Atelier Hotel Johor Bahru — Hotel in Johor

Booked the Most Expensive Room — Got a Downgrade, Denial, and a $10 "Sorry" from Agoda and nothing from the hotel

I booked the Grand Suite at Atelier Hotel Johor Bahru, the most expensive room listed, expecting what was clearly shown in the listing photos. What I received was a completely different and downgraded room — nothing close to what was advertised.

I’ve attached the “Consolidated Pic” and supporting documents as they have repeatedly denied there is any different during the communications up till this point where i pointed out issues side by side. I let you be the judge of this:

On the night of May 17, I approached hotel staff immediately upon seeing the room and requested compensation. They denied any error and insisted it was the same room, despite the clear evidence.

The hotel later messaged me blaming me for not explicitly requesting the room in the photos — a ridiculous excuse for what was clearly misleading advertising. They then stopped responding altogether.

I turned to Agoda, expecting help from the platform I booked through. a conversation that dragged till 2am as they were unresponsive and did not want to acknowledge that i was given a different room. Over days of email exchanges, they offered me USD $10, then USD $7 in compensation — both of which I rejected. Mind you, i booked a Grand suite, the most expensive hotel. And i was gaslit. The offer showed me that they were standing by the hotel's dishonesty and they did not want to be accountable. they simply tried to shut me up with $10

I repeatedly asked Agoda to acknowledge, in writing, that the room was different from what was shown. I even said I’d accept the $10 if they confirmed in black and white that they had compared the evidence and stood by the hotel’s listing. It is at this point that they finally realised that i am no push over and requested for evidence over email.

On May 18, I submitted photos and videos. Despite promises to respond in 72 hours, I kept receiving the same templated emails every 48 hours telling me to wait for the hotel's response — and not to reply to the email.

I eventually called Agoda on May 22, only to learn they had not received my video evidence, and this was never communicated to me. So what was i waiting for? Even after i have submitted evidence through various methods due to my email magically getting lost in their inbox, and making clear my request for a refund of $35 sgd and no less, they finally offered me a refund of $7...

Finally, in our last exchange and call, Agoda admitted that the room provided was not the Grand Suite — and yet again offered only $10 as compensation. I’ll let you decide if that sounds fair to you.

If you’re booking what’s supposed to be a luxury experience, only to be downgraded and gaslit throughout your stay and follow-up, with no real accountability from Agoda or the hotel — would you accept a mere $10 as resolution?

I certainly won’t. And I’d gladly forgo that compensation to make sure others are warned about this experience. There are better booking platforms out there — ones that don’t stand by misleading listings and pass responsibility between hotel and platform endlessly.

Take my experience as a lesson: saving a few dollars from Agoda just for a holiday of being scammed just isn't worth it. And that there are much better, accountable hotels, that would at least apologise for giving the wrong room, than make the customer go through all the hassle just to gaslit them again and not offer a proper...

Chance upon this cozy yet secluded hotel by accident...

Stayed at this hotel during the Deepavali holiday for 1 night, place was nice and clean, the design of the hotel is very minimalistic, simple and eco friendly.

For the lobby the hotel provides a sharing space for their guests to chill and they also provide free flow ready to drink coffee and tea with some tidbits/snack. Do note that the hotel takes a deposit of 50RM when checking in and they will issue u a receipt do remember to keep it for checking out and they will refund you the 50RM deposit.

More about the room... We booked the standard basic room which consists of two super single bed, as for the softness/hardness of the bed is towards the harder side. They also have a television which only have like 9 channels so channel surfing could be a problem with. As for the air conditioning was working well it can get a little too cold at night do make sure you adjust to the right temperature. The only slightly troublesome thing about this hotel is that they don't provide bottled water but they do provide two thermal flask for refilling hot or cold water just right beside the lift, which we think is a good initiative.

Next up is the toilet... As for the toilet, the toilet design is very simple, just a toilet bowl with bidet and a showering corner, they also provided basic toiletries like soap, shampoo and body lotion toothbrush and toothpaste, the temperature of the water heater is a little inconsistent sometimes it gets a little too hot so do watch out of the temperature.

Around the hotel... As first look, looking around the hotel looks a little bit disappointing, the surrounding of the hotels mostly shop houses which are mostly closed, but when u explore the place deeper there is actually quite a lot of food and leisure activities.

For Food and Drinks... Surrounding the hotel there are quite the amount of food and drinks for convenient wise there is a 7-11 store nearby like a 3 mins walk. During the afternoon there are a fair amount of stores that are open like a kopitiam just across the road of the hotel which sells some tze char dishes and porridge. During the night just right outside of the kopitiam in the parking lot areas there will be people selling food like BBQ Honey Chicken and some LOK LOK shop, there are also more stores surrounding the hotel like a nasi kandar store.

For leisure activities... The place is near quite a few malls nearby like KSL city mall which is just a 2km walk away or you could just book a Grab to the mall and also just right beside the hotel there is a Karaoke shop which opens till late and also a Massage parlour beside the kopitiam which opens 24hrs if I'm not wrong.

Checking out process... Checking out of the place was simple and easy just let the counter know to check out and handover the receipt issued to get back the 50RM deposit to you when checking in and off you go.

Will i be coming back again? YES! We will Definitely will be coming back for another stay soon as we really enjoy our short stay at this simple yet cozy hotel. A well deserved 5...

I first chanced upon Atelier Hotel Johor Bahru during a visit to Taman Pelangi’s Pasar Malam (Street Market) last year. So, I decided to check out this boutique hotel with an overnight stay here.||Opened in 2019, this hotel is in the heart of Taman Pelangi. For those unfamiliar with this district, the landmark to look out is Pelangi Plaza, a shopping mall located 1.3km away. Below are the distances and travelling times by car from the hotel to the various popular shopping malls:||* KSL City Mall - 2.9km (7 mins)|* Johor Bahru City Square Mall - 3.8km (8 mins)|* The Mall, Mid Valley Southkey - 5.3km (11 mins)||Upon arrival at the hotel, I was requested to make a RM50 deposit for my check in registration. The hotel theme is industrial chic which is aesthetically pleasing. The rooms are on the ground, first, second and third floors. I had booked the Standard Queen Room and was accommodated in Room No. 306. The Slumberland Mattress and Pillow are comfortable which provided me with a restful sleep. Although the room is a little small, the bathroom is rather spacious. Do remember to turn on the water heater switch to enjoy your hot shower. A water dispenser is provided at the hotel corridor for your drinking needs. Unfortunately, TV entertainment is limited to local and Singapore channels. Wi-Fi is reliable. There is no power socket at the bedside. As I did not bring my USB charger, the Front Desk Staff was kind to lend it to me with a RM50 deposit.||There is a rooftop garden on the same floor where my room is situated. It is a lovely place to relax the night away. Although there is no food and beverage outlet at the property, there are plenty of various amenities in the vicinity such as 24hrs convenience stores, a food court, coffeeshops, cafés, restaurants, bars, massage centres and hair salons.||If you are a pasar malam (street market) lover, I recommend staying here on Sunday or Wednesday nights. A street market operates between 6.30am to 10am every Monday and Thursday in this area (Refer to my Google Review). However, if you prefer a quiet place to rest, avoid your stay on these two days as this area gets noisy and chaotic with heavy traffic.||There are reviewers mentioning of a noise issue, whereby the singing at the neighbouring singing centre on the first level only stopped close to midnight. Although my room is situated next to a building where the singing centre is located, it is one level higher. As such, I only heard scant singing sounds for a while during the evening and night on a Friday. So, it is not an issue for me. You can request for ear plugs from the Front Desk should you find the noise unbearable.||As a budget category hotel, Atelier Hotel Johor Bahru is a cut above the rest among the budget properties I had stayed in Johor Bahru. The room is clean and well maintained. I recommend a stay to experience the local atmosphere in this residential district, if you find the city centre or nearby KSL district crowded with...