I’m just back from my short stay in Malacca! It was a hot getaway with my fellow Blast graduates (Jacklyn & Veekay). We came back tanner, fatter and satisfied. During our stay there, we stayed at a quaint shop house converted into a hostel. The owners stay in the hostel themselves (I think). The hostel was pretty homely, comfortable and the prices come at a steal.

Our  coach dropped us off at Renaissance Hotel Melaka so we had to take a walk to our hostel. Thank goodness Jack could read maps because Veeks and I are pretty useless.

The front of the hostel looks like this:

The front door is locked by some condo/hotel system where you need a proximity card to tap to enter the hostel. Outsiders are not allowed in at all times and the hostel does not provide “viewings”. This made me feel safe.

This is the long corridor of the hostel.

We stayed in a 3 bed mixed dorm which had a fan, air conditioning, towels and lockers for safekeeping of passports/money etc. The room was clean and comfortable.  It was pretty cold at night with the air-conditioning on. We all had sniffles in the morning which was promptly cured by the blazing sun.

There were various areas you could chill out/hang out at

There was also a balcony area that overlooked the river. We thought it was quite cool to sit there drink coffee/tea and read our books at night. However, we escaped after 5 mins after being bitten by mosquitoes. I think it shouldn’t be that bad in the day. The windy atmosphere was nice… and almost romantic save for the pesky mosquitoes.

There was a  back door that leads to the river board walk which is a short cut to a lot of places. I enjoyed the stroll along the boardwalk, enjoying the river breeze and being out of the busy traffic.

The guest house was located in the heart of china town where the traffic just keeps coming at you. It was central to all the tourist look sees such as the old churches, museums and old  war time battle grounds.  It’s about a 20-30 minutes walk to the shopping district but you could breathe in the heady food scents, get a few unwanted stares from old men and peep into mamak stores all for free.

The owner (Raymond) and the house keeper auntie were nice and informative people. Raymond made us a cold drink upon our arrival after the walk in the scorching sun. He gave us a run-down of the area and provided us with a map of must eats and must sees in malacca. This became the mantra for our trip there.  Jack spoke to the house keeper more than any of us since she woke up earlier than any of us. The auntie told us about the food around the hostel too.

Raymond’s wife also bakes cakes for the guests which is laid on the table for guests to help themselves. There were free flow of tea, coffee and clean drinking water. Every morning, there is a bunch of bananas too.

However, the wifi tends to be a bit wonky and I couldn’t connect. Jack and Veekay could access BBM only on their Blackberries. And I abhor the mosquitoes.

It was a good stay and I definitely recommend River View Guest House for anyone who’s heading to Malacca. The shop house is full of character and it’s situated in the central district of Malacca, near to everywhere you should go. It is a tad run-down/wonky but for the price and the nice ambience, I think it is okay. I would like to go back there again if I have the chance.