Would you stay in an eSports hotel? Prices start at RM 122 for a half-day stay

SEM9—a Southeast Asian eSports organisation—announced that they have launched “Southeast Asia’s very first eSports Hotel” in Johor. According to SEM9, the hotel “aims to bring a brand new concept gaming/eSports field”, but will it be a popular concept?

“SEM9 Senai proffers the ultimate in comfort, marrying form and function to meet the toughest of needs of not just the best eSports teams worldwide, but also to cater to guests of all kinds with a bevy of gaming and non-gaming rooms,” said Tommy Chieng, Chairman of SEM9.

What the heck is an eSports hotel?

SEM9 describes its first eSports hotel as a hotel with rooms “tastefully decked with LED lights” and “ultra high-performance gaming computers powered by the latest Nvidia graphics”. However, they also have rooms that have the PlayStation 5, and rooms that don’t have any gaming amenities at all—in case you just want a regular hotel room.

It also has gaming chairs, and other gaming peripherals that you could want to play eSports and other games to your hearts content. But of course, they also have different sized rooms and room styles as well as the other hotel amenities you would need. You know, like a bathroom, coffee, bottled water, and air conditioning amongst others. Below are the types of gaming rooms you can book:

S9 Double

The most “basic” gaming room in the hotel provides guests with a king-sized bed, the regular hotel amenities, as well as two PCs with NVIDIA RTX 3060 GPU, two 24-inch 165hz gaming monitors, and free high-speed internet connection. You can book the room for RM243.80 a night.

You can also book the room for a half day. The time slots for the half day booking are from 7pm to 12pm (overnight) or 1pm to 6pm (afternoon). However, the half day room only has a sofa bed. The afternoon slot costs RM121.90 a night, whereas the overnight slot costs RM169.60 a night.

S9 Triple

The S9 Triple room is, you guessed it, for up to three guests. It’s got three PCs with NVIDIA RTX 3060 GPU, three 24-inch 165hz gaming monitors, and free high-speed internet connection—as well as one queen bed and one single bunk bed. You can book the room for RM286.20 a night.

S9 Deluxe

The S9 Deluxe room can fit up to four guests, and has two queen sized beds. It’s got four PCs with NVIDIA RTX 3060 GPU, four 24-inch 165hz gaming monitors, and free high-speed internet connection. You can book the room for RM371 a night.

S9 Cozy

This room is a little different because it’s targeted to mobile and console gamers. For a maximum of two guests, the room has a PlayStation 5 with two DualSense wireless controllers, a 46-inch wall-mounted TV, free high speed WiFi, and a dedicated wall charger for mobile gaming. However, this room only has a sofa bed and a bean bag chair—not an actual bed.

The room costs RM233.20 a night for a full day. The afternoon slot costs RM121.90 a night, and the overnight slot costs RM169.60 a night.

SEM9 Senai’s gaming rooms are available to book now starting today with 122 rooms (including non-gaming rooms). You can visit their site here.

What do you think of the eSports hotel concept? I personally don’t see the appeal at all—but that’s because I’m not the target market. But I’m interested in seeing if it becomes a more popular concept.

Fellow writers Raymond and Najib even pointed out that cyber cafes in Malaysia aren’t that popular anymore, likely due to mobile gaming popularity and the convenience of playing at home (if you have the means). So, this luxury cyber cafe could only appeal to a small number of gamers.