Joe Fisherman Inn

Hotel with a large swimming pool. Suitable for family with small kids. Near the beach and street foods.

Best hotel

We were looking forward to staying at Joe Fisherman Inn due to the positive reviews and helpful responses when we got in touch before our stay. The location is also not far from Coral Beach which is meant to be the best on the island. We took a taxi from the jetty for 18 RM. The welcome was friendly & the aircon was left on before we arrived, which was a nice touch. The twin room was spacious & felt very clean. Loved the wooden floor & furnishings, which gave the room a rustic feel. There was no storage space but a seating space/ a bench & a table to place our belongings. There were also many hangers, which are always welcome. Windows are tinted which keeps out the strong sunlight & prying eyes. There is a terrace on the second floor so you can dry your clothes outside. There is also a sheltered seating area where you can breakfast. Breakfast, other than being late the first day, was really good. The food seems to be delivered daily. We had nasi lemak with ikan bills, roti canai, spring rolls & samosas, a nonya kueh with grated coconut & brown sugar, as well as kopi & teh tarik - the latter was addictive! The banana cake slathered with the slightly salted peanut butter was a revelation & taste sensation!! Some negatives about the room/ hotel: - The floor mats outside the bathroom & at the door were stained & looked filthy. Our room was cleaned after 2 days but the mats were not replaced. - The whole bathroom, including the toilet was soaking wet when we arrived & after cleaning on the second day (we had asked for shower gel to be replenished & were offered a room clean). At least the toilet & surfaces other than the floor could have been dried. The toilet seat wasn't cleaned when the room was refreshed. - There is a gap in the shower head connector so most of the water spurted out through the gap rather than the shower head. - The toilet is just behind the door so if you open it wide, it would hit the toilet, which was kinda shaky! - The room faces the pool & was pretty noisy when the place seemed fully booked on the weekend. - There are diagonal lines across the TV images which are also very grainy; one channel keeps freezing - There were ants, flies & mosquitoes in the room & it wasn't uncommon to wake up with bites on our arms & legs. - The pool was welcome but didn't look very clean. - Breakfast only starts at 8am which is pretty late. There is also limited seating. We had to insist on eating at 8am though some dishes weren't ready as we had to take some medication. Because the breakfast starts so late, most people appeared before which meant there was likely to be overcrowding as we witnessed on our first morning as there was a massive group of guests who took over the area though they were not dining. This was immensely selfish & the guesthouse could have managed this better or staggered the breakfast times. Better yet, start early! Staff were generally very helpful & welcoming. As it was raining when we left, they helped