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Strategically located in the district of Permas Jaya, Renaissance JB stands tall as the newest and perhaps only true luxury hotel in Johor Bahru having just opened in May this year. Designed for both business and leisure travelers, it features a business center, outdoor pool terrace, 24-hour fitness centre, nearby golf course and sauna facilities.
Their 5-star dining options include Cantonese restaurant WAN-LI, International Buffet Cafe BLD (acronym for Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner) and bakery Chocolate Cake Company.
Upon arrival our arrival, we were greeted by two cheerful security guards as we entered the main lobby. The hotel, furnished with wooden tones and warm lighting made me feel right at home with its inviting glow. I remember telling the other TSL writers the moment we left the hotel for lunch “Let’s finish our food fast, I wanna go home” so yeah, I have detachment issues with nice places.
Located close to the city center and the key industrial and port facility in Pasir Gudang, there are numerous business facilities set up such as their 11 multi-purpose function rooms, 7 meeting rooms and a grand ballroom of 2,142 square meters that can accommodate 840 for banquet seating.
The swimming pool area has a jacuzzi area and cabanas around the pool. Wait service comes along regularly to hand you complimentary bottles of water or to ask if you would like any other refreshments while you sun tan on the day beds.
Panorama – Click on the bottom right button to use full screen mode and zoom in.
After checking-in we made our way to our room which was a Junior Suite connected to a Guest Room which featured Club lounge access. The Junior Suite room was extremely spacious especially the living area and master bathroom.
The living area can accommodate up to eight seated people on the dining chairs and sofas, throwing in the lounge chair and bed in the bedroom you could easily have over 10 guests in your hotel room and not feel overcrowded at all!
I am not an advocate of watching television when travelling because there is so much to see and do, but with 42-inch Tv’s in both the living and bedroom I succumbed to this guilty pleasure for awhile instead of sleeping.
Strangely my favorite place in the whole hotel room was the master bathroom. Simply because it was fit for a king (or queen) with a walk in wardrobe and compartmentalized sink area, toliet, shower AND bathtub.
The Guest Rooms start at just $360 MYR which I find extremely reasonable for a 5 star hotel of this standard. For their latest rates please go here.
Whenever I travel, I love to find out about the local culture by trying local food and patronizing shophouses to get a feel of the place and how the average local lives rather than what the tourism industry imposes on you.
As you can see from my wonder-map above the whole area in the red zone are local shophouses with anything from local food to massage places and even pet stores. Like true adventurers, we left maps behind and struck it out on our own, which resulted in a lot of wandering around, phrases like “are we lost?” and a whole lot of fun.
With a mini-mart at the gas station to satisfy late night hunger pangs and JUSCO just a 10 mins walk away, Renaissance JB has lots of authentic local experiences just round the corner. Our favourite was the newly opened Tea Garden which serves up delectable local cuisine, their specialty being Nasi Lemak.
Another decent find was the “bak kut teh” we had for lunch at a nondescript coffee shop right behind Renaissance JB. I was not expecting much but the soup turned out to be really tasty when served with beancurd skin – although the meat was too tough for my liking.
For those with access, the club lounge serves complimentary breakfast with fresh fruits and juices. In the evening, you can wind down to cocktails and finger food with a great view of the Singapore coast in front of you. It also features a meeting room, TV lounge, outdoor patio terrace and internet work station making sure you are truly able to lounge the day away.
While on the topic of food, be sure to check out our review of Cafe BLD which serves an enormous variety of sumptuous international cuisine.
Some of my family and friends were worried about my trip to Malaysia as they had concerns about my safety. With the key system which required your hotel key to take the elevator to your floor made me feel much safer as random passerby’s can’t just waltz right in and take the lift.
No matter how early we left the hotel or how late we return, the security guards would get the door for us without fail, doing their rounds faithfully. With round the clock security, there isn’t much I can ask for!
With their warm smiles and cordial disposition, the hotel staff really added to the my experience in Renaissance JB. Forget walking out under the blazing sun trying to hail a cab only to be ripped off with “fixed rates”. The hotel staff were able to get us cabs with metered fare (which is a huge difference as fixed rates are much higher) and cheaper prices within minutes and all we had to do was sit in the air-conditioned lobby and wait!
Renaissance JB is a great getaway for the weekend if you’re thinking of heading over to Malaysia for a short getaway. Instead of having to fight in the causeway traffic it may be a good idea to prolong your trip here with a nice relaxing stay. Another plus is its short distance to the causeway and big malls like JB Sentral and the huge street market area of Pandan City.
Our idea of going to Legoland and then returning to peaceful slumber at Hotel Renaissance JB on Day 1 turned out to be perfect. It gave us the energy on Day 2 to fully explore the surrounding areas of JB, an area we weren’t too familiar with before with so much to discover. You can read more about our Day 2 adventure on Wei Ling’s blog.
Hotel Renaissance JB is located at 2 Jalan Permas 11, Bandar Baru Permas Jaya, 81750 Masai, Johor, Malaysia. Call them directily att 607.381.3333 or visit jbrenaissance.com.
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Also check out Wei Ling’s blog of our 3D2N Johor trip from her perspective.
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