There are many hotels and accommodations in Malacca due to the popularity of the town to tourists. The modern chain hotels are nearer to Mahkota while the ones at Jonker Heritage street are mostly boutique hotel or hostels. Amongst the orange coloured roof buildings, there lies a building like a gem with equal heritage charm. Located just next to the Malacca river, the Casa Del Rio, a 5 star accommodation has over 60 rooms with a couple of huge suite rooms big enough to hold a house party.
The initial impression of the hotel gives you a strong Mediterranean and Peranakan mix with a huge water feature as the centre piece of the hotel building. The building is mainly dressed in earth colours like wood and beige. The moment you arrive at the lobby, you will be greeted warmly by the staff who will help you with the luggage. You will also be directed to one of the cabana next to the water pool so you can relax in the lounge sofa while the staff process your check in. You will also be treated to an ice cold towel, iced sour plum dessert to refresh yourself after your journey. Once the check-in is completed, you will be directed to your room by one of the staff who will also help you with your luggage. However, do note that if you arrive while there is a big tour group checking in, they might not have enough staff to escort you to your room.
There is only 1 restaurant in the hotel and serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. The decor is highly traditional in Peranakan style with huge comfortable cushioned chairs. The breakfast spread is very substantial and has a huge range of American breakfast coupled with some local delights like Nasi Lemak. For lunch, they have Nonya tingkat meals which is quite legit in terms of the taste.
The back door of the hotel is the Malacca river, you can choose the outdoor seats during meals to actually dine by the river. From this back door, it is a 2 minute walk to the famous Jonker street. At night, you will see the beautiful view of the river and lighted buildings flanking the river.
The rooms are huge by normal standards. From the entrance, you will walk through a narrow walkway to the main sleeping area. Just next to the walkway, there is a separate walk in closet which is also linked to the bathroom through a door. Closer to the sleeping area, there is another door for easy access. The bed is king sized and is pretty high, personally I love it as it provides very good support. The pillows on the other hand is pretty soft and I had to use 2 for better support.
Most rooms comes with a balcony and there are some that opens out to face the Malacca river and others that open out to face the centre water pool. The hotel is smoke free except for the balcony space. The room is great for families as there are ample space for children to run around. The hotel also provides small welcome details like a guest book, fruits or local dessert as a welcome gift and also a small notebook for you to jot down any inspirations during your holiday.
The bathroom is decorated in marble finishing with wooden doors and a separate shutter window where you can close them for privacy or open them for a view of the room and the TV. There is a glass shower room separate from the bathtub. Sufficient bath amenities are provided and there is direct access to the walk in closet from the bathroom for your dressing needs. Water pressure is great and temperature is adjustable to personal preference.
There is an infinity pool located at the roof top of the building and over looks the Malacca river. There is also shower facilities at the pool area for any guest who has checked out but would like to shower before their journey home.
Overall, the service standards of the hotel is good and the room layout and grounds of the hotel is very spacious and provides great relaxation for a weekend getaway. The only thing is that the rooms are rather pricey compared to the rest of the hotels in Malacca. If you do not mind splurging, Casa Del Rio is a good choice.
Address: 88, Jalan Laksamana, Taman Kota Laksamana, 75200 Melaka, Malaysia
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