There is a large choice of hotels in Melaka, and their descriptions in Lonely Planet all sounded equally as good. We decided on Hollitel, Jalan PM 5, which is a 10-minute walk from the city centre. PM 5 stands for Plaza Mahkota, street # 5.
Plaza Mahkota is a residential area, built some ten years ago on reclaimed land. The houses are of identical architecture, and there is hardly any traffic, which makes this part of the city very quiet.
We were amazed at the great number of restaurants in this neighbourhood, and wondered if they attracted enough clients. They do, because it is customary for Malay people to eat out three times a day. Prices for meals are very reasonable, and many Malay housewives never prepare meals at home. This sounded very attractive to me. Just imagine: no shopping, no chopping, no cooking, and no washing-up.
We stayed for three days and every morning we went to our breakfast restaurant, which served American (eggs and toast) and Malay breakfast (rice or noodles). In the evening, we became regulars at a Chinese-Indian restaurant.
Our room was on the first floor; fairly small (only 2.5 x 3m), two single beds with firm mattresses, windows on two sides, air conditioning, a wardrobe, and a table with a television that did not work. That was no problem because if it had worked we would not have been able to understand any of the programmes shown on one of the three Malay channels.
The bathroom was not bigger than 1 x 2m, but fully equipped and had hot water.
If you feel a bit crammed, you can sit downstairs in the lounge, which has the feel of a family living-room. There are always some people to talk to, and, if you are not the talkative type, you can use their computer with broadband internet access.
We paid RM 70 for a double room. It is a very good value. If you want to book ahead, this is the e-mail address: mollykoo@yahoo.com