Located near the beautiful Dusit Princess hotel and tucked inside the modern heart of Melaka, Kampung Morten offers visitors a rare chance to witness a traditional Malay village that’s still very much alive, with its residents preserving customs, crafts, and heritage architecture amid an ever-changing cityscape.
It’s not often you come across a place where heritage is not only preserved but lived every day. The Klan Jetties in Penang certainly come to mind, but the Malay counterpart to that, in George Town’s twin UNESCO-inscribed heritage city of Melaka, is unquestionably Kampung Morten. Located along the lovely Melaka River, this is one of those rare places: a traditional Malay village quietly holding its ground as the city around it evolves into a modern tourist magnet. We had previously discovered the charms of this almost-hidden pocket of the city on a trip to Melaka, and made a point to include it on our itinerary on our most recent visit.
Named after British land commissioner Frederick Joseph Morten, the village was founded in 1920 with the help of a $10,000 government loan. It was carved out of what was then a mangrove swamp, intended as a new settlement for displaced Malay communities. In an unusual show of colonial gratitude, the village was named after Morten himself – a name it retains to this day.
Today, Kampung Morten is gazetted as a heritage village under the Malacca Preservation and Conservation Enactment, and it’s easy to see why. Home to around 85 traditional Malay houses, the village is effectively a walkable open-air museum – but one that’s still very much lived in. Residents continue their daily routines here, often inviting curious travellers to witness or even participate in cultural demonstrations, from weaving pandan mats to putting on small gamelan performances.
The architecture is one of the key attractions. Built mostly from wood, bamboo, and nipah thatch, the houses follow the traditional Malay design of being raised on stilts. They feature wide verandas, pitched roofs, and more than a few are brightly painted in pastel shades with hand-carved embellishments. Many houses still follow the traditional system of post-and-beam construction without nails, allowing them to be dismantled and moved in times of flooding – a clever feature from an earlier era that speaks volumes about local ingenuity. As we strolled through the riverside village, we saw a number of residents going about their daily routines, the quiet air of the neighbourhood only occasionally broken by the cawing of crows or a tourist boat cruising by on the river.
Perhaps the best-known property in Kampung Morten is Villa Sentosa, built by Haji Hashim Abdul Ghani in the 1920s and still run by his descendants today. The house doubles as a living museum and is open to the public daily (except for shortened hours on Fridays). Inside, visitors are shown a treasure trove of Malay memorabilia – wedding costumes, musical instruments, antique household tools, and family heirlooms – all explained in earnest by the home’s caretakers. The villa celebrated its 100-year anniversary in 2024.
The village is fronted by the winding Melaka River, a once-important trade route that’s now better known for leisurely cruises and evening strolls. Boats still pass regularly, offering glimpses of Kampung Morten that contrast sharply with the notably more tourist-heavy stretches downstream. Here, the view is quieter and more authentically lived-in – traditional houses, clotheslines, and the occasional resident tending to potted plants by the water’s edge. The riverside path is a pleasant place to walk, certainly in the cooler morning hours, but also especially around sunset, when the village lights come on and the animated chatter from visiting neighbours carries across the river. Indeed, late afternoon or early evening is said to be a particularly great time to visit, as many residents return from work and the village comes alive with conversations, cooking, and impromptu neighbourhood gatherings.
A small handful of food stalls and local kitchens are also found here. We found an inviting and extremely casual open-air eatery called Morten Bridge Kitchen and enjoyed some very nice local food one evening, including a delicious tilapia penyet dish and sotong goreng tepung (crispy fried squid rings).
Later in the trip, an impromptu mid-morning stroll along the river and into the kampung proved to be most enjoyable. It was also a good way to walk off a few calories from the excellent breakfast at our dhotel!
Despite being almost surrounded by the river that snakes around it, Kampung Morten’s location actually makes it easily accessible (that, and the scene-stealing Morten Bridge). And though it seems to be in a world all its own, in fact the village is just a short walk from Melaka’s well-known historic centre. It’s also visible from river cruises, with its colourful homes offering a stark contrast to the neon lights, soaring modern buildings, and even some mild urban sprawl that surround it.
STAY IN STYLE
We were in town to revisit one of our favourite places in Melaka, the Dusit Princess hotel, just nearby. The hotel officially opened on May 29, 2025 as the first entry of the well-known Thai hospitality brand in Malaysia, and it’s proved to be a success. The 296-room property was previously operated as a Ramada hotel, and while it’s still under the same ownership now, the extensive refurbishment and rebranding really brings the Dusit hotel into its own.
Rooms at the Dusit Princess are smartly decorated and appointed, most offering eye-catching views of either the city or the Straits of Malacca, depending of course on which side you’re located. Ours boasted a separate bathtub and walk-in shower, a spacious writing desk, a large lounge/daybed, and the accoutrements expected in any upscale hotel, such as a fridge with minibar, coffee and tea-making facilities, Nespresso pod coffee machine, comfy robes, and a safe.
The staff are keen to blend Thailand’s legendary hospitality with Melaka’s rich heritage, and the hotel has spent the last year and a half really making a name for itself in Melaka’s hospitality market, too, with favourable rates, excellent service, and a long list of upscale offerings, including spacious rooms, onsite restaurants, a well-appointed 24-hour gym, a welcoming lobby lounge and bar, a lovely club lounge, and what is surely one of the best hotel pools to be found in Malaysia (and the deepest in the state of Melaka, we learned). The club lounge is spacious and smartly furnished and a rotating selection of hot and cold snacks and foods are served each night for cocktail hours, along with beers, wines, ciders, and a range of non-alcoholic beverages, too. Moreover, at every turn while in the lounge, we found the service to be exceptional. There aren’t likely a huge number of hotels in Melaka with proper club lounges, so we’re delighted to see such an impressive one at the Dusit Princess.
The large swimming pool, located on level 9, stands out for a number of reasons. First, the elevated views in all directions are superb on a clear day, offering guests a sweeping vantage point of the cityscape as they relax poolside. Curtained, cabana-style daybeds, wide sunloungers, and plentiful greenery and topiary give a “lazy tropics meet the elegant Mediterranean” vibe! The pool is always staffed during opening hours, and at one point while lounging by the pool, one of the staff came over with an offer of complimentary super-chilled watermelon wedges, which was a nice touch.
Partially submerged loungers are available in the pool’s shallowest end, while a pair of waterslides offer kids (and the occasional adult) plenty of fun. But the most surprising thing about this pool – beyond its sheer size – really is its state-record-holding depth! In a world that seems to eschew any pool deeper than 1.5 m, Dusit offers guests a chance to not just wade, but truly swim. If anything gives away the fact that, despite the hotel’s modern, contemporary style, it was actually first built in the 1980s, it’s this amazing pool. The pool gradually deepens as you move from one side to the other, eventually reaching a depth of 2.7 m. We can’t remember the last time we saw a pool in any hotel (or even a condo for that matter) that’s nearly nine feet deep! They genuinely don’t build ’em like this anymore, so be sure to avail yourself a dip in the amazing pool while staying here.
One level down from the pool is the well-equipped hotel gym, which also includes separate changing rooms and saunas and steam rooms. We’ve also heard that the Dusit Princess’s 185-sq m Presidential Suite even boasts its own private steam room and sauna, but alas, we were just in a regular room, so could not confirm!
On the dining side, the hotel offers a true classic. For decades, even before last year’s big rebranding, its Long Feng restaurant had been a fixture in the neighbourhood. When the Ramada Plaza hotel was then refurbished and upgraded to become the Dusit Princess, Long Feng remained, much to the delight of its many loyal patrons. Much like the hotel, the restaurant was also refreshed prior to reopening, and we popped in on the weekend to enjoy a wonderful dim sum buffet. The elegant Cantonese restaurant offers not only outstanding food, but great value for money, as well, whether having the weekend buffet or ordering from the extensive à la carte menu. Our review for Long Feng can be found HERE.
AREA ATTRACTIONS
As for neighbourhood wandering, not only is Kampung Morten immediately nearby, so is the classic Majestic Hotel, and you need not be a guest to nip in to its old-school colonial-style lobby and enjoy a classic gin and tonic at the beautiful bar. (Our advice? Go from 5 to 7pm and take advantage of their excellent buy-one-free-one happy hours.) A number of popular food stalls and hawker centres are also within a one- or two-block stroll if you’re craving some of Melaka’s local delicacies.
We also got the terrific tip from one of the hotel’s friendly staff to check out the Tipsy Bridge Bar, just a short walk from the hotel. The festive alleyway (Lorong Jambatan), just across an arched bridge over the Melaka River, is festooned with colourful lights and a number of cantina-style bars set up tables and chairs and impromptu karaoke stations. We checked out Tipsy Bridge and also the Cross Street Bar and had a most enjoyable evening – it was a fine recommendation and one we’d extend to others, as well!
Not far, as well, is the ever-popular Jonker Walk, taking its place as the heart of modern tourism in Melaka. Whether you like it or not is entirely another subject, but it’s certainly an interesting diversion. However, we wonder how much Melaka’s UNESCO-inscribed heritage is really being communicated here, with dozens of tables hawking everything from cheap plastic trinkets and toys to Thai food and Thai milk tea. It’s certainly worth a stroll, if only for the sheer spectacle of it all.
If you’d rather stay on-site and soak up some classy ambiance in Dusit’s lobby lounge, called Famosa, they almost always have some happy hour specials worth checking out. And it’s a stylish and appealing space, too. Comfy sectional sofas are placed around the square-shaped bar, and there are some private rooms off to the side, as well.
But surely the fondest memories of our stay at the Dusit Princess included checking out the nearby bar scene, and also that impromptu morning walk which, over a leisurely hour and a half, took us along the winding river, by the api-api mangrove forest (Avicennia marina) – which was replete with numerous massive Malayan water monitors (Varanus salvator), the second-heaviest lizard species in the world, eclipsed only by the famed Komodo dragon – and over the colourful Morten Bridge and among the dozens of old Malay kampung houses with their characteristic Melakan style. That such an enlightening experience could be found such a short stroll away from the hotel made it all the more enjoyable.
Kampung Morten stands as perhaps one of the last remaining Malay kampungs within a Malaysian city centre, offering a genuine, unfiltered window into the past. It’s not a performance, nor is it a museum-like set piece, frozen in time. It’s real heritage that still lives and breathes – and to us, that’s exactly what makes it special.
