Foodaholic Tawau: BFTP: Le Meridien Kota Kinabalu

I came up with this special segment called BFTP = Blast From The Past (which will popped up from time to time) to feature some of the hotels/ eateries that I've previously been to (especially outside of Tawau but not strictly to that), that I also haven't done any reviews on (particularly because most of them were during my pre-blogging days, and I probably won't be going back any time soon). And no, I'm not doing this to show off (puh-lease!). It's more or less my way of going down my own memory lane since I had lots of fond memories on such places. And it will be a shame not to share some of those memories with y'all (wink wink). I'll only highlight some key points so ready or not, here's my first entry...

Le Meridien Kota Kinabalu Hotel

When - I have been to this hotel several times but the most recent one being on Dec 2012
Where - It's located just in front of Kota Kinabalu's popular Filipino Market.
Room(s) that I've stayed in - Classic Room, Deluxe Seaview Room & Club Junior Suite
Reason for staying -Mostly due to the holidays (because the place was very strategic)
Pros:
* Definitely one of those high end hotels in KK, with spacious rooms and even your personal DVD player on every room (which is not common for hotels in Malaysia)
* Do choose or upgrade to the Deluxe Seaview room for a spectacular view of the sea and the Filipino Market especially at night
* Free parking spaces (just bring along the ticket to be stamped at the reception counter)
* Love the fact that their suite also comes with its own (again, very spacious) living area as well as 2 separate bathrooms.
* Superb service at their in-house restaurant Circle, as well as pretty extensive dinner buffet selection
Cons:
* The price has recently been revised and hiked up so do expect a heftier price for your favorite rooms
* The decor might be a bit dated (but still pretty classy in my book)
* Do be extra careful when using the bathroom since the tiles can be pretty slippery (as evident with my personal experience of tripping and spraining my foot during a stay there - but that is entirely my fault)
* Swimming pool was great but there can be some 'fishy' smells coming from the nearby fish market
Memorable Event(s) - People still did not believe me when I tell them about this (but I swear to God that it is true). It was my stay back in 2011 when I was woken up by a banging on my door at around 3am. I peeped through the peephole and lo and behold, there's a naked Caucasian dude banging on my door like there's no tomorrow. Upon close inspection (hey, not that type of inspection okay..) the dude probably had a little too much fun and got himself drunk and locked out of his own room, which apparently was beside ours. A quick call to the front desk quickly solved the problem and I pretty much continued on with my slumber, as if nothing had happen (as if).
Overall rating: * * * * (it's still one of my preferred choice due to its very strategic location)

(P/S: Pictures below are mostly 'borrowed' from Tripadvisor.com so credit goes to them)