TROVE Johor Bahru — Hotel in Johor

I was sceptical about having a stay at TROVE Johor Bahru after reading mixed reviews. Nevertheless, I decided to go ahead with an overnight stay on a Friday weekend.

TROVE Johor Bahru, formerly known as Hotel Selesa and Metropolis Tower was refurbished in late 2018. This property is managed by Care Luxury Hotels & Resorts, which also operates Hotel Granada Johor Bahru (Bukit Indah) and Tunamaya Beach & Spa Resort - Tioman Island & Desaru.

I boarded myBAS T11 from JB Sentral and alighted at a bus stop outside the property. The fare costs RM1.20. I arrived at the reception at 4pm, which the check in was fuss-free. Apart from the RM10 tourism tax, there is no deposit required for hotel incidentals during my stay here.

The rooms start from the 12th to 27th floor. I was accommodated in a Standard Twin Room (No. 1502) situated at level 15. The room is spacious at 26 square metres, although I wished more space could have been allocated for the bathroom. The room was clean and I felt comfortable walking on its non-carpeted floor. I am glad my stay was peaceful and I had a restful sleep here.

I am impressed that this hotel uses Sony SMART TV, a premium brand. The Wi-Fi is fast and reliable. The room is equipped with one universal power socket and a USB charging port at the bedside. Similar to many 4-star properties, the room amenities include mini fridge, electronic safe, iron and ironing board, hair dryer, toiletries, disposable slippers, coffee and tea. Although there is no kettle, an alkaline water dispenser is provided which offers both hot and room temperature water. In the bathroom, there is a rain shower in addition to the handheld one. I am pleased the shower pressure was very good and the warm water was adequate.

The swimming pool, fitness centre and restaurant are located on the 8th floor. There is a convenience store on the ground floor, while Borneo Oasis Spa (Opens from 11am to 12 midnight) sits on the first level. For dining, you can check out 3littlechef Café (Opens 9am to 7pm). You will also be delighted to know that a weekend buffet is served at the hotel restaurant at RM45 nett for lunch and RM55 for dinner. Room service is also available between 7am and 10.30pm at the hotel. The menu comprises of Western and Asian food such as Spring Roll, Fries, Soup, Burger, Pizza, Pasta, Fried Rice and Mee Goreng.

I did not have my breakfast at the hotel. Instead, I headed to a Muslim food stall, Simple Nasi Lemak, located opposite the hotel. For more dining options, you can take a 10 mins (550m) walk to Taman Pelangi. Over there, you will find mainly local eateries such as Restoran Kak Kak (Dim Dum) and Restoran E&Y Sahul (Indian Muslim).

While my stay is largely fine, there was a power failure which had occured at 5pm. Fortunately, it was quickly rectified within 30 mins. That said, the room maintenance needs to be improved. The shower head fitting is defective, which resulted in water being sprouted out from its gap. Both the wash basin tap and toilet roll holder fittings are also loose and could have been tightened properly. Additionally, some wear and tear were spotted on the shelves below the wash basin.

Overall, my stay experience would have been better if not marred by these maintenance issues. With more new hotel openings in the coming years, the hotel must remain competitive in its pricing to stay at the top of the game. For now, TROVE Johor Bahru remains a fine stay for travellers seeking an accommodation in the...

Very disappointed in the service and accountability of Trove JB.

I stayed at this hotel over the weekend from Saturday to Monday. On Sunday, I had left my room around noon, with a pair of shorts left on the bed.

After returning to my room around 11pm the same day, I saw that housekeeping had cleaned the room and made the bed. Unfortunately, the pair of shorts was nowhere to be found. I had searched the room for a whole hour but to no avail. I notified reception but they were unable to do anything, not even pass on my concern to follow up on. The receptionist did not show much concern about my lost item despite my urgency and kept telling me to contact housekeeping the next day. Left with no choice and exhausted from the whole experience, I called the reception again the next morning.

The next morning, the receptionist who spoke to me over the phone stated that she would check with housekeeping. However, up until my checkout timing she did not provide any update at all. This was really disappointing as no one in the hotel service team seemed to empathise or care that a guest had lost their items on the hotel premises.

I had to check personally with the front desk upon my checkout on whether there was any update or follow up. To my disappointment, the receptionist did not offer any solution or follow up and just told me that they would have sent the lost item up to me already if they had found it. I felt that there wasn’t any empathy from the receptionist at all despite my anxiety from losing my personal items in the hotel.

I went back to the receptionist after 5 minutes to check again, and it was only then that she called up housekeeping to check. I appreciated this gesture and it was the only time I felt like someone had tried to help me throughout the whole distressing experience.

However, housekeeping was unable to find anything. I requested for some form of follow up if my item was found, but the response given to me was unclear and vague. Furthermore, when I asked if there would be any form of compensation for my item lost on hotel premises, the receptionist was extremely dismissive and told me that they do not compensate for such things because they did not even see the item. So would this be the same if a guest loses an item of higher value than a mere pair of shorts? Because the hotel did not ‘see’ any of our items, hence the standard of care and responsibility for the safety of guests’ items is waived automatically? I worry if this is the hotel’s stance - I don’t see and therefore I don’t care.

This is extremely worrying and unbecoming of a hotel management team if this is truly the practice at this hotel. Are guests expected to stay here with no recourse whatsoever if their items are missing after housekeeping? How can guests feel safe if this is standard practice? The lack of accountability is very jarring. While the hotel stay itself wasn’t too bad, the lack of any responsibility or follow up is very disappointing. The hotel has not responded to any of my emails or messages to date.

Stay if you feel ok potentially losing your items (or have...

NEVER AGAIN! Please do not waste your money booking this hotel. We experienced sucha horrendous stay - 3 days 2 nights.

1. Unapologetically dirty - toilets were dirty, stains & molds everywhere - floors were slippery as if twas not cleaned for ages. We had to clean the toilets ourselves to avoid gagging while using the toilet. There was also a foul smell coming from the drain & the sink was clogged. Apart from the toilet, the room was also dusty every step of the way.

2. Poor service & housekeeping. Obviously needs training for hospitality & tourism purposes - told us we could check out late either 2pm (RM50) or 5pm (RM100), we agreed to checkout at 2pm however the next day told us no late checkouts are allowed. No apologies at all. Secondly, kept saying no staff to help carry bags up & down despite rushed me to checkout alone with a toddler (husband was having meetings till late eve hence the reason we wanted to checkout late). Suggested me to go down alone to reception to checkout first then go up to take my son(?!) & bags but told me I will still get charged for late checkout - despite twas not my fault in the first place as the receptionist kept saying they’re still searching for a staff for me to come up with a trolley to carry our bags, and their lifts take ages to go up & down could go more than 30mins waiting time. Again no apologies. The hotel has a num of trolleys, probably little num of staff. The queue to validate parking card also took a long time since most times only 1 person will be at the reception to entertain all issues & customers.

In terms of housekeeping, when the housekeeper came to our room, she asked whether she really needs to clean it and I said at least change the sheets towels & throw away the bins (dirty diapers) - toilet was not cleaned despite twas already in a bad condition & toilet papers weren’t replenished. Coffee mugs & glasses were all dusty & left the way they were. No cutleries were provided & not sure whether the water filter was even regularly serviced - looking at the room’s condition. The swimming pool was also ridiculously dirty even my son refused to take a dip looking at the condition of water.

Please train your staff & equip them with knowledge of hospitality & tourism. Please do not overcharge for the current condition of the hotel & services provided. Please apologise when apologies are due. Till then won’t be returning & will definitely not recommend to any...