I had a return visit to the DoubleTree By Hilton Johor Bahru in December 2015. Upon entering the property, the Christmas decorations are already up and ready with a nice red sledge with Christmas Trees setup at the lobby.

It was great to be greeted by a familiar face and glad to see the Duty Manager, Odelia Chin once again. This is my first stay at this property as a Hilton Diamond, was pleasantly surprised to be given a beautiful upgrade to its 1 Bedroom Suite with accompanying club lounge access and benefits. 

The 64sqm one bedroom suites comes with a separate living room filled with an comfortable sofa, dining table for 2 and a 40" wide screen LCD TV, not forgetting that an expansive view of Johor Bahru city.

The spacious bathroom offers separate rainfall shower and deep soaking tub with branded toiletries from Aroma Essentials. 

What makes this truly an amazing suite is the bedroom. The bedroom offers panoramic view of the Johor Bahru city and I love the Sweet Dreams bed, absolutely comfortable which almost made me order a DoubleTree bed from the US. Did not went through as they did not have a super-single size available. 

Staying in the Suites grants access to the Executive Lounge at the upper floors of the property. The Executive Lounge grants all day beverages, continental breakfast and evening cocktails & canapés.  

As a strong advocate for a smart causal dress-code and no-children policy in the lounge, I received a similar letter during check-in stating that all children have to be accompanied by an adult, followed by a dress code without shorts and slippers. Disappointedly, these standards were not followed through and the evening experience at the lounge slowly evolved from a peaceful ambience to one that was noisy and frustrating.

The evening canapés were of average quality however the spread was quite good, with appetisers, vegetable sticks, 5 hot dishes, assortments of bread and 3 dessert selections. 

Frustrated as I was, I ended my time in the club lounge prematurely and left for Tosca for dinner. It was much more private and exclusive at Tosca. Tosca Italian Trattoria offers rustic Italian food and I was there to try the Seafood Risotto, highly recommended by the Duty Manager.  Read more of my review of Tosca here

The next day, the staple for breakfast is to visit Makan Kitchen and enjoy the International Breakfast Buffet Spread. I love the fresh juice stations where they serve international favourites such as Apple, Orange, Carrot and Watermelon juices. 

They serve dimsum, wide selection of garden greens, cold cuts and cheese, bread and ice cream. There is also a live noodle station and buffet selections of local delights. 

Not forgetting a little room service for lunch

DoubleTree By Hilton Johor Bahru

12 Jalan Ngee Heng, 80000 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia

Official Website