I found a great deal on klook.com with entry-level rooms at around $65 per night (which is the cheapest I could find for a ‘branded’ hotel chain).

Upon check-in I am given room on the 7th floor and as I open up the door, I can see it is tiny (hence the price). Knowing I am staying for 9 nights I return to the front desk and ask for a larger room. After checking out 2 others, I am given room that is probably 50% bigger, but for the same price so I am satisfied. It has the bare-minimum – 2 single beds that I push into one, a private bathroom, and ample windows across facing the alley (which is good as it is overlooking a main road on the other side of the hotel.

There is a swimming pool on the 11th floor accessible by stairs from the 10th floor, which i use most mornings and it is empty each time I go. There is no gym.

Location-wise it is perfect, with access to 3 MRT lines close-by and a bus stop directly at the front of the hotel.

The service/staff are pretty hit-and-miss. James at the front desk is friendly. But for most of the time the other staff are always on their mobile phones and don’t even bother to look-up and greet you as you come and go. It is a massive lack of hospitality on that part. No warm smiles. Except for James and one other lady whose name I forget but is heavily pregnant.

I request for my room to be cleaned only twice during my stay but even that isn’t done well. Dirty coffee cups are not replaced. And the hallway to the rooms are full of trays of food. Left overnight and sometimes even for over a day. I feel like I am on a quarantine floor.

But for $65 a night, in the location that it is in, and with a pool, I suppose its not tooo bad.

Maybe I’m feeling a bit too precious lately.