The fantastic plus point of staying at KSL Resorts Johor Bahru is that it is only a 10 minute drive away from Johor immigration. This means an almost instant overseas trip for a Singaporean. I have been to KSL Resorts on two occasions for church camps, and it is the perfect home away from home. We use to travel to Kuala Lumpur for such camps, now with KSL Resorts, it being relatively new with decent hotel food and conference venue, we don't have to travel that far anymore. This saves time, and to a Singaporean, time is everything - well, almost.
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| View of Johor Bahru from KSL Resorts |
Do take note that KSL Resorts have both smoking and non-smoking floors. The guest rooms and shower is decent but not luxurious, good enough for an overnight stay, and since I was spending most of my time in the conference venue, luxury was not so much a priority.
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| KSL Resorts Johor Bahru Guest Room |
One great thing about staying in KSL Resorts Johor Bahru is that we are surrounded by good food. To a Singaporean, Malaysian food is the only thing that draws them constantly to Malaysia, where food is still authentic, soulful, and of course - cheap. Just across the hotel is a frequented Bak Ku Teh stall (pork rib soup). Another frequented shop is located at the basement of the KSL City Mall - Penang Laksa. In fact you could smell your way there!
KSL City Mall, Johor Bahru
Another plus point of staying at KSL Resorts is the proximity of KSL City Mall, which is connected to the hotel. This means and ease of having a foot and shoulder massage (more than 50 percent cheaper when compared to Singapore), have a manicure, pick up some cheap shoes, and of course - eat.
At KSL City Mall, I tried lunches at Old Town Coffee and Cawanmas Cafetiam Istimewa, located along the same row of eateries.
Old Town White Coffee, KSL City Mall
I must say the coffee in Old Town White Coffee has a different taste to the brew, and it's nice and thick, unlike some of the watered down versions I have tried in Singapore. I ordered a side of curry chicken which came with a potato. What can I say, chicken was fresh and curry was so delicious I wanted to slurp it all down (if it was not that oily).
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| Old Town White Coffee, KSL City Mall - Curry Chicken |
Cawanmas Cafetiam Istimewa, KSL City Mall
I saw many locals hanging out here, given the menus and staff, it must be their local cafe. Coffee was again thick and delicious, as with the braised chicken with potato that I had this time. I saw several people having fish curry (which looked good but fried).
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| Cawanmas Cafetiam Istimewa, KSL City Mall - Braised Chicken |
KSL City Mall, basement
At the basement of KSL City Mall houses a snack shop called Kapitan Local Products where you can go all out and stock up on Malaysian snacks. Not the cheapest, hence I would actually recommend checking prices and availability first at Tesco supermarket. In addition, consider picking up freshly baked biscuits from a little take out stall called Mon Kee Confectionery.
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| KSL City Mall - Mon Kee Confectionery |
