Last Christmas holiday, I brought my family for a short vacation at Fraser’s Hill near Raub, Pahang. It’s been a few years since we last visited Fraser’s Hill and it is still one of my favourite cool weather vacation spots in Malaysia. It’s less than 3 hours drive from my house and traffic is pretty non-existent unlike the perpetually congested Cameron Highlands.
Last time I visited Fraser with my family, my wife and I jogged around the place and during the jog, we walked past this pretty hotel called Shahzan Inn. Their beautifully-lit restaurant looked gorgeous in the morning and I said to my wife, someday we’ll stay at this hotel. Well, that someday is this year because we booked the now-called Wyndham Shahzan Inn hotel. It is more expensive than the other hotels in the area but we thought, why not.
Fraser’s Hill doesn’t change much since we last visited. Yes there’s some Christmas decoration on the famous clock tower and a few new restaurants here and there but there rest is pretty much unchanged. As always, we went to the usual food court at the secluded corner of the town since they are cheaper. There wasn’t much to do in Fraser’s Hill except eating at one of the many restaurants and cafés, bird-watching and the usual hiking along the trails. There’s a trail for every hiking-level including the popular and challenging Pine’s trail which my wife and I had traversed many years ago.
The next morning, my wife and I didn’t miss the chance to have a little morning walk around the place. The morning air was misty and cool giving for a refreshing walk. Shahzan Inn was a decent hotel although it could be better in some aspects. There’s limited parking around the hotel and the pretty restaurant that we saw that day charges 30 ringgit per person for breakfast which we find a little pricey for some regular-looking food. The hotel also seems to be in a perpetual state of renovation with construction tools and materials all over the hotel. I’ve read the review and it’s been that way for over a year now. Embarrassing since it is part of the renown Wyndham chain of hotels.
That said, I still won’t mind going there again in the future. Especially if I want to enjoy a trafficless, stress-free short weekend getaway. Maybe we will go hiking with the kids next time round.
