Hatten Hotel head chef Badrol Hisham Mohd Ali said the hotel was not generating any revenue as there were no guests because of the MCO, resulting in even their restaurant being forced to shut.

“Apart from generating some form of revenue for the hotel, the sale of the budget lunch packs will also benefit those whose incomes have been adversely affected by the pandemic.

“We started selling the budget lunch packs on Friday and the response has been encouraging. About 500 people have been visiting the stalls daily,” he told Bernama here today.

The RM2 lunch packs consist of white rice served either with a piece of chicken or fish as well as some vegetables.

“There are also other side dishes such as ‘ayam madu’, ‘ayam percik’, cakes and cookies, but these are sold separately.

“We offer a different menu every day so that customers can look forward to enjoying something different,” he said, adding that the lunch packs went on sale from noon till 8 pm daily.

He said the hotel planned to sell the budget lunch packs for a limited period of one month and will review their next course of action depending on developments regarding the MCO.

A customer who wanted to be known only as Azlin, 22, a salesgirl at a healthcare shop near the hotel, said she was very happy with the budget lunch pack options.

“Most eateries in Banda Hilir are expensive. As such, the budget lunch packs at this hotel are most welcome, even though I had to queue for about 30 minutes.

The Hatten Hotel in Melaka is the latest after those in Penang and Terengganu also offered value lunch packs when business dipped due to the pandemic.