Hotel Review: Hotel Al Jafs

Date of Stay: September 13-15, 2013
Length of Stay: 3days/ 2nights
Location: No. 17-19, Jalan Bedara, Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

On location

Hotel Al Jafs is located about 5 minutes walk from Jalan Alor and about 10 minutes walk from Bukit Bintang MRT station. Conveniently located in major food street and restaurants and even bars, Hotel Al Jafs is one of the budget hotels you can consider when you are into food.

Our Accommodation

We have tried two rooms in the hotel. We initially booked a triple room at Hotel Al Jafs, however, when we arrived at the hotel, the owner informed us that our room in under repair and we might need to settle in separate rooms. He was so apologetic that he even made extra effort on our requests and saved us RM 50 for the separate rooms. We had one single room and one double room.

On the second day, when we came back from a whole day of walking, we were ready to settle in our first day rooms, and when we opened our doors, somebody was occupying them. Shocked, we ran down the stairs and informed the receptionist. He actually said sorry that we were not informed and we were now in our triple room that we earlier booked.

We were quite angry on them, since they transferred our things (even the nakasampay ones) without informing us. We have our slight fault as well, we do not have our local numbers and we didn't subscribe to roaming since we are all postpaid account holders (hello bills!). But they assured that all things were accounted for and we settled in for the night.

Wall design at the lobby

Our triple room

Our Experience

I booked Hotel Al Jafs thru Booking.com and settled in just because you do not need to pay for advance payments prior to check in. Despite the horrible experiences of some travelers that bookings were properly managed in some hotels, Hotel Al Jafs was able to deliver. We just paid the full payment prior to settling in to reduce the hassle upon check out.

Despite the unauthorized transfer of rooms, we really enjoyed our stay at the hotel. The owner was so nice that he bought us a Malaysian plug converter since my two friends do not have their travel adapters. This is without any charge. The owner was very friendly as well, he recommends where to eat, and even the best way from one point to another. He even gave us tourist tips- that we should not pay more than RM 15 when we go to the KL Sentral Terminal Station. The owner even tried to win our hearts by saying some Tagalog words he learned from his Filipino friends - the first-thing-to-learn "mahal kita" and the not so common, "kumain ka na ba"?.

The wi-fi connection is also good, and we were able to send FB messages to our families while we were away. The hotel also offers free buffet breakfast, but do not expect them to be as grand as other good hotels. We settled in for chicken nuggets, franks, eggs, bread, jam and margarine on the duration of our stay. Coffee and tea are unlimited too. The only problem is that the "breakfast hub" is located in a very cramped space. About 6 tables for 4 persons each. Nonetheless, when you find your place, you just can sit down and relax. Just be mindful of our guests when its their time for breakfast.

The Verdict

I will definitely come back to Hotel Al Jafs when I can. Despite some of their boo-boos, we enjoyed our stay and the staff are not that pushy.  I just hope when I return, the same staff is still there.


Hotel Al Jafs
Website: http://hotelaljafs.com.my/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ALJAFSHotel

Room rates:
Single rooms: RM 98 to 118 = Php 1,350 - 1,600
Deluxe rooms: RM 138 to 158 = Php 1,900 - 2,100
Family room: RM 158 to 178 = Php 2,100 - 2,500
VIP room: RM 168 to 200 = Php 2,300 - 2,800

Malaysia - Singapore 2013: Day 3 in Central Market and Melaka

Part 3 of 10
September 15, 2013
Central Market and On Route to Melaka


Day 2 was a tiring day. We missed our bus in Putrajaya back to the train station, got lost, wandered for an hour in Putrajaya and got soaked in the rain. It was Day 3 and our last day in Kuala Lumpur before heading to Melaka.

Despite the late night arrival to our hotel, we got up early for our Central Market itinerary. We again took the train from Bukit Bintang station to Maharajelela, got off and walked towards Petaling Street. You won't miss it, it has this large arks with Chinese lanterns all over (though I am not sure if the lanterns are there all year round).

CENTRAL MARKET

Central Market is the famous market in Kuala Lumpur, where you can buy tourist-y stuff. Our travel souvenirs (for the last few travels we had) would always be keychains, t-shirts for the family and scarves for ourselves, aside from little knick knacks that our eyes laid on.

There are unique stores inside the Central Market - from wooden bookmarks and Malaysian made scarves.

Petaling Street aka Chinatown

One of the street foods along Petaling. It resembles what we got back in
the Philippines - puto bumbong. 

magnets and keychains along Petaling Street. 

The Famous Central Market (Yes, it was that old!)

Many decors outside Central Market.
If I am not mistaken, they have art contest during our visit. 

Shoes and slippers of various designs. 

Very cute Pens! 

Reminds us of Biblioarch back at home.
Products sold here are mostly made out of wood. 

Wooden bookmarks (which we got) and IPhone cases made of wood as well. 

OFF TO MELAKA

After a quick shopping trip to Central Market, we went back to our hotel, packed our bags and we were off to Melaka.

From Bukit Bintang, we took the train to Hang Tuah, change trains on Sri Petaling line to Bandar Tasik Selatan (South Bus Terminal).

Terminal Bersepadu Selatan at Bandar Tasik Selatan (TBS BTS) is the main terminal for buses bound for the cities on South of Malaysia - like Melaka, Penang and Johor Bahru. They also cater to tourists directly bound for Singapore. BTS is one of the best bus terminal we have been to. Very convenient, comfortable and resembles much like the airport. Honestly, I find this way better than NAIA Terminal 1.

We got our tickets for Melaka, and waited for our boarding time and before the sun sets, we were bound for Melaka.

TBS greeting the tourists!

Bus schedules. See? This is just a bus terminal. It exceeded my expectations. 

Bus ticket counters. 

Information Counter at the lobby. 

Bus schedule per bus line. 

The departure lobby. 

Our doors leading to the bus. 

ARRIVAL IN MELAKA

After three hours (and more, we got stuck in traffic in the Melaka Sentral Terminal), we were in Melaka. From the terminal, we took the bus no.17 - you need to be patient while waiting off to the Melaka Sentral Park or Red Brick House.

From the Red Brick House, we walked towards Jonker Walk, and checked in our hotel for the next 2 nights - Riverside Residence.

Greetings from Melaka! :) 

Lane 17 - where to wait for bus no. 17.

Melaka bus station waiting area. 

Tips:
1. HAGGLE! Just like many of the flea markets, haggle on the prices. Unless the shop has tag prices on their items already. But it never hurts to ask for lower price.

2. If you can, depart early for Melaka, so you will get the chance to see how on route to Melaka looks like. We love to look outside our window, and see the nature.

3. If you arrive in late in the evening in Melaka, expect that you'll wait for a long time for you bus bound for Jonker. But do not take the taxis as much as possible. We tried to ask them, but they asked for 25 RM to Jonker, the bus costs only 1.50 RM.

Day 1: Arrival in Kuala Lumpur

Part 1 of 10
September 13, 2013
Arrival in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia


This is our annual trip with my Ateis. We were able to grab another seat sale to Malaysia and Singapore through the Airasia and PAL respectively.

We arrived in the Low Cost Carrier Terminal in Kuala Lumpur in a good afternoon of September 13. LCCT is much like the Terminal 4 of our NAIA and is catering to most AirAsia flights to Malaysia.

After grabbing our bags and passing through Malaysian immigration, we bought our tickets from upon exiting the arrival area. The bus ride costs RM 9 (or approximately Php 130.00) and will be in KL Sentral MTR Station in an hour.

Since we didn't know how to get to our hotel from the KL Sentral station, we decided to grab a taxi to Hotel Al Jafs - which is our first interaction with the tuts taxi drivers. :( We were initially quoted RM 45 to the Hotel but we haggled it to RM 38. After 10 minutes, we were dropped in front of Hotel Al Jafs.

CHECKING IN THE HOTEL

Hotel Al Jafs is near Bukit Bintang, and may be the best hotel we had so far. The hotel owner was kind enough to change our large RMs to smaller ones. Our supposed room had some maintenance works during our arrival, but he was kind enough to make us stay to 2 rooms, without charging us extra. He was also kind enough to buy us some adapters since Malaysia has different outlets than we have in the Philippines.

More of Hotel Al Jafs, on my hotel review entry.


WALKING AROUND KUALA LUMPUR

When I was looking for our Kuala Lumpur accommodations, I am particular in the area. We wanted to be on the area near to basic food area - Bukit Bintang and Jalan Alor. Good thing, our hotel is just 5 minutes away from Jalan Alor.

Off to Jalan Alor

So after a quick freshening up, we walked around and found ourselves in Jalan Alor - aka the KL Food Central. We were quite early in the area, some of the vendors are just setting up. We grabbed a quick late lunch at Fat Brothers Barbeque and finished with the Turkish ice cream.

The famous food street in Bukit Bintang

Shrimps ready for grilling

Their street version of hot pot. The tube below is connected to an LPG tank and the vendor will turn it on for you. Once the water is boiling, you can blanch everything. :)

Their Street version of Hot pot. 

After the quick lunch, we decided to walk around KL through the main avenue. Petronas Tower or the twin towers of Kuala Lumpur is just 20 minutes walk from Hotel Al Jafs. We passed by KL Tower as well, and a small park along the main avenue.

Standard Chartered building

KL Tower

The twin towers

We never missed visiting any bookstore when we are on the road. Kinokuniya was the biggest bookstore chain in Kuala Lumpur and probably the best one we visited so far.

TIPS:

1. The taxi was definitely a rip off. The Hotel owner mentioned it was only RM 15 from KL Sentral to Hotel Al Jafs. But since we were tired on a long day, the taxi was a good pahingahan. Just like the same countries we have been to, make sure you haggle.

2. Do not miss Jalan Alor. It was a food heaven, you can find various cuisines - from Chinese to Malay to Indian. We loved the kitchens along the street. Just be adventurous!

3. Make sure you wear comfortable clothes. And bring an umbrella. Malaysia is a tropical country, you never know when it will rain or not. Umbrella will also protect you from the sun.