Regalodge Hotel & The Limestone (Again) @ Ipoh

I've stayed at this place, Regalodge Hotel @ Ipoh last year when I went back to Ipoh for Chinese New Year and found my stay to be a pleasant one and (so) decided to book this hotel again this year.

This is a 3-star hotel and the room rate is still very much like last year...about RM180 nett.  The décor looked pretty similar to last year's as well.

The room I was given (this time on the 2nd floor) was not as pleasant as last year's (on the 3rd floor) coz the furnishings looked a bit older.  The giveaways were still similar to last year's...canned and packet drinks, a bag of chips, cup noodles and mineral water (and these are replenished on a daily basis).

We had our reunion dinner in Ipoh pretty early this year as we had to eat (and wash up) and get ready for the 8 pm mass (as Ash Wednesday coincided with Chinese New Year Eve this year).  It was a home cooked dinner with dishes like braised duck, poached chicken, freshwater prawns in egg white, wine and ginger, pork and yam in "nam yue" (red fermented bean curd), stir fried "jiu hu char" (jicama with carrots, dried shitake mushrooms and dried cuttlefish) served with fresh lettuce leaves, fried Ipoh beansprouts with salted fish, stuffed bean curd and fish balls, curry chicken, "loh hon chai" (mixed vegetables in nam yue), "lor bak" (deep fried meat rolls), fried fish and some others.

Because of the early dinner, we were feeling a wee bit hungry later in the night and decided to check out their room service menu.  The room service menu is from the same (and only) restaurant in the hotel, The Limestone, so you'd be assured of a fairly decent quality and taste.  The room service menu is quite extensive with offerings from soups to salads, pastas, pizzas, sandwiches and mains...with most priced under RM30!

I ordered the Hawaiian Seafood Mini Pizza @ RM27.50...I know, I know, it's not cheap but room service never is!  When the mini pizza arrived, I was glad to see that it wasn't that mini but roughly the size of a 10-inch pizza ;)

It was filled with salmon chunks, squid slices, small prawns, beef bacon bits, sliced onions, red and green capsicum in a tomato-based sauce and topped with melted cheese.  I think it was well worth the price with the plentiful ingredients...and, surprisingly, the taste was rather decent (for room service).

It's not usual for (most) Malaysians to tip at restaurants (unlike in US for example) coz there's already a 10% service charge in the bills but the funny thing is, there's no service charge at Limestone (including the room service).  So, I gave a tip (equivalent to about 10% of the bill) to the server who brought us the food.  Would you have tipped (even if there's already a 10% service charge in the bill) since this is room service?  I'm quite blur when it comes to tipping.  How much is a fair tip (say, for a server for room service, bellhops who assist with the luggage or those tasked with opening car doors, for example) in your opinion?

From our previous positive dining experience at Limestone, we opted to have our breakfast there again (this year) on the first day of Chinese New Year.  It sure beats the mayhem at dim sum restaurants or driving around to find good eating places that are open during the festive period.

I had The Limestone's Finest Club Sandwich (that's what was stated in the menu) @ RM16.50 which is their house special English layered club sandwich with turkey ham, fried egg, iceberg lettuce, cucumber and cheddar cheese (which I omitted, of course) dressed in mayo.

I won't say it's the finest club sandwich...kekeke....but it's as a sandwich should be (no complaints there).  The 2 portions of the triple decker sandwich are actually substantial enough for two (as a light breakfast).

That's because each breakfast order comes with a further 2 slices of complimentary bread and a drink of your choice.  I chose the croissant which came with butter and strawberry jam but the croissant turned out to be quite dense (better option to stick with plain toast).

This was the coffee of choice...."when in Rome, do as the Romans do", so I chose the Ipoh White Coffee (what else).  It was served in a more "atas" (fine dining) style....hee...hee! :p

You can also order their Breakfast Set @ RM19 (I call it Freestyle Breakfast Set) where you can have the option of selecting your choice of eggs, meat, bread and drink.  This is the omelette with mushrooms and beef bacon.

Partner that with a Fresh Orange Juice and you're good to go.

Or you can book the room with the breakfast included at a cost of RM15++ per person which works out to be more or less the same (depending on what you order).  Most of the breakfast menu items are priced under RM20.

My Personal Opinion

All in all, I still had a pleasant stay at Regalodge but (perhaps) might want to try a different hotel next year.  If you're looking for a fairly priced hotel stay (that won't blow your budget sky high since there's so much spending already for the festive season), this is a comfortable hotel for under RM200 a night.

Regalodge Hotel
131 Jalan Raja Ekram
30450 Ipoh
Perak
Tel: 05-242 5555