O my recent trip to Malaysia in February 2024, I also had one night at the Southern mainland town Johor Bahru. The town is located right at the bridge to Singapore. For my stay there, I went for the only Hilton option in town, the DoubleTree by Hilton Johor Bahru. Here is my hotel review. The visit was close to Chinese New Year.
DoubleTree Johor Bahru – Location
The hotel is located at the North of the city center, rather close to the Jalan Tun Abdul Razak road, which leads to the bridge to Singapore. All central attractions of the city and the main shopping centers there are in walking distance. The city center area also features grocery stores and restaurants. For other attractions like the amusement parks, you should take buses or taxis, which are very affordable.
A taxi ride to or from Johor Bahru Airport (JHB) takes about thirty minutes and costs less than 10 Euro if you use a Grab taxi. However, due to a lot of commuting between Malaysia and Singapore, the travel time may be significantly increased due to congestion. You should definitely factor that in, also if you take the airport bus. Johor Bahru Sentral, the central rail station of the town is a ten minute walk away. There is also a local bus station right in front of the hotel. If you come by car, the hotel offers complimentary self parking (or valet parking for a fee).
DoubleTree Johor Bahru – Room
I had a one night stay at the DoubleTree by Hilton Johor Bahru. The flexible, double points, rate for a High Floor King Deluxe Room was 501 MYR, roughly 104 Euro. It included breakfast due to my Hilton Honors Diamond status, which also lead to an upgrade to a lovely King One Bedroom Suite. The living room of the room was very spacious and comfortable, with a large sofa area and a glass table, which I used for working. Compared to that, the sleeping room almost felt narrow, but was absolutely nice as well and more than fit for purpose. Due to the high floor, I also had a lovely view of the city.
The bathroom was located in the hallway between the living and the sleeping area. It came with separate bathtub and shower, which I absolutely liked. The bathroom was nice and spacious and also had quite a lot of space to store my toiletries. Typical amenities like soap, shower gel and shampoo were given in dispensers, while additional items (like a dental kit) were available separately. The room was very well maintained and absolutely clean.
DoubleTree Johor Bahru – Executive Lounge
One facility, which you absolutely wouldn’t expect at a DoubleTree, is an executive lounge, which is located at the 29th floor. The lounge at the DoubleTree by Hilton Johor Bahru is very spacious and lovely. Especially the pre-dinner snacks were much more than you could expect and replaced a full meal for me. You can also have breakfast in the lounge – however, I went for the full option (see below). The views are lovely, due to the top of the building location of the lounge.
DoubleTree Johor Bahru – Breakfast
Buffet breakfast is served at the Makan restaurant on the ground floor of the hotel. It reminded me of breakfast in United Arab Emirates hotels, as the cuisines were so widespread. There were local dishes as well as other Asian cusines as well as Western breakfast. Thereby, the breakfast is organized in several sections. I would have loved to try out more than I did – the start of the day in Johor Bahru was definitely a treat!
DoubleTree Johor Bahru – Service
The staff in the hotel was absolutely amazing. I just ran into friendly and motivated people. WiFi in the hotel worked very well, too. Th hotel runs a lovely pool area, which is also kind offering at least a bit of privacy, despite the large buildings around. Next to it, there is also a comparably large gym, so that you can also do some sports while staying there. Last, but not least, it is a DoubleTree – so the complimentary cookie at check-in was part of my experience as well.
DoubleTree Johor Bahru – My View
I still can hardly believe that this hotel is classified as a DoubleTree. I have been to Hilton Hotels, which were much worse than this place. The service is amazing, the room was great. On top the executive lounge and the breakfast were an absolute treat. Bad luck that the border crossing is still quite bothering. Otherwise, the hotel would even be the perfect location for a trip to Singapore. I absolutely loved it.
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