Thistle Hotel Johor Bahru

6/10

Pleasant

30 Jul 2025

Jonathan

Mouldy walls and smell

10/10

Exceptional

21 Jun 2025

Azmi

Good enviroment easy accessable

Friends_and_family Family

8/10

Excellent

01 May 2025

CONSTANCE

Good property for a family. Inconvenient location if you don’t have a vehicle.

Leisure Family

8/10

Excellent

20 Mar 2025

Ian

Could possibly get better quality room slippers and a some form of a bathrobe :-)

Leisure Partner

8/10

Excellent

16 Mar 2025

Bin Madon

Refurbished room looks new. Service staff excellent. Breakfast spread pathetic..swimming pools need to be overhauled. Carparks neat a refreshed coat of painting. Carpark lifts need upgrading.

Leisure Family

8/10

Excellent

26 Feb 2025

LEE

Agw

6/10

Pleasant

16 Feb 2025

Nurul

good for family convenience location

Leisure Family_with_children

6/10

Pleasant

20 Jan 2025

Tharumalingam

No

4/10

Poor

11 Jan 2025

Sazali

Supposedly a good hotel but poorly maintained.

The toilet door is a sliding type. The bottom rail was not secured, thus the door can be dislodged if push hard causing a safety issue.
The bath tub doubled as shower area but without shower curtain although there was a curtain railing. This causes the whole toilet wet and slippery after everytime we shower.
Shower gel and shampoo need to be requested.

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

19 Dec 2024

Shailesh

Very Good stay

Business Self

8/10

Excellent

18 Dec 2024

Daryl Keen Hoong

1. Some furnishing like the marble TV table top is cracked & chipped, this reduced the overall feel of the unit and may cause accidental cuts to hands.
2. There are 2 TVs but only 1 cable, and the channels reception is very poor.
3. A large breakfast area was exposed to direct sunlight, shades should be installed to provide comfort to guests.

Leisure Partner

8/10

Excellent

10 Nov 2024

Watson

～

8/10

Excellent

22 Oct 2024

T S Tengku

Good location

Leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

03 Oct 2024

Md Shafiullah Bhuiyan

I am very happy for this hotel

10/10

Exceptional

24 Sep 2024

Airina

Housekeepers are very friendly n helpful.

Leisure Partner

8/10

Excellent

23 Sep 2024

Adrian

Gomfy

Comfortable spacious

Partner

8/10

Excellent

07 Sep 2024

Muhammad Syafiq Bin

The comfort was amazing as I got a free upgrade to the suite. It’s just that the room needs a-bit more of maintenance in terms of the sink, some loose tiles. Other than that. It was great!

Partner

4/10

Poor

07 Sep 2024

Samsiah

The management of Thistle Hotel should do some repair works like toilet door (which hardly to close) and cupboard with loose doors. But the plus point about Thistle Hotel is it has good staff, very polite and helpful. This is my personal opinion.

Leisure Partner

8/10

Excellent

04 Aug 2024

Suraya

Need to do some upgrade on the room

Friends_and_family Family

4/10

Poor

08 Jun 2024

Rahul

Poor Service

My experiences with Thistle were really bad - Starting from slow reception service, air-con not working, security latch broken on the door to towel not available in the room. I had to remind twice to get the towel only after 20 mins.

Business

2/10

Poor

04 Jun 2024

Verified traveler

Terrible horrible

Terrible, horrible, dirty. Old, spoil tv, looks haunted, broken cupboard, smell of cigarette, book 3rooms, with 7kids total for a good swim and guess what. Pool are full of fungus(greenish) and not operating. We stayed for 30minutes and book another hotel instead. Waste money as its non refundable. Do not try.

Friends_and_family Family

8/10

Excellent

24 Feb 2024

Lukasz

Good stay

The room was large and spacious. Day view of the seaview room is pleasant. I found the standing shower area to be too small and the shower area also looked like ut needs some deep cleaning. Overall comfortable stay but I wished the bathroom was more sparkling clean.

Self

6/10

Pleasant

19 Jan 2024

Azrina

Acceptable

Business Self

6/10

Pleasant

23 Dec 2023

Amit

Check in was good. It’s a basic hotel but considered to be “high end” in Johor. I guess given the lack of choices this is a decent place to stay. Do not expect a five star. Rooms are bigger than KSL and the place is not as crowded. But the rooms are older and the decor is ordinary. You may even find some loose fixtures. Overall- avg place, nice service.

Leisure Self

6/10

Pleasant

21 Dec 2023

Julia

I stay at Thistle every time I visit JB because of its close proximity to where I need to go. So I know it is not the best when it comes to facilities and amenities.

However, they could at least maintain what they have well. The gym is terrible with half the machines out of order. The restaurant is mostly unavailable with events and the wait staff is barely available. I saw one poor guy being turned away for dinner on a couple of occasions. I guess he wanted to try the food no matter what.

I get that the hotel is old and it is currently going through renovation. However what it lacks in amenities should be made up by good service. Unfortunately this was the worst part of my experience at Thistle. After my numerous stays, it is obvious that service has gone downhill. I’m ok with indifferent service but rudeness is not acceptable. Most of the front desk staff were just plain rude. They were condescending and their immediate responses were alway no, not possible or no, not available. Even asking for an iron was an immediate rejection. Which by the way, isn’t an iron sort of an expected amenity?
Anyway, I’m not sure if I will continue staying there even if the location is convenient for me. It may be more worth it to pay the extra Grab cost to stay at a more decent hotel at a slightly higher cost.

Business_and_leisure Self

8/10

Excellent

19 Dec 2023

Mansoor Bin

Quite , Easy Parking & Convenient.

Minus: Swimming Pool have a musky smell
Breakfast area shifted & inconvenience of table &
chair arrangement

8/10

Excellent

14 Dec 2023

Joel

It’s nice in the room with toilets clad in marble but you can clearly tell things are dated. You’ll probably need some unholy strength to work the faucets what with their poor design. If it was still in the 1980s, I suppose it would be a grand hotel but sadly everything is left at a stand still. You’ll definitely need your own transport getting in and out. Car park entrance is a bit narrow at one point

Leisure Partner

8/10

Excellent

25 Nov 2023

Fransisco

This hotel was our favorite when we visited Johor Bahru before COVID-19 and we just had the opportunity to stay at this hotel again. I am a bit disappointed with the room's condition, I saw the wooden wall along the hotel corridor is already rotten. The bathroom has an unpleasant odor, and the bedsheets smell dusty the first night we stay but it's better after the request to change it on the second day. The sofa and chair had bad stains, we also found baby cockroaches and a small flying bug crawling on the makeup table. Hopefully, they can maintain the hotel quality back like the old days or even better.

Leisure Family_with_children

6/10

Pleasant

20 Oct 2023

Mohd

There are a few cockroaches at the room

Business Self

10/10

Exceptional

26 Sep 2023

Hisyamuddin

During our stay, our actual room already taken by mistake. As complement for their mistake we got free fruit basket delivered to our room.

Leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

13 Sep 2023

Verified traveler

Clean and pretty view

View and room was great. Service were soso, not exactly the friendliest, but still not too bad. Microwave wasnt working in the room but cleanliness and comfort wise it is good for a short staycay!

Partner

8/10

Excellent

08 Sep 2023

Mun-Kein

The hotel is actually very nice, clean and 4-5 star rating, if not for the slow check in front desk service staff. Sad as the rest of the staff such as housekeeping, security and engineering are really prompt and up to secret. For the price, ambience and comfort, well worth a repeat stay.

Leisure Family

6/10

Pleasant

03 Sep 2023

Sriman

Good location. Staffs were cooperative. Breakfast is decent.

Leisure Family_with_children

4/10

Poor

02 Sep 2023

Joe

Rundown property
Remote no mall or convenient stall nearby
Pool water colour looks dirty

Leisure Family

6/10

Pleasant

21 Aug 2023

Wei Wen

First room that we checked in, the bathroom door almost came out. But they change the room within an hour time. But the second room that they change, we realized that the ceiling is leaking with water on the first night.

Leisure Family_with_children

10/10

Exceptional

19 Jul 2023

Wan Roselaily

Room Seaview is ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Business_and_leisure

8/10

Excellent

04 Jul 2023

Ivan

Quiet and spacious. Good for family with kids.

Leisure Friends

2/10

Poor

23 Apr 2023

Glen

Air-con not cold, room are dirty

10/10

Exceptional

19 Apr 2023

Mohd

Near stadium

Business Self

6/10

Pleasant

01 Apr 2023

Natasha

Pretty rundown. Did not look like the images. Peeling paint and rusted bathtub.

Leisure Friends

10/10

Exceptional

28 Mar 2023

LEONG FATT

Overall pleasant experience. Room is clean and bright. Breakfast is considered good but can be better

8/10

Excellent

23 Mar 2023

zainudin lee

satisfied quite clean only shower water clogged

Leisure Family

6/10

Pleasant

15 Mar 2023

Wai Ling

OK

Business Self

6/10

Pleasant

15 Mar 2023

JOSEPH

The sea and pool view is wonderful. The housekeeping is no good. You have to check any items missing or not to the qty. Of provided. I found bath room towels missing. I was alocated to a standard king i stead of a deluxe king room. It had been fixed after complaint or reported.

Family

8/10

Excellent

05 Feb 2023

Verified traveler

Still worth a stay.

The room interior certainly deserves more attention. The bath no longer drains well and many of the room fixtures need updating. The bed, pillows and undersized doona have all seen better days. Daily room service is also often neglected and outsourcing it is not a solution. On the other hand, the exterior of the hotel including facilities are being refurbished and it is good to see routine maintenance being done around the hotel. Hopefully this will extend to the rooms soon.

Self

8/10

Excellent

29 Jan 2023

Verified traveler

Comfortable stay with some room issues.

A little dated and need for maintaining, otherwise comfortable stay. We stayed in one of the better delux rooms facing the sea. We had a leak issue in the bathroom which they came to dry out the floor but didn't fix (we left it as it is because we were there only for the night and didn't have time to shift or complain, the bath tub clearly could benefit from new plugs but the one there works okay. The aircon couldn't be adjusted so it stayed at a very cold temp despite us turning it up to 30 degrees. We knew something wasn't quite right because the windows were fogged up throughout the trip while our friend's room next door didn't have the same effect and wasn't as cold. The windows had algae on the outside. Having said ALL that, it was still a comfortable stay and for the price point I think some of these inconveniences can be overlooked since it was an overnighter, but I would have asked for a change of room if not.

Friends_and_family Family

8/10

Excellent

24 Jan 2023

Hsin Kerng

Nil

10/10

Exceptional

24 Jan 2023

Nizam

Clean and nice

Leisure Partner

6/10

Pleasant

21 Jan 2023

PENG SOON

Overall ok convenient for a quiet stay

Partner

8/10

Excellent

27 Dec 2022

Zarin.

Friendly staff, Nice view. Comfortable and spacious rooms. Some of the lights were not working, and building is old and not as well maintained with holes in walls, spoilt locks and doors and wiring exposed. However still an enjoyable stay.

Leisure Family

6/10

Pleasant

26 Dec 2022

Khairul Shah Bin

Despite being the reputable, the restaurant furniture are horrible and worst than outside cafes. Using masking tape to cover up broken woods of the dining table? And the breakfast area have to climb 2 sets of stairs, whereas the passenger lift is down?

Leisure Family

2/10

Poor

26 Dec 2022

Glen

Breakfast was horrible.
Air-conditioning for room also horrible👎👎👎

10/10

Exceptional

12 Dec 2022

Mazidah

You have very good staffs. Thank you

Leisure

2/10

Poor

20 Nov 2022

Rossli

Bad experience in Thistle Hotel.

The hotel interior and exterior looks run down. The toilet cleainess is so poor. Got problem with the room tv channel and it took so long for the technician to come to rectify the problem. Eventually the problem is still not solve with any updates. Regret checking in to this hotel.

Partner

6/10

Pleasant

18 Oct 2022

PETER GLENSONG

Replace taps and sink stoppers that are faulty

Business Self

10/10

Exceptional

06 Sep 2022

Weng Sheng

Quiet location. Great for families.

Leisure Family_with_children

6/10

Pleasant

29 Aug 2022

Ismail

The toilet flush is not working properly.

Leisure Family

2/10

Poor

28 Aug 2022

Tang

Terrible place. Won’t head back again. Cockroaches in room, paint peeling, patches on wall, broken tap…. I want a refund!

Leisure Partner

4/10

Poor

08 Aug 2022

Verified traveler

Seriously run down! Everything was broken. From cupboards to toilet doors to side lamp. It was broken and not working. Toilet was really dusty and unhygienic. Will never stay again unless they revamped and improved all the conditions.

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

29 Jul 2022

Bin Omar

Big pool for water recreation and excellent breakfast

Business Family

2/10

Poor

04 Jul 2022

Sern kwang

Extremely run down condition. The hardware is in urgent need of revitalization. Staff is the only saving grace, but still not enough to warrant a stay there now....

Friends_and_family Family

2/10

Poor

19 Jun 2022

Muhammad Khairul Anuar

One of the best hotels in JB pre covid times.Post covid,the hotel is in total disarray,especially the room Im staying in.No TV controller,torn towels,difficulty to close toilet door,no floor mat provided,very limited tissue,in room phone not working,among others.

2 years of covid they should at least maintain the standards,instead its becoming from bad to worst!

The manager promised to rectify the problem 30 mins upon our arrival.After waiting for 1 hour,I have to call them up instead!The reason given was that he ended shift at 3pm but he stayed a bit to settle the issue.Become my problem that he had to stay a bit longer???Total disappointment!Buck up Thistle!Shame on you!

Leisure Family

2/10

Poor

16 Jun 2022

Gia Kheng

Many small croton in bed room

Friends_and_family Family

4/10

Poor

08 Jun 2022

Yaw Wee

Not recommended

Hotel is running down and maintenance is bad. Swimming pool not clean.

Business Family

4/10

Poor

21 May 2022

Suresh

Disappointed

Room need refurbishment. Room looks very old and glum. Leakage on bathroom ceiling.

Partner

8/10

Excellent

15 May 2022

shah imran

All can conclude perfect accept for water in swimming pool not clean enough.

2/10

Poor

14 May 2022

Gia Kheng

Many little cockroach inside bed room, TV cabinet and bedside table.... 😠

Friends_and_family Family

6/10

Pleasant

24 Apr 2022

Farrin

Rooms need to be refurbished. Currently look very old and stale.

Business_and_leisure Family

4/10

Poor

05 Apr 2022

Sheau Mei

V Poor condition for a reputable 4-star hotel!

Thistle Hotel was not ready to receive guests when Malaysia opened its borders for overseas travellers.on 1/4/2022

The 2 deluxe twin rooms had poor TV connection and the screens were grainy. The hotel internal phone network could not work at all, and it made reaching the front desk extremely difficult. Any request had to be made by person at the front desk or to contact the hotel via their official contact number using our own phones.

Room 0810 had a malfunction table lamp bulb which made the room dimly lit. The same room had a leaking tap that required much strength to turn it off. Room 0808 had only 1 set of toiletries, insufficient for 2 guests.

Maintenance team took a while to respond. Guests from both rooms were patient for maintenance team to carry the works. Upon the check made by maintenance team, Room 0808 TV screen could not be fixed.

When we left hotel for late dinner due to the delay in waiting for the maintenance team to complete their check and repair, we passed down the front desk that offered us a change in rooms.

We accepted the goodwill change and requested that the changed rooms were in proper conditions. Front desk assured they would ensure so.

When we went into the switched rooms, Room 1202 bathroom heater took a long while for slightly lukewarm water to be turned on.

Room 1203 heater produced scarcely warm water for a late night shower. There was only 1 set of toiletries, instead for 2 guests. Neighbouring room flushing toilet can be heard.

Friends_and_family Family

2/10

Poor

03 Apr 2022

KK

There were cockroaches in the room.

Leisure Family

6/10

Pleasant

03 Mar 2022

Akmal Farhan

Used to stay here many times when outstation in JB.. but my recent stay.. bath tub not clean..ada rambut dalam bath tub.. overall is Okies for me

Business

8/10

Excellent

05 Feb 2022

Verified traveler

So-so

Room was ok but i dont like the bathroom. A bit run down and out of date. Need refurbishment. The breakfast is not great and the cafe is too small to accomodate guests. Parking is a bit off from building and not advisable to walk alone to the parking area. I dont plan to stay here for my next visit.

Friends_and_family Family

6/10

Pleasant

07 Jan 2022

Bin Omar

The hotel is near to the city centre. The foods are excellent. The toilet in the room which I stayed is not properly maintained. Water from the shower tub not drained properly and the carpet around the toilet door is wet.

Business Family

2/10

Poor

26 Nov 2020

DS DR Norashfah

Lousy

Business

8/10

Excellent

22 Jul 2020

Muhammad

Average

Room condition is average. The bathroom is not well cleaned. There is a lot of hair here and there.

Business Self

10/10

Exceptional

18 Jul 2020

Hilmee

Mehhh...

Overall our stay at thistle is nice. Check in can be a bit hassle as it took the staff almost 5 minutes to prepare the forms and everything.

Friends_and_family Family

6/10

Pleasant

20 Jun 2020

Seow khing

Non of the plug can be use to charge my phone except the one for TV. Toilet have bad smell. Not enough lighting in the room.

Business

10/10

Exceptional

20 Jun 2020

Verified traveler

room is spacious, the staff is helpful, overall are satisfied

Business_and_leisure Family

8/10

Excellent

18 Mar 2020

Normann

Good condition in room except for the toilet.

Service staff were excellent. Breakfast crew and spread were good.

The room is recently renovated. The toilet is left to be desired though. Fixtures in the toilet were old and flooring is slippery when wet. If they upgraded the toilet conditions, the room would be excellent.

Friends_and_family Family

8/10

Excellent

02 Mar 2020

Nawi

Good service

Request room with no bathtub but have to pay extra M$60

Partner

6/10

Pleasant

25 Feb 2020

Verified traveler

Should renovate bathroom

I understand that Thistle has renovated most of the rooms and public area. However, the condition of bathroom was poor. I felt uncomfortable while showering. Please change the showerhead. Replace it with modern and portable showerhead.

Also, the food served at Club Lounge was poor. Tasteless, very few choices. Please visit Amari JB and see what they serve for club room guests.

Friends_and_family Family

8/10

Excellent

23 Feb 2020

Nawi

Will be bak again next trip to Johor Bahru

Partner

6/10

Pleasant

16 Feb 2020

GM

Overall very good

Business Self

4/10

Poor

15 Feb 2020

Chi Khen

Air conditional is very bad, very hot , on 24 hrs still the same

Business

10/10

Exceptional

09 Feb 2020

Verified traveler

The bathtub design enabled me to watch TV while being in it

Friends_and_family Friends

8/10

Excellent

23 Jan 2020

Verified traveler

Staff were helpful. The toilet door was rusty n worn off. Breakfast was great.

Leisure Family

10/10

Exceptional

14 Jan 2020

Verified traveler

I like the pool

Leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

31 Dec 2019

Elsie

Loved the friendly staff, the clean look & the design of the hotel!

Leisure Family

6/10

Pleasant

29 Dec 2019

Verified traveler

Comforter too thin. Toilet bowl flush not strong enough. Cockroach spotted near mini fridge.

Nice view, friendly service staff and good location.

Partner

6/10

Pleasant

23 Dec 2019

Verified traveler

Bad Service

Thistle have always been our Number 1 choice.We have never had any issues even thougt its a minor one but this time its just bad experience for us.We checked in our room with my 3kids who are alrdy tired and in need of a bath and change of diapers.i was getting ready to bath them and realise there were NO towels and Floor matt provided called Housekeeping they say will sent them soon.20mins have passed still NO towels yet.We have to call Housekeeping 3 TIMES to remind them we have yet to received our towels.And our towels was delivered by 2 diff staff because they thought that we just need an EXTRA Towel.Was really dissappointed by hotel Service.

Friends_and_family Family

6/10

Pleasant

16 Dec 2019

Verified traveler

standard can be better

Was told to pay a different amount from the booking as staff mentioned the amount on Hotel.com exclude taxes. After request to check then staff realized I was right. Ask staff to call when room is ready but second time I went back (room was ready but staff did not call) and staff was available then. Room was spacious but sofa seat was dirty. Bath tub was dirty as well. Breakfast was nice.

Friends_and_family Friends

10/10

Exceptional

15 Dec 2019

hpility

My loved one and I had a wonderful stay over the weekend at this hotel. Thank you for the free-upgrade service.

Leisure Partner

4/10

Poor

10 Dec 2019

Verified traveler

Staffs are not attentive. Need improvement on customer service.

Leisure Self

10/10

Exceptional

25 Nov 2019

Josephine

Good services...powerful air conditioning & nice room.

Friends_and_family Friends

6/10

Pleasant

24 Nov 2019

GOH

HOTEL SO SO ONLY

HOTEL ROOM IS OK BUT HOWEVER, THE AREA ARE VERY OLD, NO ONE MAINTAIN, A LOT OF LEAF IN THE POOL, GYM VERY OLD TOO. A BIT TOO EXPENSIVE, MORNING BREAKFAST NOT BAD.

Friends_and_family Friends

8/10

Excellent

24 Nov 2019

Verified traveler

Like Room with SEA view

Hand & Face towels not provided

Leisure Family_with_children

8/10

Excellent

23 Nov 2019

Verified traveler

Time to improve on the property. But staff are very helpful.

8/10

Excellent

22 Nov 2019

Verified traveler

Nice room, we like the color of the paint and interior design.

Leisure Family

4/10

Poor

08 Nov 2019

Verified traveler

Absolutely Horrid

For an \"Executive Suite\", the conditions were worse than expected. Let the pictures speak for themselves.

Broken wardrobe
Broken mirror handle
Cracked toilet seat
No anti slip mat in the bath tub
Utterly old and faulty power switches
A cracked door with a plaster on it

When you flush the toilet, it rumbles so damn loud i was afraid it would blow up. Oh, and you can hear your neighbours toilet rumbling too.

The lights flicker when i turn on the showerhead. How those 2 things affect each other is way scarier than it sounds.

1 of the spare pillows smelt like cottage cheese. Do you guys not wash them after each stay?

Partner

4/10

Poor

04 Nov 2019

Clara

Average experience

The place is really nice, love the view of the hotel- looks like a resort! Staff were really friendly as well! However, we were disappointed in the room- we booked the deluxe sea view king room. First, a lot of things were not in condition, a squeaky chair, toilet roll holder comes out of the wall, and we had a little problem with all the taps- no hot water, had to call for service staff to rectify the problem but they were able to fix it somehow... which was great. Also, we had a balcony but it was so dirty we decided not to step out. Our \"seaview\" is really more of staring into the KFC signpost opposite and the stadium- but also had the view of the swimming pools downstairs which was nice! Secondly, we ordered room service but had to call multiple times because they would transfer us to another line but put on hold for a really long time (~10mins) etc. BUT that said, the food was really good and super worth the price! Lastly, we were watching television but most of the channels suddenly had no connection because of the rain...

Overall, we felt that it was an average stay but wasn't worth the price we paid. That said, we did not have the chance to use the facilities which looks really good- swimming pools and restaurants etc.

Partner