Just An Ordinary Girl

Photo By: Elin Chow
Official Website: Hotel Equatorial Melaka
Address: Bandar Hilir, 75000, Melaka, Malaysia

I visited the historical city of Melaka with my colleagues last weekend for a company event. For our trip to Melaka this time, we stayed at Hotel Equatorial Melaka for a night.

Hotel Equatorial Melaka

Hotel Equatorial Melaka is a 5-star hotel ideally located in the heart of historical district, within walking distance to famous historical sites like A'Formosa and St Paul's Hill, as well as the popular Jonker Street and the award winning shopping complex - Mahkota Parade, Hatten Square and Dataran Pahlawan Mall.


The 22-storey international business hotel offers a choice of 496 air-conditioned and well-appointed rooms and suites with spacious interiors and modern furnishings.


The hotel offers free parking for all guests, so you certainly do not have to worry about your car if you are driving your way to Melaka. Please note that there is no lift access from the hotel underground car park to the lobby. The car park is only accessible via a flight of stairs from the hotel lobby. Thus, I would suggest that you unload your luggage at the hotel lobby entrance before proceeding to the car park.

Stepping in, we were immediately amazed by the beautiful lobby. The lobby was spacious, clean and well-lit with high ceilings. 

Photo By: Elin Chow
Official Website: Qixing Tan Qixing Hai B&B 七星潭七星海民宿
Address: No. 12, Mingtan Street, Xincheng Township, Hualien Country 花莲县新城乡明潭街12号

Leaving  Mr Brown Avenue / Brown's Road 伯朗大道, we headed to Chishang Bento Museum 池上包饭~文化故事馆 for a quick lunch before embarking on a long distance drive from Chishang 池上 to Hualien country 花莲县.

After a two and a half hours drive, we arrived at Hualien country where we checked in Qixingtan Qixinghai B&B (Or Chishingtan Chishinghai B&B) 七星潭七星海民宿 for the night.

Qixingtan Qixinghai B&B 七星潭七星海民宿

Featuring a castle-like architecture, Qixingtan Qixinghai B&B offers modern, reasonably priced and comfortable accommodations to suit everyone's needs.

The B&B is just a 5 minutes walk from the Family Mart convenience store and a 10 minutes walk from the beautiful Qixingtan beach.

Free parking is available on site, so you certainly do not have to worry if you driving your way here. There are plenty of parking spaces for vehicles of any size around the B&B.


We arrived at a spacious reception area with a comfortable sitting area with plenty of seating for relaxing. The check in process at the B&B was simple, fast and hassle-free.

Types of Room and Rates

Qixingtan Qixinghai B&B offers 2 types of rooms -  2-Person room and 4-person room for us to choose from. Below is the current published rate for the different room types on its website.


Since there was no 6-person room, Mr Tsai has booked a 2-person and a 4-person room to accommodate the 6 of us. Payment for our rooms were made in cash upon arrival.



After collecting our room key from the owner at the reception area, we proceeded straight to our rooms. Our 2-Person room and 4-person room is located on the second and sixth floor of the building. Access to the rooms is via a long spiral staircase or a small lift.

2-Person Room

Fitted with parquet flooring, our 2-person room can sleep up to 3 people with one queen sized and one single bed.


The room was clean but small, with very little space to walk after putting our luggage.
In addition to that, free unlimited WiFi is also available throughout the entire property, which allowed us to stay connected at all times, thus making our stay a very pleasant one.


Other than that, electric water boiler with tea or coffee making facilities are also provided in the room.


Between the beds, there was also a small cabinet for us to store our belongings in an easy to reach place.

4-Person Room

Upon entering, we were greeted by a spacious and tastefully decorated room featuring two queen sized beds, a cozy seating area and an en-suite bathroom.


Unlike the 2-person room, the 4-person room is of a decent size with plenty of space for us to place our luggage without tripping over them.


The beds were very cozy and comfortable with no unpleasant smell. All of us enjoyed a very good night sleep during our stay at the B&B.


In addition to that, we also enjoyed a spacious and relaxing seating area equipped with a 5-seater sofa set and a white coffee table. The seating area is just perfect for family and friends to gather and sit down together after a tiring day of sightseeing.



All en-suite bathrooms are separated into three areas: shower, toilet and vanity. The vanity area includes a counter top, oval mirror and a sink.


Just like any other B&B that we had stayed in Taiwan, basic toiletries such as comb, shaver, shower caps, disposable toothbrush and toothpaste are provided for guest use.

In addition to that, soap and shampoo are also provided in individual sachets in the shower room. There were also sufficient towels provided in the room for every guest. Each of the towels were folded and stacked nicely on the shelf in the shower room.

However, the shower room was very small and there was simply too little space for us to hang our clothes and towel while we shower. We have to be very careful not to wet the clothes that we were going to change into after shower, which was actually very annoying.


The toilet was very small too but adequate for our needs.


Different from the 2-person room, the 4-person room has two balconies instead of one.


The balconies were tiny, which almost serve no purpose at all. There was no chairs provided on the balcony for us to sit out and relax. Even so. I still appreciate the little space because my father-in law is a smoker.The tiny balcony serves as an outdoor space for smokers to take a quick puff without having to leave the building.

Furthermore, there wasn't much of a view to enjoy. All we could see from the balcony were just buildings and the streets below the B&B. I stood silently on the balcony and looked down at the streets below -  still, quiet and peaceful. There was no noise or traffic, just peace and quiet. It was a place ideal for a good night sleep.

There is a spacious dining area on the second floor where breakfast is served every morning. The dining area is made up largely of windows, which allowed plenty of sunshine into the space.


Breakfast was very basic, but filling and delicious, consisting of congee and a few simple side dishes. Everything was home-cooked and served hot with fresh ingredients daily. Besides that, fresh milk, orange juice, hot coffee and tea were also served during breakfast hours.

Overall, we have an enjoyable experience staying at Qixingtan Qixinghai B&B. The B&B was very clean, safe and affordable. We appreciate the quietness of the B&B for a good night's sleep.

The room was very cozy and felt like home. However, we actually prefer the 4-person to 2-person room for the little extra space. Even so, I would still recommend Qixingtan Qixinghai B&B to anyone looking for a clean and quiet place to stay in Hualien.

If you are interested to know more about our trip, you may want to check out our 11D10N round island tour itinerary for the list of attractions that we had visited during our 11 days in Taiwan. Be sure to follow me on Facebook or Twitter  for the latest updates on my 11 days adventures in Taiwan!