Ming Star Hotel — Hotel in Terengganu

At the recommendation of one of the contributors here on TripAdvisor, I chose this hotel on my visit to the one of the most conservative states of Malaysia in the northeast. ||||As a political observer, I was also interested in exploring the ethnic conflict that has lately led to some trouble in the southern four provinces of Thailand which are Malay speaking and are predominantly Muslims. As the post-colonial borders have not always followed the facts on the ground, the peoples have been divided between two separate countries when their kin have ended up in another. There are many examples in the world where the colonial authorities mainly England and France have thus sown the seeds of discord and conflicts that continue in our modern times. ||||Before I went there, I made sure that the security situation was stable and I also intended to take the Jungle Railway that originates in this area traversing the Malaysian highlands through the thick tropical forests all the way south to Singapore. ||||Unfortunately, the trains only ran at night and therefore, since I would have missed the scenery I decided to abandon the idea. Unfortunately, the info that is available on the internet turned out to be wrong. While I tried to be at the northern terminus, going to Terengganu turned out to become a disappointment. || ||Since I had already traveled by bus on the East Coast expressway from Kuala Lumpur for almost eight hours, I had no choice to spend the night at Terengganu, only to head back and go to Singapore the next day. || ||The hotel is hardly clean and given the amenities, it was overpriced. It also needs a newer touch because it is too old with peeling paint and generally unpleasant atmosphere. The bathrooms need some heavy duty cleansing to get the shine of the amenities back or should be outright replaced. ||||Too many repairs have been done and now is the time to install newer toiletries. The atmosphere was spartan and just basic. It looked like the housekeeping had forgotten to clean the bathroom. I found old soap wrappers in the soap dish and the garbage under the sink had not been emptied. ||||I found hair on the bathroom floor and the fittings were disgustingly unclean. With no individualized containers, large shampoo and conditioner bottles graced the ledge in the shower stall which the guests were expected to share with others who came before them. The bottles were all guncked up and I felt like I was taking a shower in a communal bathroom, rather than in my own, albeit in a hotel room for which I paid a rather generous amount that it did not deserve. ||||For a while, I thought the sheets may not have been changed but after making sure that they were, I decided not to complain. ||||As compared to what I got for my money in Kuala Lumpur, this place was far too expensive for the amenities provided. The price that the hotel deserved should have been the third of what I paid. ||||After checking in I went to an outdoor restaurant across the street to have some delicious Malay food. Having dinner at a place where the locals ate, was the only highlight of my...

My wife and me stayed at this place because it didn’t seem too expensive but ok from the ratings. ||Now that we stayed here we can’t understand how some people rate it so high.||We payed 120 Myr for one superior(!) room. Breakfast should be included as the booking referenced. ||The room: ||it is small, sticky and very dirty. The room only has one small window (see the picture) and one side of the window is nailed with a wooden plank. Totally strange. The A/C is from another decade far away and doesn’t work properly. It just pours out smelly, sticky air. Everything looks so used up and the mattresses are hard like stone. I also found hairs from a former guest in mine. Really disgusting. If you look at the bathroom it is disgusting too. The floor has just been painted over with some waterproof paint to seal it. But it looks like a 5 year old has done that. There is fungus in every corner and it also smells strange. In our room (superior room!) there was a WiFi password sticker on the table but no WiFi available in that area.||The staff: ||The stuff is just there to do basic things. Give you the keycard and that’s it. No warm welcome, no information on anything. When we went to breakfast they didn’t have our room on their list. Quiet strange. That’s why we decided to leave this place quick.||Our recommendation: if you like paying money (even a small amount of) for a dirty, smelly, used up and disgusting room and don’t want any assistance from the staff then the Hotel Ming Star is your choice. ||We will never stay...

So, I stayed here for one night with my family. The customer service at the front desk was decent because initially, my sister mistakenly booked a room for just one person. However, when we arrived at the hotel and requested a change to a triple room, they listened and made the switch instead of just taking our money. But what was somewhat disappointing was that I stayed on the third floor, and the floor there was cracked. They only put up a sign saying "wet floor, be careful" instead of addressing the actual issue, which could lead to accidents. Also, there was free parking, but it was located behind the hotel, which wasn't in a convenient or safe location, especially for girls, as it was very dark at night, and there could be potential security concerns.

As for the room, I have no complaints. It was fine the AC worked well. However, I was a bit hesitant to drink the water provided because it had a strange odor. Before you shower or change clothes, make sure to check for hidden cameras because I found one while trying to sleep. I'm not sure if it was from the hotel or a previous guest left it there because I didn't ask. I felt too embarrassed to inquire.

To top it off, the hotel's restroom got clogged on the same night, which was unexpected for a 3-star hotel. When I went down to the front desk, they were smiling, and no, they didn't change our room. We had to wait for maintenance to fix it, which made the experience even more embarrassing. I don't think I'll ever recover from that. Overall, I'd give it a...