Mutiara - Johor Bahru

It's been a while since I last crossed the border. Very pleased with the smooth crossing. We were in and out of Singapore (and Malaysia) in less than 30 minutes.

The old exterior of the hotel would not give you a good first impression. In fact, it would scare you. Esp that it was located just beside a dying mall.

But the interior will give you hope. The lobby, though not grand, is very clean and nice.

The rooms are big and the beds were comfortable.

The toilet was huge too. 

The boys had so much fun playing at the bath tub.

The pool was old and small. It was too cold because it was raining during our whole stay. (Thank God for bath tubs!)

Our view was this quiet neighborhood. Hey, they had fireworks for new year. Though not much. But fireworks just the same. 

The hotel offers free shuttle to some of the shopping malls plus the premium outlets. WIFI was already good.

I would recommend this hotel for a short stay in JB. It's walking distance to KSL City. But really the roads in JB are challenging. The sidewalks are not designed to fit a pram. The roads are too narrow. The drivers do double parking. The cars are too fast. Too dangerous. Despite very near geographically, it was tiring going to to mall and back to hotel.

The hotel needs to upgrade its housekeeping services though. The cups were so dirty. I see coffee stains and dust. The bath tub had so much hair. 

“The more I traveled the more I realized that fear makes strangers of people who should be friends.” – Shirley MacLaine