If you don’t have much time and no more leave balance but craving for holiday, then you should go for staycation. This time round we decided for a weekend getaway to Johor Bahru, nearby city of Malaysia from Singapore. It’s just a bridge away, seriously.
But one thing you should brave during weekend from Singapore to JB, is the bloody long queue.. At highway and custom. I can say that’s the most uncomfortable part of the trip, driving or taking public transport are the same. You can estimate roughly 1-2 hours queue (long weekends can be worse) for the trip to JB during weekend. So be prepared! Wear comfortable clothing and footwear if you taking public transport.
HOLIDAY VILLA STAYCATION
So from JB custom we need to take a taxi because this hotel is not near to custom, perhaps it’s about 15 mins driving. The hotel is just beside KSL City Mall with similar concept and facilities like City Square Mall JB, so it’s very convenient too.
Why we choose Holiday Villa?
It’s because the one and only infinity pool.. I am such a sucker for infinity pool!
Their rate per night is also very reasonable for a room with complimentary breakfast for two pax.
We booked the superior room for our stay. The room is pretty decent.. It’s clean, pretty spacious with basic amenities, pretty standard for 4-star hotel.
Long table with seating and coffee/tea corner. When you open the curtain you can see JB city view.
The bathroom..
The corridor to guest room.
Yes this is the view i was talking about when you open the curtain.
My comfy outfit that day..
The city view from our room.
Took OOTD at pool side.
OOTD detail:
Cap, Top and Bottom from Topshop (i am such a huge Topshop fan now, lol!)
Shoes from Adidas Original – Adidas Superstar
Jacket from Zara.
The infinity pool located at 25th storey. This is the city view from pool. The lap pool is pretty short, i think it’s about 25m maximum length with 1.2m depth.
It’s pretty different view than infinity pool at Marina Bay Sands Singapore (will blog about the staycation soon) where you can see a lot of skyscrappers. I can say the view of JB city is more humble and human scale.
And kids pool.. quite small..
The lazy corner opposite kids pool.
Spiral staircase leading to roof terrace where they will open bar in the future.
Late afternoon view, people started to fill in the pool.
Enjoying city view..
And we had Chicken Up for our early dinner.
Japchae..
Korean Spicy Chicken.. This is really spicy until i cannot take it, burn our tongue.
And watermelon bingsu, topped with fresh watermelon, red bean and vanilla ice cream, slurp!
And everything we ate there seems like half price what we pay when we eat the same things in Singapore.
Night movie time.. While in JB we always going to cinema at late night to watch movie. That time we watched “Train to Busan”.
OOTD to cinema.
Dress from H&M
Jacket from Zara
Shoes from Adidas
Bag from Furla (Metropolis Mini)
DAY 2
Breakfast at hotel.. The food selection are pretty wide and all dishes are quite tasty. Guess who is having the unhealthy foods on the right?
It was me! LOL!
The restaurant is very spacious.
Gloomy morning.. Zzzz…
The sky soooooo dark…
But i feel happy dipping at pool and finished few laps.
I changed to gym outfit after swimming, was thinking to go gym but hubby lazy.
Top and bottom just bought at KSL City Mall, haha.. In the end i just pose with my gym outfit lol.. Lazy around the room and waited for check out time.
Fact about The Hotel
Holiday Villa Johor Bahru City Centre is a 4-star trendy hotel strategically located along the main road of Jalan Dato’ Sulaiman in Century Garden, the road leading to and from Tebrau Highway. The hotel is 28.6 kilometers or 29 minutes drive from Senai International Airport and 4 kilometers or 9 minutes drive from the ferry jetty at Stulang Laut.
The hotel is designed in providing guests with comfortable accommodation, conveniences and high service standards. With its prominent location adjacent to CIQ (Custom Immigration, Quarantine) and within a minute walk to major shopping centres, entertainment, restaurants and recreation makes Holiday Villa Johor Bahru City Centre an ideal choice. Other local attractions, Johor Premium Outlets (JPO), Legoland, Hello Kitty Town, EduCity @ Iskandar are less than 30 minutes drive from Holiday Villa Johor Bahru City Centre.
Facilities
345 rooms and suites ● 3 levels of entertainment centre ● 2 levels of commercial retail shops● Infinity pool ● Fully equipped gymnasium ● Spa ● Sauna ● Massage ● Foot Reflexology ● Free Wi-Fi ● Convenience shop ● Money changer ● Car park (380 bays)
Hot to Get There
As the gateway to Singapore and Iskandar Malaysia, this 28-storey hotel has easy access to Tebrau Highway, Jalan Skudai and Jalan Tun Abdul Razak as well as North-South Highway (PLUS). Other infrastructures which have been completed are interchanges at Skudai, Perling, Pandan, Coastal Highway, Eastern Dispersal Link (EDL) and Senai-Desaru Highway.
Attractions
● Holiday Plaza shopping mall (290 meters, 4 minutes walk)
● KSL City Mall (250 meters, 3 minutes walk)
● Komtar JB City Centre Shopping Centre (4.4 kilometers, 7 minutes drive)
● Johor Premium Outlets (JPO) 29.8 kilometers, 28 minutes drive)
● City Square Mall (4.7 kilometers, 8 minutes drive)
● Legoland Malaysia (LGLM) (22.5 kilometers, 23 minutes drive)
● Hello Kitty Town (HKT) (16.3 kilometers, 17 minutes drive)
● Puteri Harbour (24.5 kilometers, 23 minutes drive)
● Pinewood Iskandar Malaysia Studios (26.8 kilometers, 27 minutes drive)
● Educity @ Iskandar4 (24.4 kilometers, 23 minutes drive)
● Customs, Immigration and quarantine (3.7 kilometers or 8 minutes drive)
Holiday Villa Johor Bahru City Centre
No. 260, Jalan Dato’ Sulaiman, Taman Abad, 80250. Johor Bahru, Johor. Malaysia
P: (6-07) 290 3388
F: (6-07) 290 3399
E: hvjbcc@holidayvillajb.com.my
W: http://www.holidayvillajb.com.my/
CAFE HOPPING: THE REPLACEMENT LODGE AND KITCHEN
What’s the meaning going to JB without cafe hopping?
So we went to famous street full with hip cafes, Jalan Dhoby. Unfortunately, most of the cafes were closed due to public holiday (Hari Raya Haji), but only one cafe opened – The Replacement Lodge and Kitchen. It was full house and we only managed to get seat outside.
The bar counter..
The air plants as deco.
The tiles so retro…
OOTD detail:
Top from theclosetlover
Bottom from H&M
Jacket from Zara
Shoes from Adidas
Bag from Furla
Our drinks..
What we ordered..
My cafe hopping OOTD..
Salad with smoked salmon and bacon.
French Toast with blueberries and vanilla ice cream.
All the foods served are pretty decent and quite nice with very reasonable price for a cafe. Next time i would love to visit again and try their salted egg churros..
The Replacement – Lodge & Kitchen
Malaysia, 33, Jalan Dhoby, Bandar Johor Bahru, 80000 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
If it’s not too hassle and long queue at custom, i would actually love to visit JB regulary, because it’s very near from Singapore and because of different currency you can actually get things and feasting much cheaper there. But considering that it’s always so hectic during weekend, i wouldn’t plan to visit JB in the nearby time.
Till then JB!
XOXO,
YuniQueYuni
