I stayed in Kuala Lumpur for five days at a hotel that claimed to be a direct branch of a certain domestic chain. I called the Kuala Lumpur branch from China and spoke to an Indian female receptionist, informing her I was a platinum member and requesting a room upgrade for my stay from September 12th to 17th. When I arrived and asked for the upgrade, the Indian receptionist I had spoken to wasn't there. Instead, there was a Malay female receptionist. They then called the Indian receptionist who had promised me the upgrade. After taking my payment for the five days, the Indian receptionist became extremely rude and even pretended that the Malay receptionist who was checking me in was her subordinate and that she was the boss. Eventually, I found out that a Chinese person, who didn't seem to be around much, was actually the Hotel Manager. The front desk staff generally didn't speak Chinese. It was chaotic for a direct branch of a domestic chain. I requested a refund. The female receptionist was uncooperative and refused. I tried to contact the domestic chain's customer service, but they were intentionally unresponsive. After all, I am a platinum member. The direct branch didn't provide an invoice, and since I was on a business trip, I needed an invoice from mainland China, not a local receipt for external trips. Later, I went to Penang for business and cautiously booked a 3-day stay at Nio Hotel through Ctrip. I've been scammed by so many companies in China, big and small, so I was careful. The 3-day cost wasn't much, so the potential loss would be minimal. I carefully reviewed Nio Hotel and its AI analysis. The hotel itself was fine, but it lacked toothbrushes and slippers. I had a toothbrush in my luggage as I travel globally for business frequently, and I had planned to bring slippers from the KL hotel but forgot. I flew business class from Kuala Lumpur to Penang, hoping to get a pair of slippers there, but the business class attendant said they didn't have any. When I arrived at Nio Hotel, I found that my room had a toothbrush and slippers, which was great. It had a window, and despite the Muslim prayer calls and the sound of speeding cars, I usually carry earplugs and noise-cancelling headphones, so I slept well. Due to what might be hotel cost-cutting, I found a long strand of woman's hair on my bath towel on the third day. AI helped me analyze that this hotel might be extremely cost-conscious, but given the higher cost of living in Malaysia, which follows the British Commonwealth system, the price was incredibly good value. All the front desk staff when I checked in were Malay and Indian. While I speak Chinese, I also speak English, so it doesn't matter if the front desk staff speaks Chinese or not, as long as they don't speak Arabic, which I don't understand. I also know a bit of Japanese and German. Durian in Kuala Lumpur was too expensive. I bought a piece of Musang King durian to taste at the base of the tallest building in KL, Menara Monica. At Nio Hotel in Penang, I went downstairs to eat durian and met a large group of wealthy Chinese from Surabaya, Indonesia. They were indulging in Musang King durian, each costing 300 Malaysian Ringgit (nearly 500 RMB). I ate a 50 MYR Kunyit King. These Indonesians must have very high incomes. I also saw some Filipino Chinese feasting on durians costing hundreds of Malaysian Ringgit. The incomes of Filipino Chinese must certainly surpass those in China's first-tier cities. While at Nio Hotel, I drank free coffee at the front desk, but I was concerned about the cup hygiene. Suddenly, an East Asian-looking female manager appeared, spoke Chinese, and told me it was clean and safe to drink. I didn't re-wash it with water and had several cups of coffee. Finally, when checking out to fly to Guangzhou, I had another cup of coffee at the front desk around 6:00 AM. My flight was at 8:15 AM. I had already called a taxi, driven by a young Malay man. I forgot that the driver who was picking me up for the airport had arrived while I was drinking coffee. After finishing my coffee, I went downstairs and told the waiting driver, 'I am here.' The driver said it was fine and that getting to the airport would be smooth. It's been several days since I returned, and the nearby restaurant even refunded me 35 Malaysian Ringgit because on the first day, there was a black spot on a vegetable leaf in my dish. The waiter explained it was a bug bite or something. Anyway, this stay at Nio Hotel was very good value for money.
Original TextTranslation provided by AI
