Review of Airbnb in Malaysia (JB, Muar, Melaka)
We mainly stayed in Airbnb during our trip to West Malaysia from 25 May to 4 June 2024. That’s because we don’t want to be split into two hotel rooms and a quadruple room is usually quite expensive. In this post, I’ll share our reviews of our Airbnb in Malaysia (including a hotel in Muar). May it help in your decision process!
Jump to the relevant section:
- Johor Bahru (Mosaic Southkey)
- Johor Bahru (near Paradigm Mall)
- Muar (MUO Resort)
- Melaka (The Atlantis and Bali Residence)
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Johor Bahru (Mosaic Southkey)
Airbnb listing: www.airbnb.com.sg/rooms/1131143455568576526 (Professionally managed by Gdragon Homestay)
This Airbnb is in the Mosaic Southkey condominium (“condo”).
About Mosaic Southkey Condo
The security was professional and did their job well in ensuring no unauthorised entry into the premises and no one entered the lift wet (very strict). However, the condo seems to be mainly used for homestays, thus expect a lot of human traffic during weekends and holidays. You might wait very long for the lifts, especially during breakfast and checkout timings. Also, we were at the pool at 7:45 AM and some children were already playing!
The location is quite decent with good food just at the doorstep. It’s very near Southkey Mall by car, but not really walkable because it’s not a direct path and has multiple cross-junctions. Best to take Grab there.
About the Airbnb Apartment
The apartment is generally well-maintained and spacious with two proper bedrooms. One bedroom has a double bed and the other room has two double beds. However, after a night, my girls on the same bed had red dots on one side of their faces and necks. I suspected the dots to be bed bug bites but since there were only a few, we shrugged it off until I saw a recent review on bed bugs.
But still, my kids loved this place a lot because of the slide in the living room – it reminded me of our minsu in Taitung. Baby cot and toilet step stools were also provided, along with other basic amenities – towels, hand towels, toiletries, slippers, and disposable toothbrushes. Suitable for families, especially with young children.
Johor Bahru (near Paradigm Mall)
Airbnb listing: www.airbnb.com.sg/rooms/1155756378127321042 (Professionally managed by 2F Homestay)
This Airbnb is in The Platino condo.
About The Platino Condo
The location is good as The Platino is beside the Paradigm mall, just 2-3 minutes’ walk.
However, it was a hassle to go in and out of the condo because our host only gave us one access card. It’s okay if we travel as a group at all times, but sometimes we have different itineraries. We had to tap three to four times to head back to the apartment – when we entered the main lobby, then again at the lift lobby, in the lift, and at the door which opened up to the corridor where our unit was located. When exiting from the apartment, we have to use the card to tap out at all points again (why don’t they use Exit Push buttons?!).
Compared to Mosaic Southkey condo and the condo in Melaka, there seem to be more residents staying here and hence no overcrowding at the lifts. There’s a gym room, an adult lap pool and the children’s pool, but the jacuzzi is out of bounds for children. A security guard was stationed beside the jacuzzi like a lifeguard and occasionally patrolled the pool area. He was quite rude when asking us to stay off the jacuzzi.
About the Airbnb Apartment
It’s newly renovated as seen in the pictures, note that the toilets are not renovated as evidenced by rusty toilet fittings. No hand towels and hand soap were provided, and it’s strictly one towel per guest, so bring your towels if you want to swim! The towels and rubber house slippers felt new and clean though.
The bed in the common room is super firm – like sleeping on a hard surface, not very comfortable for us who are not used to such firmness.
Muar (MUO Resort)
Agoda: https://agoda.tp.st/G112pBWF
I couldn’t find a suitable Airbnb in Muar and MUO Resort is one of the best-reviewed stays in Muar, offering different types of family rooms. The sister hotel, MUO Boutique, has good reviews too. However, it only has a triple room at most.
About MUO Resort
MUO Resort has a laid-back feel. Perfect for the laid-back town of Muar. The location is quite near the city by car. In Muar, it’s best to drive around anyway. Note that the entrance to the resort is small, so look out for the signboard, you might miss it if you drive too fast. Enter and drive through the driveway to arrive at the reception area.
Parking is limited but guests will get their own parking space (the assigned lot might change day-to-day, so remember to check before parking).
Within the premises, there’s a cafe (Zuzu Coffee) and a restaurant (Sama Sama). The coffee was not bad, but we did not get a chance to try the restaurant (10% discount for resort guests) because it was closed on the Wednesday we checked out.
There are many Instagrammable spots around the resort. You can also find small animals and buy feeds for them.
The staff was also friendly and helpful.
About the Deluxe Family Room
We stayed in the Deluxe Family room. It was like a typical hotel room but with two queen beds. It is not spacious but the space is alright for a short stay of 2 to 3 nights. The room was clean and had basic amenities such as full-sized toiletries. And if you like the toiletries, you can buy them from the resort. The products and the wooden furniture in the room are made in Muar.
Certain rooms face the parking lots and ours was unfortunately not much better. It was by the outdoor lounge area where people could smoke. Thankfully no one smoked nor was there any big group gathering while we were there. However, the room was just beside the restaurant kitchen. Strong food smell might make its way into the room when the restaurant is open, and dishwashing clanking sounds when the restaurant is closed.
Nevertheless, I will still recommend it for a short stay in Muar. If we return, I’ll likely book the Family Suite because it’s more spacious and in a quieter corner of the resort.
Melaka
Our first Airbnb booking: www.airbnb.com.sg/rooms/1017854501498918457 (Professionally managed by Jay Stay Homestay ).
This Airbnb is in The Atlantis condo.
About The Atlantis
The location is near the town centre by car and good food. The security is strict to ensure there’s no unauthorised access. The lifts also didn’t seem crowded with homestay guests, unlike Bali Residences (see next section). However, check-in details weren’t given until I asked the day before on a late afternoon.
The apartment is spacious. There are two queen beds in each of the two bedrooms. It has a good view as well. It would be good if the pool was not closed. But we were not informed that the pool has been under maintenance since April and we booked in May. My children were looking forward to swimming, hence we looked for an alternative nearby even though it was evening by the time we found the pool was closed.
Fortunately, they allowed a full refund, even though we learned from Airbnb Support that we should have asked the host for alternatives. That’s because we rebooked somewhere much smaller at a higher price. Moreover, we should have waited for Airbnb’s reply to utilise their 10% discount voucher. But we were anxious to ensure we had a place to stay before cancelling.
About Airbnb Support
We were protected by AirCover. This includes protection from Host cancellations, significant listing inaccuracies, and other issues like trouble checking in. All we need to do is:
- Report any travel issue to Airbnb within 72 hours of discovering it.
- Share some documentation (photos, videos etc.) of the issue with Airbnb.
Our second Airbnb booking: www.airbnb.com.sg/rooms/1163528546983016281 (Professionally managed by Q Holiday Home)
This Airbnb is in Bali Residence condo.
About Bali Residence
The location is near the town centre by car and good food. However, this condo has many units used for homestays. One company, “Let’s Stay Homestay”, has so many units at the Bali Residence that they even have a reception counter on the ground floor that resembles a hotel’s.
During weekends and holidays, I will highly advise you to check out at least 1-2 hours before the check-out timing. It’s almost impossible to go down during checkout timing. Hence we went up first to go down. We left half an hour earlier but still had to squeeze into a crowded lift that went up before heading down – the lift opened to people waiting for the lift almost every floor up and almost every floor down.
The swimming pool is so crowded that it looks like a water theme park on a weekend. The photo below was taken on a Wednesday, during Malaysia’s school holiday. Naturally, the water became murky with so many people in it. Nevertheless, the highlight of the stay for our children is the water playground/swimming pool and children’s playground. They love the slides and water buckets.
About the Airbnb Apartment
The apartment we booked at The Atlantis (S$60/night) was much bigger and cheaper than this apartment (S$79/night). We felt like we were paying more for the condo’s water playground. This apartment is a studio apartment converted into a 2-bedroom unit. A sliding partition separated the dining and living room, for which the living room became the second bedroom. My girls slept in the “living room” on the sofa bed. The sofa bed and the mattress in the room were super hard though.
The house and its makeshift kitchen are slightly old but still generally clean. The towels felt well-used though clean. It did not feel professionally managed because the pillows were of different types and the towels given were of different types/colours. Felt more like they were giving us whatever was available at home. The place gave me a motel stay vibe.
The host provided an additional bedsheet (for the sofabed), towel and toilet paper on request. It’s a reasonable space for a short stay (2 to 3 nights), but quite expensive for the space and condition. Thus it’s not my first choice. But I must add, the futsal table was a hit with my children.
Before you go, you might want to check out my other posts on Malaysia. Leave your comments or questions below. Love to hear from you. :)
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