I was there for the Silver Anniversary Peranakan Convention - a major event part sponsored by the State Dept. & attended by the Chief Minister of Malacca. 200 odd rooms were booked for the event.

There were, of course, good points (see my ratings), but I shan't even mention them for the bad FAR outweigh the good:

1) There is no workable WiFi; the "high speed internet" cable connection in the rooms is anything but. You have to request for a cable upon check-in... how cheap is that!
2) The pool is dark and badly lit.
3) Saw house-guests eating in the pool; kids screaming at the top of their voices which can be heard even in my room on the 17th. floor!
4) The lifts are slow and inadequate; car park ones even worse; the whole lift system is downright stupid. The card system shuts down at precisely 12 noon on the day of departure!
5) Workmanship is appalling, with leaking shower doors & cheapish finishings passing off as class.
6) There is no bath tub in spite of the large size of the room, but 2 TVs instead. Who needs 2 TVs within viewing distance of each other?
7) The road leading to the car park is forever jammed.
8) Front desk is short-staffed.
9) Worst is a duty manager called Anxxxxxxxx, who rudely and continually interrupts when one tries to speak! He even had the extreme gall to ask me to listen to him first, when he didn't even know exactly what I was requesting! I had to shout at the top of my voice that I am the customer and I DEMAND to be heard first before he allowed me to speak! All I wanted was a one-hour extended check-out, as the last day's schedule was a 10 a.m. visit to 2 museums, followed by an 11 a.m. farewell lunch, after which we should be back to the hotel in good time to check out at 12 noon. I merely wanted that extra hour just in case the schedule should be delayed, or the roads jammed. Anxxxxxxxx's stubborn, dogmatic, annoyingly repetitive reply was that I had to request the next morning after breakfast. (What good is that to me? What if I had wanted the extended check-out merely to sleep in?) I asked for a questionnaire, which he was reluctant to give - saying they had none - but when upon my insistence he produced one, he was cocky enough to give me his name proudly (although I must add in all fairness that no foul language was ever exchanged, Ps and Qs were used by both parties, and Anxxxxxxxx never raised his voice to me). 2 delegates can bear witness for me, as they were queuing up behind me, and they told me to complain further. I went up to the ballroom, related the incident to a formidable member of the organising committee during dinner, and she promptly stormed down to reception and my request was granted within 5 minutes.
10) When I checked out the next day - true to form at 1 p.m. - there were 2 other delegates (2 old dears) of the convention who had requested late check-out after breakfast, who complained to me about the hotel's absolutely terrible service when we exchanged idle banter while waiting to be served.
Are we "esteemed and valued guests" or what? NEVER have I been so flabbergasted in any hotel, no matter how cheap or seedy!
11) To top it all off, when I loaded up my car, I discovered that one windscreen wiper had been stolen! It did rain on my way home, but luckily not heavy enough to be of serious concern.

I exaggerate not.

After reading all the horror stories on TA, we decided to skip the weekend and check-in on Monday (19/11). We were there early so we drove straight to the carpark and left the luggage. Our plan was to walk around then check-in at 3pm.

As there was no Q at check-in counter, I just asked if we could register. The guy at the counter said no problem, he'll put us in the Q for the room. We did the paperwork and when it was all done he was really nice, he checked and found a room available and gave us the key. It was a pleasant surprise! We booked sea-facing room and we got that.

When we checkout on Wednesday around 12pm, the wait was about 30min.

The room was clean and it's good to have separate lounge area. Water leaks from shower door when you shower and pool around the toilet but it was manageable. We asked for extra towel on first day and it was delivered within half an hour.

Breakfast was great. They had assortment of pastries and some cheese. Local fare was good. I love the curry laksa and dahl curry for prata. Food did finish fast but they replenished equally fast. But even on Tuesday and Wednesday morning, we had to wait about 5min to get seated as restaurant was running full house. Service staff really tried to clear the plates fast and quite friendly but I dread to think how things are on weekend.

They could think of making some prata in the kitchen to bring out. The Q for prata and laksa can be quite long. 2nd day, I tried omelette as there was no Q. The guy ran out of gas so he changed it using the same gloved hands he used to pick the ham and cheese for my omelette. I took it but didnt eat a bite.

The pool was ok. Quite a lot of people outside but I think there was enough space in the pool. I didnt go in but family did. They had lounge chairs in the pool, nice idea.

Concierge was very friendly and helpful. They told us short cut to St Paul's church and on our drive back showed us the right way to hit the E2. I am quite surprised that they are so nice, didnt expect that from malacca hotel after our last experience at holiday inn.

We just parked our car there for 3 days. Jams I saw between hotel and Markota parade frighten me. But as we drove on our way back we realised there are a lot of eateries close to hotel.

If we visit Malacca again, we will still choose Hatten. Sound proofing at Hatten is quite good. We sometimes hear ppl walking along the corridor but we don't hear the next door neighbors or cars on the road.

Holiday Inn is out b'cos of location and I didn't like their service when we stayed there 6yrs back. Even when we stayed at club level, we had to call them up to fix toilet problem. It was then a brand new hotel.

Equitorial location is good but Hatten is better b'cos it has shelter connection to Markota parade and Palawan. Equitorial went through a lot of reno but unless that incl double glazing, I won't stay there. We stayed there about 12yrs ago and we could hear the cars and bikes on the road late into the night.

The mgmt of Hatten may want to consider having different rate for rooms w/o breakfast. It doesn't have to be so much cheaper, RM20-30 will do. It will be more worth it to incl breakfast since its value for money but ppl like us will book w/o breakfast just to avoid the long wait on weekend. Also, to have different name for rooms that face each other (if they haven't done so) so ppl know exactly what kind of room and view they are booking and getting.

Our booking was done with hotel. We just called them up since I don't like keying in credit card details online. It went smoothly.

1. Stayed in Hatten Hotel with a family guest. The check in was pretty slow, since there was a renovation at the lobby, the waiting area to check in was very narrow. Limited seating was available.

2. The breakfast spread was good but there was unfairness. Due to high capacity of guests, some guests were directed to another breakfast area which had SO MUCH less food there. Not even the egg station. Second day morning i was smarter to wait for any available table at the main breakfast area. At first, the lady told me to go to another side, i said no, i will wait. She said "10-15 minutes wait" i replied, "it is ok, i can wait" Then, she gestured me to stand at the side. But then, after one minute, another person came out and directed me to an empty table. Luckily i did not adhere to that LADY! Suggestion to the hotel management to have the same spread of breakfast at the other side, if not it is not fair for paying hotel guests.

3. The swimming pool - nice and big. Unfortunately, we did not get into the pool as it was raining most of the time.

4. Parking is in the Hatten Square Mall, free parking is good but only ONE way In, One way OUT. you can imagine the traffic!

5. Room was nice and clean. Spacious enough for my kids to walk about. The two available TVs serve good intention, no need to fight for TV channel. Can watch two different channel.

Overall stay was ok. But my family and i still prefer our usual hotel in Melaka. This time was just checking out this new hotel.