Thistle Negatives

Well, I have to be balanced. There are a lot more could be done to improve Thistle. And as a patron, I deserved to voice them up.

My chief gripe was the lack of free broadband services. In 2013, it should be a crime for hotels not giving away free bandwidth to their paying customers. It is a basic necessity. I could understand if this was a budget outlet. We paid good money for the stay and we deserved that. To make matters worse, the rooms were not blessed with the best telco receptions, be it Celcom or DiGi. It was better at the pool - which even there was not equipped with WiFi.

At least there should be free service at the lobby.

Second was the toilet in the room. The shower door was pretty loose, and every time my boys had a shower, the place turned into one big bathtub. The floors were all wet.

TV channels were limited. There were more Singaporean channels than ASTRO. One movie channel. Only ESPN, so no Manchester United. And no channels for the kids! Blimey!

Last but not least, were the lighting. It was really dark at both the living area and bedroom. Since we bought Lego during our trip to Legoland, my boys tried to assemble some of the toys when they got back into the room. Forget it. The grumpy boys had to wait until the next morning. More lights please ......

This would need fixing my friends ......

Goodbye Thistle

I was about to start packing for the return to Kuala Lumpur, but I couldn't resist penning this entry. We actually enjoyed our stay here at Thistle. The room was cosy, the food was good, and the best of all, the staffs were friendly.

Over the years, we always had some issue with hotel staffs treating us local Malaysians as second-class patrons. Maybe we didn't tip them enough. But it tended to be rather obvious.

To start with the staffs here are Malaysians in the majority. So, communications were not an issue. They were also prompt and keen to help, which is always good. Yes, they were not perfect, but not everybody could be perfect - although Marina Bay Sands was damn near that if only they serve Halal food. But I digressed.

They still lack the finer things. For example, not offering us the parking pass despite basking for the vehicle number and where we parked. And not offering seats on the Legoland shuttle despite us checking in with a couple of kids. They still have plenty of room for improvement.

Three things you should try should you checked in here were the pool, the Executive Lounge at Level 15 and Oasis, an Italian-Japanese fusion restaurant by the pool. The pool was great and well-maintained, with separate children area and ample seating. No lifeguards though and the beverage service was pretty slow. The Lounge was quiet and exclusive, service breakfast in the morning and afternoon tea. The scone was a hit. And lastly, Oasis, with the freshly baked pizza at a stone oven at the restaurant, and fresh sashimi. It was a winner. Add to that live music from an acoustic band. Perfect! Good thing that my children loved Italian food.

Definitely I would consider coming back here in the future. My boys definitely loved this place, so that was always a good start.

Leaving Today

Soon, it was time to say goodbye to JB and our lovely hotel room at Thistle. First to wake up as usual, and after checking Van Persie's injury time equally against West Ham last night, I hit the shower and went down for breakfast. A busier morning than the last couple, clearly the hotel was full last night. There was a queue even at 8 in the morning. And a fair few of the guys were in baju batik. There must be a wedding they were attending.

As for me, after the quick breakfast, I hang around by the poolside as not to make any noise to wake up the boys in the room.

Well, had to start putting then stuffs back into the bags then. We would be leaving after lunch, maybe via Johor Premier Outlet as it would be just along the way. Anita wanted to do some shopping I guessed. As for me, I'm already broke .......

Exploring Thistle

As usual, I woke up the earliest being the first to go to bed. So, I set off to have breakfast and explore the hotel. It was still quite that early bin the morning, and I get to see the whole place as the rest were rushing for breakfast.

There were three venues for breakfast, the main cafe called Glass, a cafe by the main reception called Steps and at the Executive Lounge on Level 15. I decided to have it at Glass since it had the widest selection. But in the end, it was just a typical hotel breakfast. Nothing to shout about. As the place was relatively quite - being a Friday - service was prompt. Hopefully I could say the same for Saturday and Sunday.

I spent a good 30 minutes exploring the swimming pool area and reading about the facilities on offer. I also went into the gym, but didn't try anything as I didn't bring my trainers along. The pool looked great and I couldn't wait to try it later. It had a separate children area and ample deck.

Next it was time to get the boys ready. We planned an early start as we were Legoland-bound. It looked like it was going to be a sunny day ......

JB Bound

I could only escape from work after 5, racing home to be able to leave by 6. Everyone was already set to leave, the luggage already in the trunk of the MPV. All I had to do was change, get all my personal things into the car, and JB here we come!

Traffic was light all the way and we stopped at Ayer Keroh for Maghrib and a quick bite. We finally checked in into our hotel room, Thistle at 10.30. And the room was great. It was actually an apartment unit, and excited the boy actually helped us unpack while waiting for room service.

The journey was smoother than we expected although we had the usual commotion in the car. That was predictable with the two boys. Excited with the spanking shiny hotel when we arrived, they became hyper again. And this continued until well past midnight.

As usual, Daddy had to sleep at the living room. Luckily, the sofa was generously big and we didn't have to ask for an extra bed. The sofa, plus an extra blanket did me nicely. And the boys were still jumping around when I dozed off. Boundless energy these kids!