As my trip to JB was to meet up with my Malaysia relatives, we decided to book an apartment where there are common spaces to hang out in the apartment
There are many apartments in JB available for short-term stays as more Singaporean families love travelling to JB during the weekends in 1 big group. Depending on which area you prefer and the price point, there are very new and modern apartments as well as the older yet cheaper options. I chose the JB City Shopping Mall apartment as it is linked to KSL Shopping Mall and it is relatively very affordable. I managed to get a 3-bedroom apartment for 3 nights at SGD 400, after splitting the costs, it is only SGD 26 per person per night
The entrance to the apartment is to the left of the main entrance of KSL Mall but there is no waiting area or check-in counters. The owners will give you the relevant instructions on how to check yourself in when the apartment is ready. The check-in timing is stated at 3pm during booking and you can communicate with the owner via WhatsApp they managed to let us into the apartment early at 2pm. The owner will provide you extremely clear instructions on how to check in via the mailbox where you can get the lift and carpark access cards
As all apartments are decorated and maintained differently, I feel it is a hit-and-miss if you get a good apartment. When I was booking the apartments, I saw very bad reviews as well as pretty general reviews so I took a risk and we were lucky in getting the nice apartment. The living room was spacious and bright with well-maintained furniture although there are stains in some of the furniture, they are still clean to sit on
The kitchen was quite spacious with a full-sized fridge and washing machine which works well. The floor and overall cabinets are also kept clean without any greasy or sticky feeling. They also have a water filter for drinking and a normal tap for washing. They provide some basic pots for cooking on the stove as well as a microwave, electric water kettle, all utensils and plates and cups for use. There were not enough garbage bags when we first checked in but we contacted them through WhatsApp and they immediately delivered some to the apartment's main door outside
The main master has an en suite bedroom which is big in size as it can fit in a full-sized bathtub, a huge water basin area and still enough space to walk around the area. They also provide fresh towels enough for the entire stay as well as full bottled-sized shampoo and shower gel. The only complaint I had about the setup of the bathroom in the master was the positioning of the bathtub and the height of the shower. If you stand in the tub to shower, water will get all over the floor. The materials of the tub were also quite thin and I could hear noises as I moved around on top of the tub. This will be a disadvantage to bigger and heavier guests. The bathrooms were also not elderly-friendly as there were no handles for them to hold on to while bathing
The 2nd room was of a decent size but the 3rd room was more like a study converted into a room where the door could hardly close after putting in a full-length single mattress. You have to lift the mattress before the door can close properly. The common bathroom has no tub but is relatively more safe for elderlies as they can sit on the toilet seat and bath or hold onto the surrounding walls. The same fresh towels, shampoo and bath gel were also provided but there was no bin in this toilet
There was also a balcony with 2 outdoor seats where you could chill or smoke since smoking is not allowed within the house. You can also sun some clothes here but they could fly away since there was no rack provided. One downside of the balcony was getting flooded easily when it rained heavily. It rained heavily for 2 days when we were there and the balcony totally flooded and we could not open the balcony door at all. There was no proper drainage system so the water stayed on the balcony even when it was no longer raining
Overall, the stay at the apartment was ok. I have summarized some pros and cons:
Pros: Linked to KSL Mall, Surrounded by many food options, Price is very affordable, large space to hang out and chat with friends or family. Fully working kitchen and appliances for late-night snacks or days when you want to stay inside. Late-night street food just below the apartment. Lastly, the apartment is generally clean and well-maintained
Cons: Some furnishing is dated, TV connection was not stable, flooding in the balcony, no safety rails for elderly or children, the bed were too soft for me, there were only 2 lifts per level which took extremely long ( 15 mins for lift). No area for guest to throw out their trash so your trash is accumulated throughout the stay and lastly many fruit flies or insects flying around the kitchen.
Address: D'Esplanade Residence, Jalan Seladang, Taman Abad, 80250 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
Rates from SGD 67 per night
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