I have stayed now and 2 years ago in this hotel when it was newly reopened and they asked at that time 110.-
The top floor and the lobby were than newly renovated. The lift smelled already moldy. this is still the case. Lift with carpet all around will always smell in this climate.
The hotel is the former Merlin Hotel and now owned by the Pahang Royalty and a real shame to their name.
As usual in Malaysia, maintenance has to be cheap and so is the entire hotel in the class of the income level of the staff.
I was in Frasers this weekend and was welcomed by cheap illegal Malay roadside stalls on the parking lot giving the entry of Frasers a cheap flee market image. The tourist office is closed on Saturday. The Mosque is far too loud, but the Malay population living mostly in the ugly police quarters doesn’t hear it. For that the mostly non-Muslim visitors are pestered with it.
Frasers is missing decent clean accommodation in the RM20 to RM50 range like in Cameroon. It is also missing nice accommodation in the range of RM50 - RM100. The offerings from the Tourist Office are mostly owned by government and operated by unqualified Malays – hence rotten, poor and moldy.
There are also plenty expensive beds available which are mostly said to be moldy and not worth the price.
Nice Restaurants you cant find. Nowhere can you sit nicely, serene, lean back and relax like you would do in Scotland or Switzerland. Most of the restaurants are government owned and rented to Malays. I found only one Chinese place on the square. All places around the clock tower are cheap places which charge a lot for poor local food. Because none of the operators own them, there is no ownership pride. The same places in KL would be empty and abandoned.
The restaurant at the golf club has closed. Smokehouse Inn is overcharged. Scones and Tea for two RM64 is robbery.
We went to a private bungalow and had there meals and later also tea. Friendly service for next to nothing.
Still I prefer Fraser to Cameroon because it has natural rainforest and is untouched from any industry.
It is definitely a holiday area which is only spoiled by too many big corporate places and empty or poor maintained bungalows. I hope to have soon my accommodation problem solved, by finding a nice small bungalow. I don't like those many empty apartments either. They are sterile and don't contribute to a hill station atmosphere.
Frasers is nice and cool and much closer to KL. It is cleaner than Cameroon and definitely more relaxing and serene. It seems to be predominantly visited by Malays, who do not have an outdoor culture. Instead of enjoying a walk in the cool air, they rather drive through all Frasers and watch it from the car.
Closing the roads for residents only and operating a battery shuttle bus service like in Zermatt would be the thing to make it more attractive for everybody.
