Arriving in Melaka by bus from Singapore, I was whisked off in a taxi to the main backpacker area. The hostel that I had wanted to look at first was closed as the owner had apprently recently died, and the number 2 hostel in the Lonely Planet was fuklly booked, so my taxi driver suggested Sunny's Inn. "Oh yeah" I thought "how much commision are you going to get?"! But actually, when I got to the hostel it seemed nice and friendly with good communal spaces, a kitchen and the dorm room, although a bit hot and dingy, was miles better than some fleabags I have stayed in! At only 10 ringgit per night, I thought it would do for my two night stay in Melaka.
The hostel I had previously stayed in in Singapore had had a case of bedbugs (makes my skin itch just thinking about it!) so the first thing I did when I checked in was check my mattress for the blood sucking little beasties. Unfortunately, I did indeed find a few bed bugs (glad I checked before I slept in it!)! I told the owner and he couldn't have been more apologetic. He immediately changed the mattress to a clean one and sprayed the room with insect repellent. After that, he couldn't have been more friendly and did everything he possibly could think of to make my stay comfortable...to the point of being really annoying and a little bit creepy!! I'll explain...
It started off fairly inoccuosly. I went shopping for food and he insisted on putting it away for me. I cooked some dinner in the kitchen and he hovered around fetching me water, oil etc and trying to help in any way he could. Pretty nice really. It started getting a little bit over the top when he smelled my arm and told me I smelled nice after I had a shower, and then later on when it was time for the nightly 10pm movie (which he said I could choose), he came into my room without knocking (actually he did this several times) and started massaging my feet and rubbing my legs while talking to me! I said "No, I don't want a massage thank you" and he replied, "yes, massage! massage!". No thanks!!! He was harmless enough I suppose but as young single girl travelling on my own, I must admit to feeling a bit uncomfortable!
Aside from the slightly over familiar owner, the hostel has lots of good points, like it's super-cheap, has hot and cold water showers, laundry servive, a kitchen with fridge (although you have to pay to use the gas stove), heaps on information on the surrounding area and trips and tours on offer. The lounge area is a cool place to hang out and chat and watch a movie from the extensive (pirate) DVD collection, although if you don't like smoking you might find yourself watching the movie through a cloud of cigarette smoke!
As for Melaka itself, I must confess it didn't really endear itself to me too much. If you have the money to go shopping there are 2 huge shopping malls, and Jonker Street in Chinatown is a nice road to wander up and down and buy souvenirs and eat chinese food. There are loads of museums but I would only really visit if you have some vested interest in their subject matter and like reading a lot of panels of information! The Dutch influence on the city is pretty and quite interesting and the food is awesome, but there's just not that much to do except wander and eat!
