With the limited budget that I had, there were surprisingly many options that Kuching had to offer. However not all of them had great reviews. If you ever are finding for places to stay in, I suggest checking out site like Trip Advisor or Agoda to read the reviews of previous guest. What my friends and I liked about My Place Hotel & Lodge was that the general comment was on its cleanliness and unlike other hostels, the owner himself'/herself would reply their reviews. From my research, I found out that for most backpackers / hostels, it was cheaper to get a queen sized bed for two then to get two individual beds. Well, it only made sense. Also, it turns out that it was cheaper to book a room by calling the hotel than to book via sites like Agoda and Bookings. I realize that travelers always take for granted that these sites would provide them the best rates without even calling the hotel to check their own rates first. It was not a significance difference. Less than RM10 but multiply it with the amount of nights you are staying in that particular hotel and it could add up to a lot. My Place is till fairly new. The hostel / lodge opened its doors to backpackers and travelers in 2010 and has a total of 18 rooms. My Place was not hard to find. It's along Jalan Pandungan and had a big signage. It is situated right in front of the statue of 4 cats (you'll understand when you see it). It took us about 15 minutes without traffic to reach from the airport. Parking might be an issue at My Place, but who brings a car when on vacation in Kuching anyway? Available parking spots would be either on the main road or the back alley. My Place is about a 10 minute walk from the waterfront, China Town and Indian Street. It is also 2 doors down to a local supermarket and right next to a bistro that has a live acoustic band playing every night. The Reception. Not too fancy but enough. On the second day of our stay, there was a lady there called Nida who was extremely helpful with directions and our other touristy questions. The also sold mineral water there at a reasonable rate as the rooms did not provide a kettle. Before checking in, we had to make a full payment of our rooms for the duration of our stay.
The hallway of the second floor.
The room I stayed in had a queen sized bed and an attached toilet for RM 55 a night. That came down to about RM27 a person per night. Two towels were provided and a roll of toilet paper. The walls of the room were really thin so you could hear what was going on in the room opposite to ours. We felt obligated to speak softly after our neighbors gave us a couple of taps on the wall. We asked for a room with a window beforehand. It wasn't huge but it still was functioning. I am not sure if it was because of the window or how close our room was to the main road or that the walls were really thin but it was really noisy at night. I could hear the cars passing by, people talking on the streets and the sound of the band from the bar next door. It only got quiet at about 2 in the morning. If you are a light sleeper, I recommend you ask for a room that is further into the building. There is free wifi provided throughout the hotel though the signal isn't great. Especially at nights it gets a little laggy. What I loved about the room was that it had 4 fully functioning power outlets which was great for two people. The toilet was a good size and fairly clean. The water heater worked fine and the water pressure was great. A funny story was how the mirror on the toilet had 'good luck' written on it. The first thing that came to mind was "Why do I need luck in this room? Is there something wrong with it?". But no worries, nothing happened throughout my two nights stay. There was even a common area provided on the second floor. Looking at how the internet modem was situated there, I assume that this is where you can get the fastest internet connection. Is was slightly unkept but for the price I was paying, I had no complains.
Another room with a queen size and single bed + attached toilet
Another room with two single beds + attached toilet
We were told that checkout was at noon but because occupancy was low, we could take our time. The hotel workers were even nice enough to allow us to leave our luggage after checkout in their office while we spent the day walking around town. Overall a good stay. I do recommend My Place if all you plan to spend the entire day out and just want a clean and comfortable place to wind down to at night. It's value for money. I just suggest you bring along some earplugs :)
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