Matchbox Memories: Hotel brands in JB

My story on the Mutiara Johor Bahru, set me off to reminisce about other hotel brands in Johor Baru that have also ceased their operations.

The Mutiara JB was the former Johor Bahru Holiday Inn – Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza at Jalan Dato Sulaiman in Century Gardens, the first Holiday Inn here.

Looking through our collection of matchbooks and matchboxes was like a walk down the proverbial memory lane because these hotel names made me think about its whereabouts in the city along with a flood of memories of who with, why and when I was there.

When the 4-star Johor Baru Holiday Inn opened in 1982, it was during an era when the state welcomed foreign industrial investments and Johor was seeing more visitor arrivals who required quality accommodation.

To provide a wider choice of accommodation, more hotels, both local and international brands, started to open in the city.

Among the familiar brands of hotels that opened here were those from The Merlin Hotel Group, which opened not one but two hotels in JB.

The Merlin Tower Johor Bahru opened within a shopping mall located at the corner where Jalan Meldrum meets Jalan Station in the city center while Merlin Inn Johor Bahru was at Jalan Bukit Meldrum.

Later, the Merlin Tower property was reopened as Johor Bahru Central Hotel while the Merlin Inn premises was used as a hospitality training school.

The JB Central Hotel should not be mistaken for the Sentral Hotel that opened at Jalan Tenteram, close to the former Merlin Inn on Bukit Meldrum.

 

In line with their tagline, Your Complete Host, two more hotels in this group were opened in other Johor districts as Merlin Inn Desaru and Merlin Inn Mersing.

Meanwhile more local brand hotels were also opening in the city to offer visitors a choice of more affordable accommodation.

These included Hotel Regent Elite situated at the corner where Jalan Siew Nam meets Jalan Meldrum, and Tropical Inn Johor Baru at Jalan Gereja.

Tropical Inn lived up to their tagline, Malaysian Hospitality You Can Afford, and provided quality accommodation to visitors who preferred affordable stays.

This hotel brand ceased its operations recently and the property was refurbished and reopened as JO Hotel Johor Bahru.

Meanwhile, the first 5-star hotel in the city was constructed at the corner where Jalan Salim meets with Jalan Trus and Jalan Abdullah Ibrahim, a location known as The Kotaraya.

It opened in 1991 as The Puteri Pan Pacific Hotel Johor Bahru, an international brand hotel in JB, in a joint-venture project with the state-owned Johor Corporation.

It’s opening marked the arrival of other international hotel brands that opened in and around the city.

In 2005, the management of The Puteri Pan Pacific Hotel Johor Bahru was handed back to Johor Corporation which in effect, changed the hotel’s name to Puteri Pacific Hotel Johor Bahru.

It continued to be a hotel of choice for its food and entertainment outlets, in particular the Selasih Restaurant which featured a menu of signature Malay dishes that represented the various states in our nation.

I also remember the Hai Tien Lo Chinese Restaurant, a popular destination for Halal Chinese cuisine and a range of quality dim sum. This restaurant was later renamed Kai Xuan.

Besides its Food and Beverage outlets, this hotel also had an exciting fun club in its basement where patrons could enjoy dancing to live band performances.

I was at its official launch and received a ceramic mug as souvenir but must confess that I failed to remember its name. It was a cool name like 1819, some four-digit year but I just cannot remember...

The Newsroom Café continued to host annual Ramadan buffets but due to the prolonged lockdown in the global pandemic, the Puteri Pacific Hotel JB ceased its operations in August 2020.

Another international brand hotel which opened here was the 5-star Hyatt Regency Johor Bahru at Jalan Sungai Chat.

One of this hotel’s main selling points was its location on a hillock which commanded a panoramic view of Dataran Johor, the Johor Straits and beyond to the shores of neighbouring Singapore.

Their free-form swimming pool, designed within a lush landscaped garden, was another plus point for this gem of a property that continues to operate as Thistle Johor Bahru.

In Senai, an international brand hotel which opened close to the International Airport was Sofitel – Palm Resort Golf & Country Club.

This sprawling property located at Jalan Persiaran Golf, off Jalan Jumbo in Senai, later changed its name to Mercure Johor Palm Resort before being known as its present name, Le Grandeur Palm Resort.

Another hotel which opened along Jalan Bukit Meldrum was the Grand Blue Wave Hotel Johor Bahru and continues to welcome guests with only a name-change to GBW Hotel Johor Bahru.

This all-suites hotel was a popular choice for long-staying guests and guests who preferred more space in their accommodation.

Separated from Singapore by a causeway, JB welcomed regular visitors from Singapore who often enjoy staycations here.

This healthy trend saw more local hotels, boutique hotels and Bed & Breakfast places opening in and around the city to cater to the accommodation needs of weekenders and holidaymakers here.

Young entrepreneurs opened cool B&B accommodation within prewar shophouses in the city’s heritage quarter while budget hotels sprouted in the suburbs.

The favourable exchange rate for the Singapore Dollar also saw a trend where wedding couples – where one partner was Malaysian and the other Singaporean – chose to host their dinner banquets in hotels here for their Malaysian family and guests to attend more conveniently.

It was to everybody’s advantage to host a banquet or reception in a reputable hotel at a favourable exchange rate and for guests to attend and enjoy the warm hospitality of such hotels.

The hotels in JB also benefited from the tourism industry where international groups visiting Malaysia had an itinerary for a final overnight night stay here before they departed for an early flight across the causeway through Changi Airport in Singapore.

While hotels and resorts in Johor have been hard hit by the border closure between Singapore and Malaysia as well as between states and districts, hoteliers are working hard to sustain their business through their Food & Beverage outlets and Work-From-Hotel packages.

Armed with a pessimistic outlook, hoteliers are making good use of this low period to maintain their properties and prepare for the revival of business once the borders reopen.

Note: Between my eldest sister and I, we have accumulated a vast collection of matchboxes over the years.

In those days, matchbooks and matchboxes were given away by a wide range of brands for the use of smokers and souvenir-collectors like us.

From hotels, restaurants, fast-foods to airlines, there were matchboxes for us to collect from events and our travels locally and abroad.

So each matchbox virtually holds a memory and a story from somewhere. As smoking is now discouraged, we hardly see any matchboxes provided as souvenirs.

This series of stories are based on our matchbox collection. #matchboxmemories