Melaka and I
The first time I went to Melaka, was some 15 years ago for a cousin's wedding. I immediately fell in love with the cozy historical town. And in between, I made a few more trips, largely work-related. The best part is of course having family members living in Melaka, and thus the home-like feeling when I made my visit to their home.
Back to today's topic, here's my humble review of the Swiss Garden in Melaka:
The Swiss Garden, Melaka: An Introduction
The hotel, which comprises two, is built above a shopping mall called The Shore. The Hotel Tower has 31 floors while the Residences Tower has 41 floors. To-date, it is the tallest hotel in Melaka.
The twin towers are connected via Level 3A, but all check-ins (and out) are done on the Ground Floor. The Swiss Garden is located within walking distance to various local sites of attraction, among them: Sungai Melaka where the river cruise passes, Jonker Walk, and Kampung Morten.
Parking is free for the moment, regardless of whether you're a hotel guest or not. The Shore is still new and coming up, therefore, expect completing your shopping round within a very short time.
A view from Level 27 of the Swiss Garden residences tower.... the floor where I stayed for 2 nights:
The Deluxe Room is pretty big for a deluxe. It can fit in 4-5 people.
There is a King-sized bed, together with a day-bed near the sliding door. By the way, the sliding door which opens up to the balcony can be easily unlocked from within the room, which may appear creepy if you are uncomfortable with height. But it provides a nice view of the town. The air conditioner automatically turns off when the door is opened.
The Sleep Area
The Restroom and Shower
The restroom and shower are segregated from the main area of the room by a glass panel. It is frosted enough to ensure privacy, but at the same time enables whoever outside your room to know you're in there.
The restroom and shower of Swiss Garden earns my 5 stars rating because the overall set-up is user-friendly. Just be extra careful if you have very young children due to the glass walls.
A note for guests with special physical needs, the restroom is spacious, the shower cubicle is accessible via a commode chair, and there isn't any steep path into or out of the restroom. A plus point is that, there is no bath tub to cause congestion.
There are two shower outlets in the shower room, one is high-up while the other is placed at a sitting-level position and can be held by hand.
Typical toiletries are provided: Shampoo, body wash, moisturizer, soap (one in the shower, one beside the wash basin), 2 large towels, 2 medium-sized towels, shower cap, sewing kit, and sanitary bag.
Inside the wardrobe: Hairdryer, iron with board, 2 pairs of house-slippers, and laundry bag.
The Facilities
Coffee-making facility:
Sachets of coffee (Nescafe), tea, green tea, sugar, creamer, and bottled water are provided. There are 2 mugs, 2 drinking glasses, and a kettle.
Sachets of coffee (Nescafe), tea, green tea, sugar, creamer, and bottled water are provided. There are 2 mugs, 2 drinking glasses, and a kettle.
There is an induction cooker on the mini kitchen top, and a mini refrigerator inside the mini kitchen cabinet. Among the family-friendly features.... :)
The mini refrigerator (provided in all the hotel and residences rooms) comes in handy for ladies who want to keep their expressed breast milk (EBM) chilled. As it is a small capacity fridge, you will therefore need to turn the fridge button into "max" to ensure sufficient chilling. I put a glass of water in the fridge to test its coolness, it took about 4 hours after turning on "max" to be satisfactorily-cold.
Those who would like to keep their EBM frozen instead may inquire from the coffee house. I have no personal experience seeking assistance in freezing milk, but have asked for ice from the coffee house for my Coleman box before I left, which they had kindly obliged and even helped keep the box until I finished my lunch.
Electronics:
The deluxe room is equipped with one TV with selected channels - a mixture of local ones, a few from ASTRO, and channels from Singapore. The black ring behind the TV contains the wall light (I turned it off because I prefer a dimmer room). There is also a DVD player, a safekeeping box, and air-conditioner.
I like the fact that the room uses individual air-conditioning units as opposed to the stone-cold centralized system - despite the latter being normally adjustable. Throughout the 2 nights and 3 days stay, I did not feel uncomfortably cold after coming out from the shower, unlike past experiences in a few other places.
Internet access:
The hotel provides wifi service to all its guests without additional charges. The username is your room number, while the password is provided together with your access card during check in. The connection speed is good, but a little slow around midnight.
View from the room - evening
View from the room - at night
Pool, Sauna and Food
Room aside, among the main attractions of Swiss Garden Melaka are the swimming pools, located at Level 9. There is an infinity pool for adults, which was under maintenance at the time of visit. The children's pool is superb, complete with slides and fountains. The water may be a bit cold, but generally tolerable in view of our hot tropical weather, though not on a rainy day.
The 'glass cube' above the pool houses the gym.
As for the sauna, I did not join my fellow lady colleagues due to the "big P" (speculate no further, I'm not referring to pregnancy...). Quite a waste to miss it, because it's free for hotel guests. According to what that's told later, the sauna started off at 35 deg C, but 30 minutes later, the temperature went up to 81 deg C. Wow, that's way beyond normal human temperature. Apparently, such heat "helps" in weight loss, as in the case of one person in the group who weighed herself before and after the sauna session and witnessed a reduction by 1 kg.
In terms of food, specifically at the Terrace Coffee House where we ate, I had a pleasant experience with the service as well as variety of food. How not to gain weight even by 500g? I seriously have to start taking effective measures already, because more than 1 year down the line, my flabbiness is ever present as if I just delivered, or even looking as if in early pregnancy. I could easily shed my flab with my #1, but not with #2.
Miscellaneous and Conclusion
Before going to the Swiss Garden in Melaka, I used to hear about cases of late check-ins, notably during the holiday seasons. However, as I was there on ordinary working days, check-in took place as early as 2 pm, and the room was properly cleaned-up. The service was good and smooth on the whole.
Facing the Straits of Malacca from Level 30...
If given a chance, I surely want to come back, not alone, but with my loved ones. Preferably not during a busy holiday because long queue often wears my patience out, so an ordinary day will be great.... after all, a vacation is supposed to help relax the mind, not cause tension.
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