stay-cation, we

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Hi guys, how was your weekend?

We had a great little getaway ... down the street. Literally, we could see our apartment from our hotel room!

Have you ever done a stay-cation? This was our first one and we loved it. One bag for the both of us, a five minute cab ride door to door, and plenty of time to enjoy the hotel without having to be anywhere else - it was the easiest trip ever.

We stayed at the new Grand Hyatt here in KL, a place that we've grown very fond of. We find ourselves dining at one of their restaurants at least once per week (the Malaysian restaurant, JP Teres, is ridiculously good and affordable) and we're big fans of the spa.  The only thing left to try was staying there as hotel guests so we figured, why not! The service there has always been great and the photos of the rooms looked really inviting.

And also, a main motivation to go for it was a deep desire to make up for our experience at the Sofitel Santa Clara in Cartagena, Colombia. That place was so overrated. Between the underwhelming rooms and the lackluster customer service, the value was simply not on par with what we paid for it (and I felt awful that our friends also stayed there with us). I'll give them the nice big pool but otherwise we've never been so disappointed. Please don't ever waste your money there.

Perhaps we're spoiled now by South East Asian hospitality but regardless, we were left feeling like we needed to have a good experience elsewhere ASAP. Thank god that the Grand Hyatt delivered because otherwise I would have been shattered. I'm seriously so in love with that hotel that it's creepy! I guess that sort of thing is bound to happen when you live in a city-center like KLCC where most services and dining options are either in a shopping mall, a business/residential tower, or in a hotel. When in Rome right? In this case, when in KL - home of the cheapest 5-star hotels in the world.

Where have you stay-cationed before? Or, Where would you want to go and what would you do in your city?

 

the suite life

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Just a few things that are making our temp apartment feel like home. We wouldn't dream of leaving our friend Erl tucked away in a box and Joe couldn't be without his favorite whisky. Recognize the Moroccan slippers and the book cover? The router has been a life saver since the suite only has a single ethernet connection. We've learned how to make hotel stays a bit more comfortable.

Do you have any favorite things that instantly make a place feel like home?