Melange Hotel Bukit Bintang — Hotel in Kuala Lumpur

A budget 'boutique' hotel a couple of minutes walk from Jalan Alor food Street and the bars of Bukit Bintang? A trendy hotel stay for little more than £20, the price of 2 pints of beer in the surrounding area!? Can that be possible? Well, yes, just about. ||The hotel is tucked away in a side street behind the food street and a strip of massage shops- when walking here you'll run the gauntlet of 30 kids per shop trying to encourage you to take an overpriced massage. The street is urban gritty but funky- all the buildings are painted in street art, including the Melange hotel which has a cute kitten peering into its windows. It's a thin, six storey block with glass frontage. After an elaborate check-in process and the usual addition of mysterious extra taxes you always get in Malaysia, we were assigned a room on the 5th floor. The impression I got having checked out all the floors is that floors 1 and 2 (shiney wood panelled corridor) and 3 and 4 (swishy curtain covered corridors) are probably better standard than floors 5 and 6 (painted corridors slightly stained carpets). However our room was okay- fridge, big TV, a/c, large comfy bed, good sized bathroom with separate shower room and the best shower we had on this 5 week trip. The room had a window with views of the city skyline over the rooftops and the scruffy tenement building in front. I enjoyed watching KL's infamous rats make their way up the side of the building and in through people's windows. Our room seemed clean enough but it was let down by easily fixable things like staining on the funky white bed headboard which could have been deceased insects or even nasal debris and unmistakably a greasy head print. There were certainly 'boutique' elements such as the storks painted on the ceiling and unusual wire bedside lights, which I think were once insects but have now lost their wings, but then the whole thing was let down by little things like the key card only working on the 10th attempt. We slept well though- the bed was comfy and the room quiet, although the window didn't close properly which allowed more noise in than it would have if it closed. Staff were efficient and spoke okay English. The rooftop bar/ restaurant looked nothing like the photos shown on here. There was no one in when I called, just 2 teen staff watching cartoons on TV. It's a good view from the balcony but you can only access this when the bar is open and it closes early afternoon. ||With a little investment to tidy up small defects this could be a really nice hotel. However, I guess the conundrum for the owners is that to invest more may mean pushing the room cost up and I'm not sure mid range travellers would appreciate the 'gritty' city surroundings. As it is, it's a perfectly good budget option in a very...

Very good budget hotel, and amazingly central location. The staff get highest points for friendly and helpful service. It got an 'official' 3 stars but I'd think it's rather more like 2 The rooms are indeed on the small size, where mine in fact had most floor space mostly occupied by the bed. The view from the breakfast area located at the top floor were stunning, though the breakfast itself were small and indeed lacking by any measure when compared to any other hotel I visited. One clear minus point there. Tram, local restaurants and a few shopping centers are found in close proximity, also several bars, though prices are somewhat higher than one might expect - as there's a 'luxury tax' in Malaysia added for religious reasons. And also convenience store open around the clock on the corner. The hotel have a small number of parking spots, and one man seems to sit guard keeping an eye on guests cars most nights. So your car will be safe.

A short but important list of the negative features that lower the rating, not for the hotel itself but the surrounding area:

The hotel is not located on the main street, but in a shady corner on the rear. And so it's not exactly an inviting idea to go out at night here, its really dark and no streetlights! And secondly some mentioned children, I'd say this is not a family hotel at all. First off the size of the rooms, secondly this area is not very suitable or family friendly and lastly with bars, loud music at late night it is not quiet enough for most. Do not park anywhere else than at a place for the hotel, as some locals considering spaces to be their private spot, they will rip the paint of your car as revenge for intruding. (Yes this happened to our rental car.) In addition there's a set of massage parlors on the street outside, the girls and sometimes also men are aggressively trying to sell their services to everyone. They even approach my girlfriend on several occasions who reacted with an embarrassed smile which were completely misinterpreted by the prostitutes. (Yes she Chinese ethnic, yet she react the same way as myself with a smile when she's slightly embarrassed or uncertain how to interpret...

Located in the supposed ex red light district of Bukit Bintang (BB) with access by a narrow road/lane. Next to the MRT and LRT as well as the night food street of Jalan Alor. Next to the hotel is a low cost housing block with a very impressive street art painted all over the wall. I think it is a garden/nature theme as there were a few garden snails and plenty of flowers and green foliage. Also next to the KL HOHO ticketing stand just outside Sungai Wang, Lowyat electronics shopping centres, Lot 10 and the LRT station. Good delicious and reasonably priced Nasi lemak in the morning. Plenty of shopping, food and convenience stores (7-Eleven, but more of KK 24 hours stores). Can be considered area of international cuisines including many kebabs outlets. Rooms, I found are clean. Though one review mentioned that rooms were dirty. There are only 3 car park lots in front of hotel for those who drive. Parking wardens do come by regularly to issue tickets for illegal parking. Check with hotel on how to park your car. As at the time of stay in mid Sept 2023, the external walls of the hotel just had a fresh coat of paint. Hotel service I found to be good, courteous and helpful. There is a cafe on the top floor (7th). I did not visit it and I cannot comment. Security is good to me as you have to scan your room card to open the main glass door and the lift/elevator sensor to enter the floor that you wish to access. 2 bottles of water are provided. Bedsheets and pillow case are clean. Toilet and b/r is spacious. The toiletries are sufficient and lemon grass scented. Overall I found my stay to be a good experience. Of course different people have different expectations and the best guide is to list out what you want and need from a hotel, do some comparison of prices and read the general reviews and not just one good/bad one to sway your decision and choice of selection. You pay for...