For Singaporeans staying in the north, a staycation at Johor Bahru (JB) is preferred over one in Singapore's downtown for two reasons; the nearer distance and the convenience if you are travelling by the KTM shuttle train, and the mere fact that you are out of the Singapore!
About two months ago, my elder sister arranged a one-night stay at Amari Johor Bahru to celebrate my mom's birthday and i happily tagged along for fun since i didn't have anything planned that weekend.
Completed in 2017, Amari Johor Bahru is a fairly new hotel located right opposite Komtar JBCC; which means you can just walk from Malaysia JB checkpoint instead of having to take a cab! Furthermore, it's a five-star hotel with pricing that could never be found in a similarly starred hotel in Singapore!
Spacious hotel lobby on level six of the building.
Amaya Café where you can spend your afternoon on high tea; adjacent to it is the resident restaurant. Unfortunately, we are not big on breakfast in JB as there are plenty of eateries offering cheap and good breakfast like Hua Mui (華美茶餐室), Restoran Multi Mart Coffee Shop etc.
Got our key cards!
The brightly-lit corridor on the 17th floor - our allocated room was 1707 and it's a superior twin room that my sister had booked. I was feeling a bit guilty as there were only two beds for the three of us and my mom and sister offered to share one bed which i thought might be too squeezy.
Oh by the way, free wifi for hotel occupants!
The twin beds in multiple shots; thankfully, their width appeared to be alright for two persons and i can't deny i was enjoying my sleep that night.
Simple study table that's kind of out-of-place and appeared to be purchased and brought in separately when the room designer decided that the space needed something.
Our window view; which wasn't much.
40-inch LED television and the list of amenities included in the room; mini fridge, two bottles of mineral water, electric kettle, sachets of tea and coffee.
Wardrobe that's accessible from the front and back (which was closer to the bathroom); nice concept that's not recommended for a home unless you have plenty of space! Anyway, an iron and ironing board were included, together with a hair dryer (a piece of equipment deemed to be a necessity for my mom when she travels).
Bathroom with rainfall shower and the usual amenities.
Gymnasium on the 8th floor - guess it would be decent for my younger sister who was away in Australia when we were in JB; if not, she would usually join us.
Face towels and orange infused water were available - thankfully, my elder sister didn't come up with us as she will fill up her bottle with the water; it happened before when we were staying at Best Western Premier La Grande Hotel in Bandung!
Swimming pools on the same level as the gym, with one tagged as a children's pool; nothing fascinating to be honest and it's not big but it will do if you have kids who love to take a dip.
The dip lounge, overlooking Komtar JBCC, would likely be a nice chill out place at night. Hopefully, the breeze visits on a daily basis since i didn't notice any ceiling, wall-mount fans.
A viewing platform that appeared to connect to the hotel's restaurant on level six; well, eight floors up are not exactly that high... Might be better if this was constructed on the top roof level.
There are two rooms on the lobby level that's open to the hotel occupants; the above is the posh looking 'library' which had computers for you to surf the web and nice, comfy sofa chairs. Well, not my exact definition for library since there were not many books to begin with. Maybe i can help donate a few from my collection?
Social room consisted of two sections; one had a pool table which i thought was more appropriate at the Dip Lounge near the pool. But it does play its part for social activity; hence, can't fault it for being there.
A connecting room was filled with bean bags and a television; a movie room and it was showing Frozen! Let it go, let it go! Anyway, there's no remove-your-shoes sign and i can't imagine the dirt being brought in!
List of movies shown in the movie room; as you can probably deduce, the movies were selected to target the children even though i, as an adult about to reach my 40s, had no issue enjoying them! Please bring in Coco and Trolls too!
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Location
No.82C, Jalan Trus,
80000 Johor Bahru,
Johor, Malaysia
Website
Pricing
