Hotel Kuching

We anticipated our first meal in Borneo to be an exciting one. Not yet acquainted with the country, we didn’t know what to expect as we were unfamiliar with the culture and uncertain of the local cuisine. All we knew is that we were hungry and tired. We disembarked the plane about 10:00 PM local time and decided to eat at the airport, not knowing if anything was still open near our hotel. Asia has amazing foods, and our stay in Thailand trained us to expect only the freshest ingredients with a hint of an unknown spice or two. We were excited at the possibilities and ready to eat. We entered the main terminal and found our first restaurant in our new land: McDonalds.

We arrived by Taxi at our Hotel, the Hilton Kuching. We were speedily checked in and soon settled into our rooms on the Penthouse floor, which in this case happened to be the 13^th floor. I have been in a lot of hotels in a lot of cities, but can’t recall ever being on the 13^th floor since superstitiously in the USA most buildings skip the 13^th floor. In addition to the novelty of the number of our floor, we learned that Princess Royal Anne of the UK had been staying on the same floor and left only that morning.

Now we certainly wouldn’t have chosen to stay and pay for a room upgrade to the Penthouse floor of a major hotel chain without a little added clout. In this case our clout happens to be in the form of Mark. Mark has become an expert in discount travel and knows all the cards to acquire, the programs to join, and the places to shop to maximize his travel benefits. Before this trip he encouraged me to apply for a specific credit card which granted me immediate Hilton Gold status. This preferred status allowed us a free room upgrade to the Penthouse floor, and includes free access to the executive lounge which provides a variety of complimentary beverages all day, including alcohol, and free breakfast and dinner. All three weeks of our stay in Asia are in Hilton hotels, and all rooms were purchased using our existing points which we earned by using Hilton affiliated credit cards. Considering how Mark found us flights from the US to Malaysia for only $299, along with free lodging and most of our meals being complimentary; the cost of our trip is an absolute minimum. 

As a little added surprise, the printed welcome information in our room had a picture of a Hilton Gold card and camels were prominently featured on the card. The appearance of camels, my favorite animal, on the card will no doubt encourage me to keep gold status forever!

The executive lounge is open daily from 6:00 AM to 10:00 PM. Mark was optimistic that we could get an early start our first morning. But being more the night owls, Bryan and I scoffed at the idea of meeting before 9:00 AM. That first night our internal time clocks were so messed up that we found ourselves up and dressed and waiting for the lounge to open at 6:00 AM.

From our rooftop view we watched the first light of morning slowly creep across the landscape. This was the first real daylight we had seen since leaving Chicago three days prior. The Hilton is perched on the edge of the Sarawak River which winds itself through the capitol city of Kuching. Directly across the river stands the State’s Parliament building, which is a uniquely beautiful modern structure with a somewhat Islamic design. Surrounding the Parliament building is a thickly wooded area housing several historic structures. A volcanic shaped mountain could be seen in the distance, shrouded in low laying clouds. As the morning brightened, small narrow boats started appearing on the brown waters of the river. Each craft resembled the small fishing boats made famous in images of Asian harbors. We took some pictures, and for a few moments watched the morning travelers scurrying around on the river banks before heading to the executive lounge.