Ipoh is a small town in northern Malaysia that’s known for its tin mining, delicious chicken meals, and white coffee. While it doesn’t have the vibrant atmosphere of big cities like Kuala Lumpur or the charm of lovely Penang, it does have its own beauty. If you do decide to come and appreciate the old town feel of Ipoh, you can stay in the place where we stayed: D’ Eastern Hotel.

The 2-star D Eastern Hotel in Ipoh, Malaysia.

I found the D’ Eastern Hotel through the booking site Agoda.com. As a budget traveler, my first consideration was price, then specific amenities like free wifi inside the room. I chose the Eastern Hotel not only because of the price of its deluxe double room (US$22 or 67MYR per day) and the free internet, but also because of the glowing reviews of those who had already stayed there.

Our only problem was finding the hotel. It wasn’t actually hard to find. The driver of the city bus dropped us off in the right place and asked us to walk towards a certain street. Unfortunately, instead of walking straight, we turned into one street after another, and asked locals who either (1) didn’t know where the street was, (2) didn’t know where the hotel was, (3) or didn’t know anything but gave directions just the same.

The lobby at the D Eastern Hotel.

After an hour of walking, we finally found the hotel. Classified as a 2-star accommodation, we were quite surprised to see how nice it looked inside. The lobby was clean, uncluttered, and very welcoming, and the front desk personnel was friendly and quite helpful. He gave us the Ipoh town map, the password for the wifi, and even changed the room at our request (he initially gave us a room on the first floor; we requested one on the third).

All the amenities that are important to us were also present in the room: hot shower, TV (though I don’t watch it), fast and free wifi (very important to me as a blogger), air conditioner, and complimentary bottles of water and coffee.

The common area at the 3rd floor where our room was.

The deluxe room was well worth the price!

Most importantly, the D’ Eastern Hotel is also located in the center of New Town, quite accessible to everything (except the bus station). Business establishments like banks, money changers, restaurants, night market, and convenience stores were just a few minutes’ walk away. The Old Town where we took the Old Heritage Trail was also within walking distance.

If ever I get a chance to return to Ipoh, I would certainly come back to D’ Eastern Hotel again.

My trip to Ipoh, Malaysia and my stay in this hotel is sponsored by Tourism Malaysia and ZestAir.

D Eastern Hotel
118 Jalan Sultan Idris Shah
Ipoh, Malaysia

 Aleah Taboclaon is a freelance writer and editor. She likes running (completed one marathon, training for the next!), diving (PADI open water diver), and traveling with her Kindle. Connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus. You can also email her; she would love to hear from you!

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