Windmills Upon Hills Premium Suites, Genting Highlands

Was dragged along for the Supplier Appreciation Dinner up at the Genting International Convention Centre, mostly to drive the 'rents up, and because I would be more agreeable to it than the sibling, who would've thrown a hissy fit. 

Anyway, left early to go check out GPO (it's been awhile), but came away empty handed, wallet safe for another time. From the massive info dump we got (with the confirmation email from Agoda) from the people running the place, you gotta check in at 3 p.m. or else there's early checkin/late checkout fees. 

Because of the asinine 3 p.m. check-in rule, of course there was a massive crowd at the outdoor front desk (which is at the back of the Swiss Garden) at 3 p.m. and because they were busy collecting RM200 deposits from everyone, it took half an hour before I got a key card, which you need to tap on the scanner in the lift to take you to your floor. First thing to annoy me was that you can't anyhow tap the card, you gotta place it a certain way before the stupid thing would even register. 

Parking: On 2nd and 3rd floors for guests. I'm guessing there's people in the booth raising the barriers for people coming and going, because I don't think the keycards were that multi function. 

NGL, we all had some trouble getting into the rooms - I think we missed the part where you're not supposed to use the card itself to open the room door, but with the little tag attached. Apparently my parents could hear my uncle figuring that out from several floors up? (My dad, in his wisdom, thought it would be a good idea to buy a table at this stupid thing and invite people not really associated with the company to fill it up, AND got 4 rooms at this place for the occasion). 

Room: First room I got on the 38th floor, I was hit with the smell of cigarettes, one of the towels had mysterious stains, and there was no ceiling fan to speak of. It was gross in some other aspects. But because we had to leave for the dinner, I only had time to clean up and get dressed.

Service: There was a WhatsApp number on the keycards in lieu of a phone in the room for people to contact the front desk about whatever. In between the chaos, I managed to let them know about the room, but they would have to wait until I got back because I didn't really want anyone in there in my absence. 

When we got back it wasn't terribly late, so I let the front desk know that I was back. They sent a guy up with a bottle of Febreeze. I aired my grievances and demanded a new room. So I had to repack best I could, went downstairs for a new key. The new room was this time on the 11th floor and I got an actual key this time for the door. New room was a slight improvement, but it's not saying much. 

The ONLY redeeming quality of this place was the heated rooftop pool on the 41st floor. There was a bigger, 3, 4 foot-high pool for the adults, and then there's several kid pools on the other side of the alcove. 

Not the pool, but view was okay

Not the pool, either. 

After having to walk out to breakfast (it's Genting Permai, there's no shortage of food options nowadays, but you're literally walking up and down slope-y roads, had a good ol' mamak breakfast all the same), I managed to get half an hour in at the pool before having to clean up again to check out. Apparently it's open until pretty late (until 10 p.m.), but didn't get to it from the chaos of having to change rooms until before checking out. 

I think we all agreed that once was enough. 

Staycation at Intercontinental KL

Before the pandemic, I would scoff at the idea of a staycation, especially at the concept of one. It's been over a year now, and between not being to cross state lines, let alone international borders... staycation it is?

I dunno how the guy who sells my dad the Gourmet Collection membership got his number in the first place, but we got a booklet of those (that we only recently managed to get the expiry dates extended to end of July) just languishing. So I took one of those vouchers and made a trial run of using it (cos I'm not the named supplementary card holder) by booking a one-night stay at the Intercontinental in downtown KL. Had to do it old school and phoned in a booking.

Parking: Maybe it was my dumb luck, but the parking gantry crapped out on me and it wouldn't dispense a ticket when I got there Saturday afternoon, also holding up traffic behind me. Had to have one of the parking staff pull out a ticket for me. Despite being reassured that all I needed to do was validate (again) at the parking office on the way out, I was left waiting for about 10 minutes because there was no one in said office to validate. Had to settle for yelling at the person on the other side of the "help" button on the exit gantry to get out of there. 

Checking in: There were several couples that were behind me in the parking lot (see above) who beat me to check-in at the lobby because of social distancing measures, so that took awhile. By the time it was my turn, I think they're afraid I might snap from the RBF I was giving out. I just handed over the hard copy confirmation email I got from them and also the voucher in question. It was one of the "special price" vouchers, which means I still had to pay for it; I wonder if they'll bat an eyelid when the time comes to redeem the complimentary stay ones... 

Room: Deluxe room with king bed on the 23rd floor (non smoking). It was plenty spacious for just lil ol' me. Slept fine until it got too cold for me. I just wished the in-room safe was big enough to stash a laptop flat without laying in on the side? 

If nothing else, I finally got to use the bath oils I haven't been able to use since there's no bathtub in my everyday life. Nope, I didn't get a bath bomb for the occasion.

Wi-Fi was not bad: it was speedy enough for me to stream my usual shows on the laptop. 

There's blinds for the bathroom windows if you're not an exhibitionist?

Finished most of the pod coffee before checking out.
Swiped the rest.

You bet I swiped these

Mostly wore one robe to the pool

Figured the shoe brush and horn wasn't for swiping?

Too many towels, but swiped everything else

Flashlight in the drawer

Pillow menu - ended up with too many pillows I never used in the end
cos I asked for a couple firmer pillows which weren't as firm as I expected

(back of card)

Other facilities: Due to the times we're in, you're only allowed 30 minutes at the pool. You know they keep the riffraff out because it's only accessible by keycard. Probably only got about 25 minutes total in my time there. At least I was the only person using it when I did. 

Also took advantage of the shuttle service to KLCC and Pavilion that only operates on weekends which was first come, first serve for in-house guests (they ask for room number). Caught the last one out for the day to go to KLCC, which is round the bend and down the road from the hotel and technically walkable (but why). It's been awhile since I was last in KLCC in the evening. Hopped on the GOKL bus for the long, circuitous ride back to the hotel several hours later when my feet were done for the day.  

Hotel shuttle to KLCC and Pavilion (FCFS)

Spent the rest of the night in the room sipping chamomile tea and kinda watching the Prince Philip funeral on CNN.

It was only at breakfast the next day that I realised there were more families with young kids than I thought. Because it's fasting month, Serena Brasserie was packed with non-Muslims. According to the info sheet I got at check in, breakfast was split into 2 sessions: 6 am and 8 am (?). I only made it downstairs before 9.30 a.m.. It was a typical breakfast service in that they have just about everything one could want for breakfast - nasi lemak, roti canai, Western, baked goods, dim sum... 

Hung around the room after breakfast, supposedly packing. Only made it out with minutes to go before noon LOL. Even the guy checking me out of the hotel kept asking if I had everything and all I could say was "I hope so?". 

Ate so much at breakfast it ended up more like brunch instead. 

Onion-free omelette, but it still had the onion flavour 

After having one of the pod coffees in the room before breakfast, I opted for hot chocolate
(they took hot drink orders as you enter)

Tried a slice of gluten free bread. It was ok lah I guess

All the mini salads I never partook

Got greedy and asked for poached eggs after the omelette.
Sadly, didn't finish the bread. 

Took one for later consumption in the room

Resorts World Kijal, Terengganu

Instead of driving back home after attending the wake on the same day, we (three of us - me and the 'rents) spent overnight at Resorts World Kijal (fka Awana Kijal; changed name awhile ago) because it's the only beach resort that's not almost RM1000 a night. (But you know which one is? Tanjong Jara Resort in Dungun. Google it). And my dad doesn't like to slum it while on holiday by sleeping in a homestay, which there are plenty of in these parts. Also, he used his Genting connections to get a better than rack rate price? (At RM258 per room per night, it was only a little more expensive than on say, Agoda. Rack rate is like RM400, 500). 

Walking around this place, it was like a flashback to the 1990s and my childhood - everything seemed so dated now in 2019. 

Room(s): While I saw this room online, I wasn't expecting to see it in person - the Deluxe room's in-room tub, which is great for couples, but awkward otherwise. The 'rents had this room (obviously). Rooms also very 90s, in that the features didn't really keep up with the 21st century. 

I got the adjoining room (no tub), but this was there....? 

The rooms we got were not the ocean view rooms (more like, first floor obstructed view of the tennis courts) by any means, but my mum's greatest find were the mango trees steps outside the room with fallen ripe mangoes on the ground. Grand theft mango, I call it. (I don't know why the staff haven't helped themselves to it other than maybe they're not allowed to..? They're the smaller, palm sized mango that I grew up with cos my grandma still has a mango tree like that here in PJ)

This is just one bag. There were more.

The pool here is massive - there's different sections and depths for different swimmers (kids, lap swimmers, hippos...). I spent a couple of hours there before dinner, and it wasn't terribly crowded. 

Klook-ing My Way around the Little Red Dot - ArtScience Museum

(well... not quite.)

Thanks to the Maybank in app game, I had accumulated a buttload of Klook promo codes, but I hadn't used it before and there was a first timer promo code for Maybank card holders that you can find here. 

Thought I'd kip over to Singapore for a couple of days (no money to hang out longer), for the most part to check out... 

the Ten Years of Heroes Exhibition happening in ArtScience Museum until the end of September. Instead of S$32 (to both this and the Future World, because why not), I paid S$25.82 and I got to skip the ticketing queue at B2 (just show the person at the door your voucher for them to scan the barcode and you're in, though I kinda wished I got an old school ticket for my collection of ephemera). Even the Sands Rewards perk for this was only BOGO.

It wasn't terribly crowded cos it was the middle of the week, but there were a lot of Chinese tourists, which begged the questions: Is there some holiday in China I don't know about, some summer vacay I don't know of, or did these people pull their kids out of school to go on holiday? Took pictures of the stuff that caught my eye while other people did the cheesy poses with the figures on display. To each their own, since they also paid money for their tickets too. 

I don't really want to spoil it for people by posting the pictures I took. 

If you've enjoyed at the very least most of the movies (or don't know anything of the MCU, but are very curious about), you should check it out at least once. I thought it was okay. No Infinity War spoilers, in case anyone's wondering. 

There's a chair for you to sit at and join the MCU class photo,
at the gift shop on your way out.

The Future World exhibit is more interactive and more for the kids (under 12s). There were so many kids it was hard to enjoy it as a grown person. So I would say go at least once, but it's more for the kids than it is for adults. 

Here's my referral code for anyone looking to try it out. 

First time with Scoot

Got a under RM100 flight ticket to Singapore with Scoot, which I read has merged with Tiger Airlines. Well it's RM78 with the RM8 processing fee. I would've saved myself RM20 if I got it sooner, but oh well. And that was just flight only; if you have a bag to check in, it varies depending on when you do it, obviously cheapest when you just book the flight at about RM70 per bag. If you do it afters, it goes up to RM100. Which is just too damn much. 

So fast forward to the airport part: it's located on Row Z at KLIA2, along with Jetstar. You can't check in online unless the flight is leaving from Singapore, so you have to show up in person. In an age where printing your own boarding pass is de rigeur, getting an old school card stock one is such a novelty.

When I was in line to check in, there was this auntie behind me who's not giving me any personal space AT ALL. Dunno if she too excited to go Singapore or what. WTF. Which I mentioned to the lady at the counter when it was my turn (thankfully, wasn't next to her on the plane later). Weighed the bag and it was about 5 kgs, so I'm in the clear. The counter lady didn't ask to weigh my personal bag. She also told me to get moving cos it's quite a walk (it's KLIA2, when is there NEVER a long walk?!). Fortunately, it was like Gate L7 and not L22 or I would've thrown a fit. 

Thankfully, there was an empty seat between me (window, nice wing view) and this dad on the aisle seat, who's wife and young kids were across the aisle. 

We left a little later, not sure if it's weather related (it was still raining) or just punctuality issues. And the touchdown was not bad but the deceleration could stand to be better. 

Also cleared immigration at T2 pretty quickly too, which might have to do with it being the middle of a working Friday...? But yay anyway.

Okay first experience, but I don't know about next time...?

2017 JPO Jaunt

Firefly gave out limited time RM50 e-vouchers after I had already bought my flight to Singapore. There wasn't any where else I wanted to go, so I booked a day trip to JB, taking into account the mid year sale, etc. The round trip flight was cheaper than gas, toll and about 8 hours of driving (audiobook length). Today was the day. 

Decided on a 10 a.m. flight out, which sounded great in theory... until they had to close the runway at Subang Airport and for almost an hour, no flights were coming or going (yup, planes can't land either). I don't know why they let the 9 am flights go, but not after that. We only actually departed at around 11 a.m., which was fine because I allocated more time there this trip anyway. 

JB was, indeed, very cloudy yesterday

By the time we landed, I decided to just get lunch at the airport (Subway, if you can believe it) and took an Uber out (there's apparently complimentary buses from the airport to JPO, but the schedule was 😬) which only cost me RM1.20 after the RM7 promo code. 

In a pinch, I can cover the place in 1.5 hours or less because there's only a few shops that I really want to go to. But since I got there after 1 p.m. and had 3, 4 hours tops I really went around. There's some families dressed to the nines in Raya gear, which I have to give them props for. I went two circuits, upstairs and downstairs. I went into some shops twice. I also sat in Coffee Bean for what I would consider a really long time. I even paid the 10% dine in surcharge.

Then I got a text saying that the return flight to Subang was "retimed" to 6.40 p.m (which I guess was the domino effect from this morning). Great. I was already pretty much done by 4 something and it was a somewhat productive trip: I found a wallet that I had been looking for to no avail in KL (the stock was from Singapore, cis) and a pair of Levi's that I'm not sure I could find cheaper in the second home. So I killed some more time nursing a bottle of juice in Starbucks in an effort to cool down and rehydrate. 

Got a Grab car back (RM5 off because Raya promo code) to the airport around 5 something and by the time I got there, I was just in time to check in for the flight and go through the screenings. I even had time to use the Subway receipt from earlier to buy a cookie, get a cookie. 

Only got home around 8 p.m. and suffered a terrible headache (heat, dehydration or both). 

Short jaunt to JPO

I can't remember the last time I flew domestically. I was struggling to remember when that was, until I looked through my 20-something year old travel journal and I believe it was back in the late 90s O___0 

It's not that I haven't travelled domestically over the years, it's just that the 'rents were too cheap to fly.... or rather (according to them), they needed the car to "get around" and buy things like keropok lekor and what not that might be tricky to check in...? I don't know. But it's been mostly land travel in the years since, which is fine for a couple of hours, or places you (logically) can't fly to... like from KL to Malacca (haha), Ipoh or like Genting Highlands. But driving to places where there are plenty of cheap flights to? That one, I can't even :P

I had some AirAsia points that was going to waste. I also wanted to drop by JPO without spending a whole day on the road driving there and back (3, 4 hours on the North-South Highway with minimal traffic, just one way). So what the heck - I found a cheap enough Firefly flight out from Subang and used said points for the flight back, albeit to KLIA2. I even used some of the points for the on-flight hot meal (on such a short flight, ill-advised :P). 

After wolfing down a meal at the Subang Skypark McDs and the security screenings, I got to the gate just in time. It was such a long walk from the terminal to the plane itself, the lack of on-board airconditioning was felt massively by not just me, but my makcik seatmate as well. 

I got an Uber ride pretty quickly out of the airport: he was already on his way with someone else.

I only had a few hours at JPO, but it was sufficient for me because I know I wasn't going into every single shop, or spend a lot of time in the rest. It was cloudy when I was there and rained for a bit, which made it more bearable than usual. Didn't really find anything I liked, except this...

I was done after a couple of hours when I decided to check Uber for nearby drivers. There was one 2 minutes away and I took it as a sign to leave, otherwise I wouldn't know when there would be another car: The guy just happened to be outside JPO and was about to call it a day when I made the request, so it was fortuitous for everyone involved. 

I hadn't flown out of Senai before, so I was a bit confused at departure - it was just ONE guy at a podium, matching names on boarding passes and IDs of hundreds of people in line. And the one X-ray machine. Oy vey.

The on board meal was not bad, but because it was only an hour long flight, I had to wolf it down :P

Ed Alonzo's Psycho Circus of Magic & Mayhem

Until last weekend, I can't remember the last time I went to Genting Highlands. Between the renovation of the outdoor theme park (20th Century FOX World is currently under construction, delayed until who-knows-when), not into gambling, the shopping sucks and feeling too old, jaded and cynical for the rides and attractions in the indoor theme park (that said, you should at the very least spend the RM25 on the Ripley's exhibit), there had been no incentive for me to go up. 

So to get people/non-gamblers in during the construction, there's been a ton of magicians and magic shows over the last few years up there. If you watch a lot of American TV, you might recognise Ed Alonzo from his TV work, which you all can find on YouTube. 

We got tickets (as part of the room package) to a 4 p.m. matinee performance last Saturday and the turnout was a little sad, even for a matinee. Anyway, brought the confirmation email to the box office at Genting Grand (which is just upstairs from the Genting Grand lobby) to collect the tickets. They also swiped my Genting Rewards card for verification cos I used the members' discount.

Was seated in the front row, but quickly self-upgraded since the place was practically empty. 

First of all, any show that kicks off with Muse song already gets a thumbs up from me - I recognised the piano strain of New Born and I couldn't believe that I was hearing a Muse song at a magic show. 

Even if you've seen some of the tricks elsewhere, it still doesn't beat watching it in person. It also has cute animals (his pet duck Bob, which I'm guessing he either has more than one of, or that's one VERY old duck; the fluffiest bunny ever (named Peanut), and a tiny little dog), hot dancers and mind blowing magic. Also not forgetting Manx, who's sword swallowing and fire eating may not be for everyone (certainly for at least one Asian grandmother present). 

If you're in the front row with kids, you might even get to pet the animals, so just saying... 

The only other good thing about a not-so full house: shorter line for the photo session afterwards. I usually don't bother, but I did just this one time. No, I'm not putting that picture up anywhere.

He's been performing up in Genting International Show Room in Genting Grand Hotel since last November (with days off here and there), but is coming to an end sometime next month. I would highly recommend catching the show while it's still in Malaysia. And bring the kids. Here are the details if you're interested. 

Stray observations:

• Can't help but wonder how much did Genting pay him for this residency stint :P 
• If you follow the guy on social media, you'll see what he does with the time off... 
• How does the hair stay up? Is it even his real hair? Am I the only one that's reminded of Kramer?

First World Hotel, Genting Highlands

Drove up to Genting Highlands with a friend last Saturday to watch Ed Alonzo's show (who's doing a short residency stint) in the Genting International Show Room and there was a room package option which included tickets to the show plus a night's stay in First World Hotel, Genting's equivalent of Tune Hotel (small rooms, bare furnishings, etc). While I'm glad I didn't go alone, but I probably would've been fine if no one wanted to go with me - I could always just got a ticket to the matinee show, find my own way up and down and would still be sleeping in my own bed at the end of the night. But that's not the point of the story. 

I had not driven all the way to the top of Genting Highlands since I first got my driver's license while under parental supervision (in the years since, I had gotten by with just driving to the cable car station at Gohtong Jaya and taking the cable car up). Long story short, survived the drive up and down lah. 

Parking at First World is (at least) free (whether you're a hotel guest or just day tripping), but the signage at the parking lot is atrocious: there's no way to tell which way to go up, down, left or right. Unless you're really familiar with the parking structure, do not rush. 

As it turned out, we parked closer to Tower Three of First World, but it was a short walk over to the Main Lobby in Tower One from there. So that was fine. 

If you wanted to check in before the official check-in time of 3 p.m., it was a RM5 charge which we both decided to go with even though we got there around 2 p.m., because we needed some time to unload the bags/refresh self, get to Genting Grand (where the Show Room is) as it was going to be quite the walk.

There's a bunch of automated check in kiosks in the lobby (if you decide to kacau the counter people, there was another charge), and there's always a person standing around to help you check in at the kiosk. For locals, all you need is like your IC and/or your Genting membership card and just follow the instructions on the screen. Luckily you could choose whether you want twin bedding or otherwise at no charge, or else I would've thrown a fit. Each booking by default only gets one key card, so the only way you get a second key card is if you slot in another IC into the machine so that it could issue another one. 

So we got a room on the 24th floor of Tower One, the highest floor. 

Seems clean enough - at least we got two pillows each.

Room: Beds were firm and comfy, but if you're over 5' 5", the beds would be too short for you.

There's also no coffee and tea making "facilities" in Standard rooms, but if you want those, it's available in a vending machine downstairs for RM5. Like that just bring your instant coffee, tea lah, no need so susah. (FWIW, I did pack some apples, packets of Swiss Miss, Nescafe 3-in-1 and also my KeepCup for this purpose)

Because it's First World, there's also no Wi-Fi in the rooms unless you're willing to be gouged downstairs at the lobby. If you have a data plan, the signal is pretty spotty, depending on your telco. 

If anyone was wondering, there are a couple of power sockets, but only at the desk; there wasn't any way to charge the devices bed side. Have to like how they're so confident about the temperature outside, they only installed ceiling fans and no air conditioning. To be fair, even at the lowest setting, it was already pretty liang (cool), any higher we would've been really, really cold. 

The shower is right behind the door...

Bathroom: There was a 3-in-1 (shampoo, conditioner and body wash) dispenser both at the sink and in the shower. It's not 3 different liquids, it's ONE liquid that they deem safe enough for you to use top-to-toe. I only used it for the hands, and as I have travel sized most things, I don't know how it was on the head or body.

Before I forget, towels are also provided (which I have to mention because there's no mention of it on Tripadvisor, etc), and also an individually wrapped shower cap, but you would have to BYO hair dryer.

Plastic drinkware

At least there's an in-room safe

What's available - Local free-to-air channels, and Vision Four

The hot and cold water dispenser: the hot was really hot (as in can masak instant noodles hot);
but the cold was basically room temp water at best.

While we were quite a distance from the elevator, but the hot and cold water dispenser was only around the corner, so it depends on your priorities: do you want to be closer to the elevator or the water dispenser?

I didn't sleep so great despite the cool weather at that altitude: the ceiling fan was squeaky, there was the noise of people moving the furniture around and I was feeling overheated for some reason. 

There was also no breakfast included; found that out when we went to check out the First World Cafe on the third floor and it was RM30 for adults for buffet breakfast. Erm, no thanks.

What they have: Towels, extra pillow each (some might find it too soft), head to toe soap, in-room safe, single USB charger on the wall. stationery (pad and pencil), packet tissue paper (not the pocket sized, but the slightly larger one), shower cap. 

What they don't have: Complimentary Wi-Fi, hair dryer, thicker walls... 

Mostly took things like the shower cap, sanitary bag, tissue and stationery, but not the toilet paper; though I know some people who would've grabbed the toilet paper. 

Now that I know what the Standard Room is like, I'd probably wouldn't go again. 

Getting myself to the airport and first Malindo flight

As an anxious traveller (not about the actual flying, but missing the flight altogether), I only got about 3 hours sleep (probably less, but I had to make myself get SOME sleep) before I had to get a ride out to Paradigm to catch the 5 a.m. bus to the airport. As the rest of the family were not home when I left (cousin's wedding), I was really fortunate to get an Uber ride from a dude that was on his way home to Subang at 4 in the morning who started his "shift" at 10 p.m. the night before, and there weren't any other cars at that time of day. 

Getting a ticket was the easy part, even at 4 something in the morning because the ticketing counter at the back of mall is open from 3.30 a.m.. I would hate that job, I imagine. This time there were more people using the service, but notably several MAS and Malindo flight attendants. Talk about budget cuts - I thought there used to be transport for them one...? :P

So the bus arrived a few minutes before and after everyone got their bags stowed away, left promptly at 5 a.m. The driver took the Federal Highway and exited at Batu Tiga toll to get to Sepang. 

The only good thing about arriving at KLIA2 so ridonkulously early is that I was finally be able to walk around the place before the flight counter opened. It's more mall than airport, but what the heck.

Also just my luck that Malindo's departure gate is the furthest end (I asked the lady at the baggage drop how far to the gate, she said it was "jauh". Might as well just check it in because it's included in the fare). Fortunately there were trolleys after the LAG screening. I thought we would be boarding the plane rightaway, but no - we went to a holding area while people were still getting off the plane.

We left about 10, 15 minutes after posted departure time, and arrived around noon at Changi's Terminal 3. Don't know if it was that time of day or there weren't that many flights coming in, or what but it took me longer to find the immigration form and filling that out than I was in line for immigration.

Pulai Springs Resort, Johor Bahru

Drove down to JB Friday afternoon for the sibling's convocation at the nearby university the next morning. It was either this or some other cheap, less classy looking hotel that's further located from campus that the old bean would complain about. Left KL in the afternoon, and only got there around 5 something, which left for little pool time for me as downstairs pool closes at 7 p.m.. Didn't manage any jacuzzi time, either :P 

Location: Close enough to the campus, but that's about it. Huge property because it's a golf resort. Drove past Cinta Ayu the first time because you can't see the name where you would think it's at. Admittedly, we didn't have a lot of time to check out the entire resort property, but it does look nice and impressive..

You would think that the name would be on the right wall, but it wasn't :P

Room: 2-bedroom suite on the third floor of Cinta Ayu All Suites - one king and twin beds. (Practically) walk in cupboards for both bedrooms, which both had safes, but hadn't used it. There's a living area and kitchenette. All in all, quite clean and the amenities were replenished. The 'rents didn't have any problems with the master bedroom or bathroom... that I was aware of. Also pretty quiet because it faced the golf course and not to the pool, but it makes walking to the pool downstairs and the elevators that much farther.

The other room...oh, let me count the ways:

1. We got locked out of the wardrobe later that night and it took maintenance at least half an hour (and several calls to front desk later) to come and unlock it from the outside with (merely) a screwdriver. If only we had brought one along to save us from the grief.
2. The shower in the other bathroom kept falling off. Asked the (same) maintenance guy to tighten it with his (magic) screwdriver while he was looking into the cupboard too. 
3. We got the rattiest ass towels in the other bathroom that the sibling had to ask if it was the body towel or the bathroom mat... 

Ratty towel

Ratty towel

Pool: The second floor pool downstairs had the pseudo-infinity pool look to it. The kids' wading pool was cold as heck, but the other one was pretty warm for an outdoor pool and sufficient for lap swimming if you're so inclined. I managed to use the downstairs pool a grand total of TWO TIMES - once before dinner, and early (for me) the next morning. Both times I went down and I couldn't get a freaking poolside towel: I knew the attendant was BS-ing me about the lack of fresh towels because I could see a basket of what looked like freshly laundered pool towels that she's not giving me. The next morning, I was just being ignored altogether by the same person. Managed some alone time the second time before the families with young children invaded the serenity, and called it quits about 15 minutes after they showed up.

Food: Because we were there Halloween night, the hotel had a Halloween-themed buffet dinner at Gleneagles Terrace. Some of the savoury dishes were pretty good, but the dessert selection was a bit crap, what with the dry cakes and tasteless pastry fingers..

Pies: Crap

I know it's just loh shu fun, but daren't try it.

According to Mum, the chocolate cake in the middle was dry.

It would fit right in on the show, Bones

Breakfast: Because everyone else had to leave before 7 a.m., the provided breakfast vouchers at Cinta Terrace pretty much had to be forfeited. You would think that they would start breakfast a little earlier because it was convocation weekend, but nope, didn't happen. So I was the only one to cash in their breakfast voucher. There was an omelette station and a roti canai station outside on the terrace, and there was quite a mixture of cuisines available for breakfast - nasi minyak and the trimmings, a porridge station, pastries, a salad bar (?), cereal, and some other breakfast dishes I had never encountered before.

I don't know if we didn't get the day's newspaper because I had made the booking through Agoda, or because we checked out so early (around 10 something, before taking the hotel shuttle to JPO).

If nothing else, the hotel does provide a free shuttle service to JPO and Legoland, which you would have to inform them beforehand, because you would need basically drive yourself to the resort anyway, you could just drive yourself to JPO if you want. But I didn't have the car and have no idea how long the ceremony would be, so I might as well just go to JPO first and have them meet me there/pick me up later. Was told that the shuttle would leave at 10.30 a.m., which worked out for me because I had time to wait downstairs after checking out. Even then there was a misunderstanding because they had sent a bigger vehicle because the receptionist thought that the entire room of four wanted a ride to JPO and not lil ol' me :P Anyway, he did ask what room I was in to verify and we were on our way.

Great for families and the place is pretty, but the service is quite frankly, a bit crap. No wonder both Tripadvisor and Agoda had such mixed reviews.