the photos/video as you scroll down :)
Executive Deluxe bathroom
Two towels provided per room
Basic toiletries are provided in each room
Separate area for the 'throne' from the shower area
I like such separation of spaces as I don't fancy wet toilet bowls or the entire bathroom floor wet.
Our double bed
View of the room
As you would have noticed, what happens in the bathroom can be visible from the bedroom itself. It's a very contemporary feature that many 4-5 star hotels have at present & I'm pleasantly surprised that this 3-star hotel has such a feature too.
Floss gets the bed to himself while we're out
Coffee/tea/bottled water
Mini bar/refrigerator
Hair dryer
Laundry bag & laundry services available as well (ironing room available)
I love the view from our room's balcony :)
For the 1st time, I had a somewhat 'aerial view' of the oldest part of Kuantan town & the river with the bridge linking Kuantan town with Tanjung Lumpur.
Kuantan town on the left of the river, Tanjung Lumpur on the right of the river
Here's a sneak preview of some of the other rooms available in the hotel:
Deluxe room
Deluxe room's bathroom
Looks pretty much the same as the Executive Deluxe room except that you can't see through from the bathroom into the room; it's a closed up bathroom (maximum privacy!).
No balcony, but has windows overlooking the Kuantan river/the town view (this sample overlooks the river)
You'll see in this photo that this room features 2 twin beds with the standard room features.
Studio Room
The distinct difference of the studio room compared to the rest of the rooms in the hotel is that it
doesn't have windows; it's a "middle room". If you're fine with rooms without windows/a view, I think their studio rooms are quite nicely done up :)
Designer Studio
The only difference between the designer studio & the normal studio is the wallpaper :D (normal studio does not have the featured wallpaper)
Family Premier
I fell in love with the family room! It's spacious, has a balcony over-looking the Kuantan river & it has a small bath tub with see-through bathroom.
Executive Premier
Two major differences between the executive premier & the family premier room:
1. Executive premier has 2 double beds (family premier room has 1 double + 1 twin)
2. Executive premier has 2 balconies! 1 standard balcony + 1 small balcony near the work desk *syiok*
The beds near the standard balcony
The small balcony next to the 'work desk'
I'm impressed, are you? Wait 'til you see the video of the rooms below (live)!
AP & I were thankful to have the Hong blogger family in town on that same 2 days, so we took them out for a treat to our favorite waffle cafe as well as showed them to some of our favorite places to chill & relax.
This cafe is just a 10-minutes drive from Mega View Hotel.
I've to reiterate that
Java Flava has the best waffles in town & probably the best that I've had in Kuantan + Selangor! Crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside - what's not to like? :D You can read more about this place & its waffles in
my post earlier this year.
With the Hong blogger family (missing Clarrisha, who can't join the family trip due to work commitments)
Introducing the Salted Caramel waffle to the Hong family
Verdict? They loved it! Especially the home-made salted caramel sauce.
Light waffle, yet filling :)
Coco Berries Waffle
The home-made strawberry jam went well with the waffles & chocolate ice-cream + chocolate sauce. It wasn't overly sweet, but has some tang that was refreshing with the waffles.
After that satisfying tea time, we headed to the nearest beach in town i.e.
Teluk Cempedak. The beach is
just 15-20 minutes drive from Mega View Hotel & it's a very popular spot for visitors & even locals to hang out for some nice sea breeze.
Model at the beach :)
Wefie time!
It was starting to drizzle that evening, so we headed back to the hotel to wash up & get ready for dinner at the Ramin Coffee House
Ramin Coffee House is the in-house hotel restaurant located on the 1st floor. After the renovation, the coffee house boasts of a contemporary, chic & fresh ambiance, ever-ready to welcome hunger diners, be it the in-house guests or walk-in customers (the coffee house/restaurant is opened to public).
Buffet line used every morning for the hotel breakfast
On that particular evening, the restaurant was filled with customers as someone was celebrating her birthday with family & friends, & made reservation for 3 tables! I was truly surprised as I would have never thought of a small hotel like Mega View having so many tables of walk-in guests at their restaurant. "The food must be good," I thought to myself. I've tried their Ramadan buffet earlier this year & thought their Ramadan buffet dishes were the best-tasting among the 3 Kuantan hotels that I've tried. Like seriously! No kidding.
There were 6 of us for dinner, so we ordered dishes from the set menu as part of the dinner dishes review :) The
portions were really generous & I can vouch the reality of it as I had a family dinner at Ramin a week ago & we had to stuff ourselves in order to not waste the food.
Set meal menu
You can be sure to dig into a tasty, delicious & flavorful meal here at Ramin Coffee House. I think for a restaurant hotel with such pleasant ambiance & lovely Chinese-style dishes, I'll recommend this place any time for any family gatherings, especially if you are looking for halal Chinese-style food!
Assam Sotong
Fried Eggs With Prawns
Fried Crispy Chicken
Tom Yam Seafood Soup
King of Vegetables with Belacan
Steam Fish in Nyonya Sauce
Crispy Planta Prawn
Rojak (Complimentary with every set meal)
We concluded our evening with a walk along the Kuantan riverside, right outside the hotel. It was a really serene evening & since we were feeling so full from dinner, we just had to walk it off before enjoying our night's rest in our cozy hotel room :)
Map to Mega View Hotel Kuantan
Video compilation of the hotel, Day 1 :D Enjoy!
Stay tuned for the Day 2 post!
What a memorable experience,
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