Travel Destination :: Fraser's Hill Olde Smokehouse Hotel :: Very English~

Ye Olde Smokehouse

This was a Groupon Coupon Holiday so while I am at it I am going to give you some Groupon tips, derived from more than 365++ days of valuable Groupon experience. First of all, carefully read the disclaimer on the hotel deals. Secondly read the room description and get the hotel number for questions. This Groupon we bought was a suite at an old English Hotel for RM270/night. But then because we went on a weekend we had a surcharge of RM110. This resulted in an RM380 /night stay---RM5 less than if we booked the hotel direct. So we didn't exactly get a spectacular money saving deal from Groupon.

Garden where we had breakfast

Signboard near entrance

But nevertheless, it was a wonderful English holiday. And Fraser's Hill is wonderfully clean. The weather wasn't cool, in fact it was the warmest of all the highlands I've been to in Malaysia. There are very few activities to do if you want to have a family weekend though. It's more suitable for oldish married couples who want to come and relax and enjoy dinner and breakfast in each others company. Because that's all we did really.

The bed. And our bag.

Fire place by living room.

The hotel has 12 rooms only. Our room had creaking wooden floors, a gigantic old wardrobe, a little sitting area and all the makings of possible supernatural activities. A chat with the managers enlightened us on the hotel's history: it used to be a hospital. In fact, it's mere existence was donated by some Iluminati sect. Nevertheless, we slept amazingly sound that night. I mean, just look at the bed, its like sleeping on a fluffy cloud.

Lilies. I loved these. The whole house
and garden was filled with lots of flowers.

Breakfast on the terrace overlooking the garden.

There's no air-conditioning in the room but the night air was cool and breezy thanks to a small fan on the dresser. There's no TV set in the room either and since we had room service, we just stared each other down over dinner. Then we had a good conversation about the latest technology trends. I am not going to post our dinner pictures. The room was dark and the pictures came out all wrong.

Study room. On second floor

Front living room. Reminds me of the B&Bs back in the UK. Friendly kitchen at the back.

Our suite name. Suites were named and not numbered. How sweet.

English breakfast that came with room. Included in room rate.

The quaint mosque in Fraser's just a few metres from our hotel.

Tips for Fraser Hill visitors:

1. The road up to Fraser's is only 30 km uphill but the twists and turns were horrendous and some parts of the road was a bit too narrow for comfort. There were also encounters with tanah runtuh and tanah terbakar areas that looked like we were heading for trouble. I recommend going up and down the mountain only during sunlight and good weather. 
2. Make sure you have a full tank when you head up the mountain. There are no petrol stations in Fraser. The local jimat store has them on sale for RM10 per 1.5 liters (and even then the bottle isn't full). The jimat store dude didn't even want to sell us the petrol. He said they were for emergencies only (read: unless your car is dead stay away from my petrol). I had to use my Level 5 Blooms Taxanomy communication skills to get some petrol off of him. 
3. Don't bother packing any warm clothes. The weather is as warm as it is in your house with the aircon turned off. Just pack some regular clothing and some comfortable all-terrain shoes. Its nice to have a walk of the area in the mornings and evenings.
4. Fraser's may be a bit too quiet for children. We recommend you take them somewhere else. Like a hotel with a swimming pool. There are lots of Groupon's for that.
5. Things to do in Fraser's: golf, walk, run, horse-riding, boating, eat and sleep. I recommend two nights in Fraser's for a perfectly well-rested holiday.

The godfather. Be warned.

Thanks to my husband for his companionship and good company :)