I visited Melaka on three occasion and spent two of them at this property, Holiday Inn Melaka. It is located near Makota area, with direct access to the Jetty and the rooms offer both straits and city views.

The check in was swift and efficient as usual. I was greeted as a IHG Platinum and was given a three category upgrade from a Deluxe Room to its Executive Club Room with Straits View & Club access. 

The Executive Club King rooms comes with a study table with ergonomic chair, single seat sofa, comfortable king size bed, a mini bar, shelve and a full size wardrobe. 

I find the room decor slightly dated, the brown wooden furniture and dull coloured sofa seems to be from the late 1990s. At least the TV is flat screen.

I am a traveller who loves his dip in the tub, it was disappointing to see that the bathroom was not accompanied with a tub. It however had a very spacious shower area. The bath amenities were of usual Holiday Inn branded amenities.

After putting down my stuff, I went to the inhouse massage operated by Tea Tree Spa for a nice relaxing massage. The prices are reasonable and I have so far enjoyed the massages I received at Tea Tree Spa, be it in Holiday Inn Batam or the other HIs I've been to. At the reception, I was assigned a "individual bungalow" with straits view.

After the invigorating massage, I checked out the gym which is just next to it. The gym is of a decent size and well equipped. I had a jog on the treadmill followed by some weights lifting the next day. 

I returned to my room for a rest after the massage. Set up my tripod and took a long exposure shot of the moving clouds from my room.

There were also complimentary cocktail and canapés offering at the executive lounge during the evening. I was there early to reserve my corner sofa seat. I was also pleasantly surprise to note that the balcony offered a nice shot of the neighbouring Makota Hotel. 

The cocktail spread was below average in my opinion. It was decent at best, there were some bread, tarts, cakes and some deep fried snacks which did not attract me to return the next day. The red wine however was pretty good. 

The next morning, we had breakfast at the main restaurant. It was crowded and packed but the spread was quite good too. There were a balance of western spread and local dishes. 

I could not bear queuing up for my breakfast with the crowd hence left for makota parade for a light breakfast there instead. Did something dangerous by taking a photo of the hotel whilst crossing/jaywalking the busy highway infront of it.

During my day exploration at Melaka Hill, I was able to spot the hotel from the top of the hill.

After a day of exploration, we spotted the hotel afar and started our walk home. 

Towards the end of the stay, there were some serious service quality issue which made my stay a very upsetting one. However follow up email correspondence with the GM was assuring and return trips by my family found my incident to be an unfortunate and isolated one. 

I still look forward to returning to HI Melaka as it is convenient located within Melaka and is almost walking distance to most places. It has its own designated parking space which is safer for SG cars as compared to other hotels.