Amari Johor Bahru: A guide to the heart of Malaysia’s southernmost city

Johor Bahru, one of Malaysia’s largest cities, receives around 16 million tourists annually. The city boasts of world-class theme parks, historic landmarks, affordable shopping and dining establishments, and a natural environment speckled with Instagram-worthy sites.

Given its wide variety of offerings, one could do better with a list of things to do, while staying at the ideal hotel. Below is a guide for all types of travellers — families, professionals, friends and solo packers — hand-picked by Amari Johor Bahru, a five-star hotel at the heart of the city centre.

For families

LEGOLAND Malaysia

Perfect for kids and kids at heart, LEGOLAND Malaysia is a family holiday destination with more than 70 hands-on rides, slides, shows and attractions, designed for families with children. The resort covers the same area of more than 50 full-size football pitches and contains more than 15,000 LEGO models made from over 60 million LEGO bricks.

Angry Birds Activity Park

Angry Birds Activity Park is a state-of-the-art theme park in Johor Bahru City Centre’s newest shopping, dining, and entertainment zone. The bird-themed park offers a wide variety of games and attractions, all inspired by the Angry Birds game, which has already garnered 2.5 billion downloads globally.

For professionals

International MICE hub

Persada Johor International Convention Centre is the main MICE venue in the State of Johor. Its main Convention Hall is 3,078 square metres and features a highly-modular floor layout that can be easily converted into three smaller fully soundproofed Convention Halls. It’s also strategically positioned to complement Singapore by allowing users and exhibitors, clients and visitors access to the best that both Malaysia and Singapore can offer in one location.

Meet up in style

Amari Johor Bahru boasts of some of the best events and meeting venues in town. It provides convenient access to the Singapore Immigration CIQ and JB Sentral MRT, making it at an ideal hub for transient guests. In The Library, professionals can catch up on work or relax with a book after a day of meetings. There’s also an Executive Lounge, which provides free Wi-Fi and access to the Executive Lounge computers.

For solo travellers

Instagram tour

There are many places in Johor Bahru that are potentially good spots for a photo walk or an Instagram walk. Its heritage can be captured at places like the Old Chinese Temple, dating from the 19th century; the Kwong Siew Heritage Gallery, a museum housed in two traditional shophouses; the Sultan Iskandar Mosque with its magnificent architecture and Pasir Gudang Kite Museum, a museum dedicated to colourful kites.

Find your inner peace

At Amari Johor Bahru, lone travellers can pamper themselves and revitalise to find inner peace. Breeze Spa at Amari Johor Bahru is open from 10 am to 10 pm and offers three single rooms. Other facilities include manicure and pedicure and a retail boutique, providing a distraction, and some much-needed rest after taking on the streets of Malaysia.

For groups of friends

Shopping + friends = good times

For those craving some retail therapy, there’s the Johor Bahru City Square and the Zenith Mall lifestyle hub which offers a variety of restaurants, bars and entertainment venues.

Amari Johor Bahru is directly opposite to Komtar JBCC (home to the Angry Birds Activity Park), City Square Shopping Mall and Persada Convention Centre.

Eat your heart out

While dining at Amaya Food Gallery, guests can watch chefs at work in the multiple open-kitchens and experience the vibrant flavours of Asian and international cuisine inspired by the rich street food culture of the region. It takes the dining experience to a whole new level, enticing guests to taste and share the flavours of modern Asia.

Amari Johor Bahru

Amari Johor Bahru caters to both business and leisure travellers with its ideal location among the iconic heritage trail, popular shopping centres, commercial buildings, traditional bakeries, museums, vintage coffee shops and trendy cafés.

The hotel is a 30-minute drive from Senai International Airport and a five-minute walk from JB Sentral Customs, Immigration and Quarantine Complex and the upcoming Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system, which will link Johor Bahru and Singapore.

Learn more about what to do whilst in Johor Bahru with the Destination Amari guide.