Grand Riverview

In the numerous occasion we been to visit Kota Bharu, we stayed at Perdana and Renaissance. This was the second time we stayed at Grand Riverview. The reason? They do a nice suite with a connecting door to the maids’ room. Solved a lot of the hassle. In terms of service, Perdana won hands down. In terms of food, definitely Renaissance - the do a grand breakfast spread and the Chinese restaurant, Four Seasons was not half bad, albeit on the expensive side. Apparently Perdana has been under renovation for the best part of a couple of years now. The last time we stayed there was back in 2005. Therefore the decision on where to stay was pretty straight forward.

The front facadeThe main sitting areaUnfortunately, apart from the generous room, the amenities were pretty basic. Room service menu were spelt out on a single sheet of paper. They have three main food joints - a lounge, a buffet restaurant (where breakfast was served) and a Chinese restaurant, which was a far cry from Four Seasons - yes, we ate there the evening before we left. My Dad-in-law invited his family for a meal. Suffice to say we were a tad disappointed.

From the bedroom, looking into the living room, then straight on onto the maid's roomIrfan with his tea - biscuits and honey - posh boy!Idlan by the sink the spacious bathroomBreakfast and buffet spread was adequate - if you know what I mean. They have a swimming pool, with a separate wading pool for children. There was a also gym - don’t expect me to check them out. But enough of the negativity. The room was very comfortable. The suite we had has a small dining area, a sitting area, connected to the room next door, where our maids stayed. Then there was the bedroom and a comfortable bathroom. The bedroom only had a king’s bed, which mean I’ll be either sleeping on the floor or the sitting room. TV channels - the usual terrestrials, plus ESPN and movie channel. There were also a couple of vision4 channels. Broadband? Apparently there are wifi, but I can’t get them to work on my Mac. Therefore I use my E71 as a wifi base station instead.

TV timeOrdering in some sweets - sea coconut and loghan in syrupIrfan doing some art. I ended up completing it for him.Location? The hotel is actually within walking distance from Pasar Buluh Kubu - as I will mention later on my bit about the walk about town. It was located as the name suggests by the Kelantan River Bank. Unfortunately, the river was being dredged and therefore was orange and dirty. As the rooms were facing the river to the west, the sunset were quite brilliant. Apparently there are occasional barbecue by the pool with the patron enjoying the sunset. Unfortunately that did not happen during our stay. The room fees include breakfast for two. Will we come hear again? If the room were maintained to the current standard, most definitely. You can always enjoy the food outside. After all, this is Kelantan, where the food were gorgeous if you know where to look. 

The picture will not be complete without the two boys running around in the lobbyIrfan enjoying some down time by the poolThe hotel is located Jalan Post Office Lama,  Kota Bharu, Kelantan. Tel: 609-743 9988. Website: http://www.grh.com.my/