Return to Eastern & Oriental

Always at the ready

It must have been four years since we last stayed here. On our visit last year, the whole place was closed for renovations, with us ending up staying in Batu Feringghi. I prefer it here with the proximity into town, but of course, there was no beach to swim in.

The famous front facade

The main lobby

This is a proper lounge

We stayed at a couple of suites. Anita and I at the terrace garden by the swimming pool, while the boys separately on the upper floor. The lobby had been upgraded with work done at the cafe in the main hotel building. The old Sarkies cafe had been moved to the new wing - a more prominent place where the main breakfast buffet was served.

The tuckshop by the main lobby had also been moved, with a few more shops opened by the lobby of the new wing. With the RMCO still in effect, buffet services were still limited. For breakfast, we were sat on our table, and the waiter would take our orders and bring them to us. All the items were included in the price, and you could order as much as you want. But the service turned out to be much faster.

Some really luscious architecture

By the terrace

The gorgeous jetty at night

Enjoying the tranquility of the blue hour

The rooms stayed much the same, although I noticed that the water pressure was much better. I spend the evenings at the terrace enjoying the breeze while listening to the sound of the waves hitting the concrete wall below. While sipping on hot chocolate of course. Unfortunately, the last couple of nights were muggy ones. There was hardly any wind.

The service is still top-notched. The food remained decent while the ambience transports you to the pre-Merdeka Malaya. The three nights, we stayed never felt enough. Being within walking distance to Padang Kota and Armenian Street really helped.

Heading out to the pool

My room was at the ground floor terrace, next to the pool

The view from our room in the morning

This was our fourth stay at the hotel - a fact reminded to us by the concierge when we checked in. Their record-keeping was impeccable, and they made an effort to make sure our stay was memorable. They even fixed up the rooms for the boys, making sure that they had a couple of separate beds. The boys were impressed and happy. A highly recommended stay and we are looking forward to our fifth visit next year hopefully ...

More photos of the hotel in my next entry. Most of the panorama here were captured using my Fujifilm GFX 50R medium format camera