Ramada by Wyndham Meridin Johor Bahru

We stayed three nights in a one-bedroom suite on level 14. The room was spacious with a great view, and when we were short on towels, housekeeping brought more quickly. Room service food was tasty and cheap. There are two food shops and a minimart downstairs, where meals cost even less. I tried the sausage fried rice and liked it. The pool was very clean and even had aqua exercise equipment. We didn't get a chance to use it, unfortunately. There's also a small gym where I could have burned off some of the feasting.

The staff were all really nice and friendly, and having a filtered water dispenser along the corridor was a plus. But the aircon smelled moldy and musty, making it impossible to sleep. It made the occupants sneeze and get blocked noses, so we had to open the windows. Poor maintenance. The room service food was mediocre too, and arrived less than warm.

The aircon in our room broke down, so we had to move. In the new room, the Wi-Fi was spotty and the phone system kept going down. On 1 May around 7pm, I called room service for a simple bucket of ice. They rudely said there were “many guests” and I'd have to wait. I was fine with that, but the ice never arrived. I called several more times and nobody answered. After 4.5 hours without ice or an answer, I finally got the duty manager. He said the restaurant had closed and I should have called earlier. I told him I had called earlier; all he offered was that I could “lodge a complaint with customer service.” That was apparently all the accountability on offer. Being ignored, spoken to dismissively, then blamed for their failure to deliver basic service isn't for me. If that's what you enjoy, go ahead. Otherwise, stay somewhere else and save yourself the frustration.

The bathroom shower had mould, the food was bad, and the aircon blew air that wasn't cold. I'm sure they reuse the food. I complained about the aircon, and they said they'd get someone to fix it, but when I returned at night, nothing had changed. Luckily, I only stayed two nights. For this price range and standard, it's the worst hotel I've been to. Even a normal three-star hotel could do better. I can't see what's good about it when the basic things aren't done right.