Hotel Review-Thistle Johor Bahru

It's sad to see a gem diminishes its shines and color....well that's the metaphor rightly suited to explain this hotel im writing about-the Thistle Hotel, Johor Bahru.

Thistle Hotel was previously known as Hyatt Regency Johor, however i never had the opportunity to stay there in it yesteryear but only in 2010 was the first time i stepped into its grand lobby and slept in its wonderful bedroom and experience its excellence services where they really gave a 5 star treatment.

Fast forward to 2012, i was hopping to sample the same wonderful experience that i had 2 years back but was greatly dissapointed with the overall offerings of this hotel, from the lack of warmth in its staff's services, to the dated rooms and mediocre facilities.

The external facade....

and looking down to its swimming pool........

The disappointment started right from the point of check-in. I noted that the hotel was fully booked and i had to wait for a good 10 minutes before i could be attended by the receptionist. This reception, who happened to be a trainee was so slow in conducting the overall check-in process of the people before me and me myself. When he realized that his line of attendees are already queing, he should have expedited his movement and could not just leisurely do his things. When it was my turn to be attended, there's no warm welcome or enthusiast to serve and eventhough i was booked in CLub Room, he did not even bother to explain the availability of the CLub Lounge for my use, the very distinctive element which differentiate your stay from the normal rooms. As expected, nobody offered to take my bag or accompany me to my room. In Bangkok, 4 or 5 stars hotel will make sure that all guest will be escorted to their rooms and rooms features are explained in detail. Malaysian hotels really need to learn hospitality values of the Thais.

I made my way to the room and i noticed that there's no physical distinction of the Club Room with the Standard Room that ive stayed before, be it in its size or the furnitures and fittings.This even made me wondered whether they actually allocated me the correct room or not.

 In anyway, i love the room layout whereby the entrance is quite curved in so that you dont get a direct view of the bed from the room until you have actually stepped into the room and passed the bathroom door. To your right is the spacious bathroom which is nicely tiled with golden-orange marbles and to your left the closet with electronic safe, slippers, extra pillow and weighing scale. I remember previously they provided bathrobe and iron and ironing board, but that's not the case now.


the bathroom view......

 

view of the bed and the large ceiling high window..........

the closet........you can even hide yourself in here...

the minibar..........

 

 As i was on a business trip and having a tight schedule, i really need to use a PC and a printer. Luckily those are available at the CLub Lounge. The Club Lounge is exclusively opened for CLub Rooms guest whereby free drinks are made available and complimentary snacks and light meals are served after 5pm. You may also opt to have your breakfast here for want of privacy. It consist of 2 levels whereby the dining area is located at the 1st level and the 2nd level housed the PC facilities and seating area with audio video equipments. Not sure whether you can have a karaoke session here though. There are also balconies at both levels whereby you may have your drinks and snacks while enjoying the sea breeze.

view from 2nd level........

my evening snacks and my favourite drink, ice cold ginger ale........

 

next morning, breakfast with a wonderful view of the clock tower.......

another thing that tainted my stay here was the attitude of a male servant in the Club Lounge during breakfast. When he enquired for my room number he made it with a facial expression that was so unwelcoming. Then when i wondered around taking pictures of the lounge he made this disapproving look. Very unfortunate to say that he's the only sour grape among the other staffs serving the Club Lounge who were generally friendly. It really made me wonder how people with this kind of attitude would want to work in the service industry at the first place??

Despite all the impressive facade of this hotel from the outside, and having reputation as one of the high-end hotel in the city of Johor Bahru, i really think that Thistle Johor Bahru has started to lose its charm. Without immediate refurbishment of its dated furnitures and fittings and especially proper training and having the right people to work in this hotel i do believe that it doesnt have any winning point except to stand on its name as being managed by an established international hotel chains company.Kay2012

Going M.I.C.K.E.Y for the day.........Disney on Ice 2012

Truth be told...ive always wanted to watch Disney on Ice show since my young(er) years. Unfortunately i never managed to (or even made any effort to) materialize the dream until recently..and coincidentally they are having the show in Bangkok at the time im in my second home with my love T. What better way to enjoy this show than with your loved ones, so without hesitation i purchased 2 tickets online for the second tiered seats worth THB900 each. For the note, the ticket would always cost more for the show in KL, so overall this was a good deal.

As we have to collect the ticket 1 hour before the start of the show at 7 pm, we made our way from our hotel in Sukhumvit to IMPACT Arena, located in Muangthong Thani, around 45 minutes from central Bangkok well around 5pm. IMPACT Arena is a dedicated exhibitions and expos venue in Bangkok where most of the big international show such as the motor show are held.

The area was already crowded with would be spectators, mostly families with small children. There were few stalls set up around the entrances to the venue hall selling Disney themed merchandises and food stuff. We were already seated around 1 hour before the show and the hall eventually filled up with spectators until none of the seat, especially in our area was left empty.

1 hour before the show...........

all are set for the show.........

the arena started to fill up...T can be seen standing and calling the popcorn seller..he was also drawn by the childhood atmosphere of the arena and bought himself a bucket of Disney themed popcorn, but asked me to carry it afterwards as he was shy!

then the show started...im getting excited at this stage..eventhough the whole show was narrated in Thai to cater for the locals....at least i enjoyed it visually :)

the handsome Aladdin..and he had a shirtless scene afterwards as well..very nice body indeed ;)

birthday party scene of the show...........

magic brooms dancing........

halloween segment...and all the evil Disney characters were featured here...........

The show lasted for around 1 hour 40 minutes including an interim break of 5 minutes. It was perfectly choreographed and the props were amazing whereby i could really feel the magical feeling that they tried to instill in this show, similar to their on screen productions.

The show was segregated into few segments depicting scenes from famous Disney movies and also themes such as horror/halloween theme and love theme whereby all the couples from movies such as Snow WHite, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin were featured. In all the segments, Mickey and Minnie took centre stage and the main characters.

It was a truly fun night for me and T and if this show comes to your town, dont hesitate to buy the tickets as it'll promise you a wonderful and magical time of your life with your loved ones! Kay2012