Fives Hotel Meldrum — Hotel in Johor

Judge, jury, executioner.

Room: Deluxe King Duration of stay: 1 night ( 21 Feb - 22 Feb 24)

Short version 1 hour after checking in, I was in the room watching TV. This is a wall mounted TV. I had adjusted the TV bringing it closer to the bed. TV suddenly came crashing down. I informed front desk which escalated to management. I was made to pay 959 MYR for the damages caused. I was fully refunded on my booking and left the hotel.

Long version(lengthy read) Factual recount The person who corresponded with me is Nora, the manager on duty(MOD).

I was assigned to room 513 upon check in. I adjusted the wall mounted TV by bringing it closer to the bed. ~15 minutes later, the mounting bracket catastrophically failed sending the TV crashing onto the floor. We informed front desk and they sent their maintenance team up to have a look. They requested for me to change rooms while they carried out their investigation.

An hour later, Nora informed me at front desk that the management has decided to charge me for damages caused to the TV. The conclusion of the investigation was that there was no way the TV crashed without any force being applied to it. Nora suggested it was most probable that I forcefully yanked the TV out of the mounting bracket causing the TV to fall. She mentioned that there was a prior incident 2 weeks ago involving falling TVs. The guest admitted fault on his part. He mishandled the TV causing the mounting bracket to fail. She also mentioned that floors 7-10 (during the time of my stay) were closed for renovations to check on the mounting brackets as they wanted to eliminate any more mounting bracket failures. I outright refused to make any payments as I knew exactly what happened and the similar nature of failing mounting brackets. Nora then informed me that she will have to notify the police and I will require my passport. I agreed and went up to get my passport.

5 minutes later, I returned to front desk. Nora then tried to dissuade me about having to go to the police. She said it was troublesome as we have to physically go and make a statement at a nearby police station. She then informed me that there will be legal proceedings after the police report. Besides that, the odds are also not in my favor. I will most likely lose even if I decide to go down the legal route. She pointed out to the paragraph section which I signed upon check in. (This section states that I am liable for any damages during my stay at the hotel.) Then she told me that the best way is to settle privately and pay 1200 MYR to the hotel for a brand new TV. She has managed to negotiate this figure down from 2800 MYR which was given by her superiors. I still stood by my version and refused to give in. Nora then said that she is trying to create a win-win situation and is truly emphatic with my current situation. She was just carrying out her job. I was then given the option to go out and look for an identical model in the malls.

At this point, my partner took over the negotiations after speaking with her local friends. We found the same model on Shopee which was selling for 959 MYR. After consulting her superiors, they wanted us to make direct compensation to the hotel instead of ordering it online. After which, we decided not to continue our stay in the reassigned room in case of any further mishaps. I made the request of refunding our room which was approved. Nora also repeatedly try to ask us to take the TV with us as there was only some LCD damage near the top.

My sentiments Overall, I feel that we have been conveniently blamed and made to pay up despite obvious poor workmanship in their mounting brackets. From my understanding, this hotel has been newly refurbished in Oct 2023. Regrettably, I did not put in enough effort to protect my own interests when the TV crashed. I was naive to handover the room to the hotel thinking that it was a straightforward matter. In the interests of time, my partner decided not to continue pursuing the matter. Besides, we are foreigners and not familiar with the...

Fives Hotel Meldrum is a newly opened property in October 2023. It is 850m by walk from Johor Bahru Customs. To get to the hotel, you would need to use the link bridge near the customs that leads to R&F Mall. Just before reaching the mall, head down from the bridge and walk towards the direction of Grand Blue Wave Hotel (GBW). The property is located beside the back of GBW.||A 24hrs security personnel is stationed at the main entrance of the hotel. Upon my arrival, the Front Desk Staff had requested a RM200 deposit for my check in registration. The rooms are situated from the first to ten floors. There is no fourth level in this building. I was accommodated in a Standard Queen Room (No. 311). Although the room offers a window, it faces the wall of a building. There is an ongoing construction site located beside the hotel, which I perceived to last for another year or more. Unfortunately, the construction noise is audible which only ended at 10pm during my weekday stay. I later approached the Night Manager and paid a RM40 upgrade to stay in a Standard King Room with no window (No. 308). There is no noise as this room is located in the middle section of the building.||Local, Singapore TV and Malaysian radio station channels are available for entertainment in the room. The SMART TV also offers Netflix and YouTube. There are two USB charging ports and three power sockets for your mobile device charging needs.||The air-conditioner functions well and keeps the room cool. Shower gel, shampoo with conditioner, toothbrush and paste are provided. The shower head is fixed to the bathroom wall. I found the water pressure to be acceptable, but the temperature is lukewarm.||A-lar carte breakfast is offered at RM25 per person, though I did not consume my breakfast at the property. Nearby the hotel, there are several coffeeshops located behind a public carpark that serve breakfast. Among them is Restoran Ah Bee Bak Kut Teh (Pork Ribs Soup) which is a popular eatery among the locals.||There are also convenience stores and halal eateries located within walking distance from the hotel. Connoisseur Food Generation, a trendy food court is situated a 5-min walk from the hotel. This place has many food stalls that offer a wide variety of cuisine. There is also live band during my dining there. ||Whilst the location may not be perfect, Fives Hotel Meldrum is great for those who are seeking something new and an affordable stay in...

I'm not sure if it is the lack of facilities or the service that is the issue. However, with the price point, maybe I shouldn't have too much of an expectation. Booked this hotel due to the good reviews, and I know usually new hotels are cleaner. It was also during peak, so most good hotels are either fully booked or damn expensive. Tdlr: manage your expectations. The good reviews are based on a very basic 2 star hotel (3 star at best because theres also no pool nor gym).

Pros: Pricing wise, it's cheaper than ksl. Buffet is affordable with a good range of local delights. Most hotel staff are friendly and attentive. They took a baby chair for my child without needing me to ask for it during breakfast. A staff also asked me if i needed help when he saw me stuck outside a room while waiting for my husband to settle the access card issue. The hotel is relatively new, so you can be rest assured that it is clean. The room is also spacious, enough for me to put a large luggage and park a pram inside. I booked a deluxe king room. It came with a mini fridge. The hotel is located very near the custom.

Cons: The mini fridge was not cold-its basically room temperature. My husband informed the reception staff, and they told us that the maintanece would check. After waiting for an hour, nobody came. So my husband went to tinker the fridge and found an adjustment knob at the top of the fridge, which helped cool it down a little. I called the hotel operator to ask if maintenance is coming. In which I was replied that maintenance said there is no problem with the fridge (without checking at all). The operator claimed that the fridge is ONLY FOR FOOD AND NOT FOR WATER, so that temperature is okay. Again, they did not check the temperature. The temperature is meant to ensure food doesn't spoil, that's all. That didn't make sense to me because if the temperature isn't low enough to cool drinks, how does it ensure food doesn't spoil? I also called operator to ask for ice, but they don't offer ice. oh, and the room doesn't have any windows (but I've been forewarned during check-in so thats fine)

On a side note, the operator did offer to keep my baby's milk and medicine in the kitchen fridge. I passed it up due to...