Besides the good food in Ipoh, I’m always craving for good food in Malacca too. Plus, it has been a while since I last visited the historic state in Malaysia.

Whenever I travel, I prefer staying in a place where it’s comfortable and relaxing. Well, many have said to try out Airbnb as an alternative – but I’m more of a hotel-person. ;)

So this time, for our staycation in Malacca, we decided to check out some top, yet affordable hotels in town.

After having browsed through and read some good reviews, we chose Novotel Hotel Melaka. It’s located right in the heart of Malacca town, and it’s a short walking distance to Mahkota Parade and Dataran Pahlawan Mall.

Being a budget traveler (yes, not-so-budget but I won’t compromise on comfort), I looked out for some discounts online and came across the most popular cashback site in Malaysia, ShopBack.

The discount (or cashback) for Novotel (under AccorHotels) was at 8% – quite a good deal! I proceeded with the purchase and the Malacca trip was confirmed.

For other hotels in Malacca, you can also earn cashback with Hotels.com discount codes. Oh, you can find the best Expedia coupons on ShopBack as well. I’m sure it’ll help with your travel arrangements. ;)

By the way, this was my first time staying in Novotel and even before I set foot into the hotel, I knew it was really going to be a comfortable place.

After checking in at the lobby, we went up to our Superior Room on the 8th floor.

The hallway leading to the room impressed me.

So after doing the “knocking door before entering room” ritual, lo and behold… I present to you, our room for 3 nights!

I personally enjoy sleeping on hotel beds, especially if it’s soft, bouncy, and comfortable. That’s how mattresses should be! ;)

Besides the bed, check out the see-through bathroom! o.O

The glass partition between the bed area and the bathroom makes you wanna stare at it rather than the TV.

But not to worry, there is a roller-blind that can be letdown to have some privacy while showering. ;)

Anyway, Novotel Melaka has some cool facilities. I personally enjoyed my time at the gym and swimming pool.

Since we managed to cover most of the food places on the first day, we decided to just stay-in on the second day. Hence, the term “staycation”, right? Heh.

On that day itself, we were seriously laid-back. We had breakfast-cum-lunch at the hotel’s in-house restaurant at 10am, and then went back to the room to chill. At about 2pm, we decided to hit the gym.

The gym equipment are well-maintained. I did a 20-minute run on the treadmill and some muscle-flexing.

After cooling down, we went to the swimming pool for a dip. There are more people, especially children, at the pool as compared to the gym.

Yes, I know it’s more fun to be playing in the pool and have some splashing fun.

I, too had a good time…

Heh!

Anyway, besides enjoying the hotel stay, we did have a good time fulfilling our Melaka food cravings.

More on what to eat in Malacca on a separate entry, but here’s a glimpse of some delicious Melaka food we had during the trip…

Oh, how can we miss Satay Celup? We opted for Ban Lee Siang because the queue at Capitol Satay Celup is pure terrible!

Yes, pork satay (non-halal) from Xiang Ji.

The modern mille crepe at Nadeje.

My favourite Putu Piring from Jalan Tengkera. This is a MUST whenever I travel to Malacca.

Honestly, I’ve never had the infamous Melaka Coconut Shake before. So it was my personal objective to try out the Klebang Coconut Shake during this trip – but it was closed in conjunction with the Hari Raya celebrations! So we went to Batu Berendam instead for Coconut Shake.

Overall, it was a good staycation and food trip at Malacca. It’s always good to return from a tiring day out and sleep in a comfortable hotel room.

Oh, gotta thank Novotel Melaka for accommodating to our drinking needs as well…

We were really thirsty from eating all the good Malacca food! :D