[weekend staycation] Hard Rock Hotel Desaru Coast

Baby and I wanted a weekend staycation badly as we were so drained out by our work commitments recently... Sigh, working in SG is so darn stressful! We wanted our staycation but Baby came up with the idea to head to a place near to Singapore instead! We therefore made a room reservation at the newly opened hotel - Hard Rock Desaru Coast!!

 

We drove in on a Saturday morning, and it took us about 1.5 hours via the Senai-Desaru Expressway.

I have always been a fan of the Hard Rock chain, and Desaru Coast was my second experience in staying at a Hard Rock hotel! I last stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel Bali waaaaaay back in 2003.

We were so lucky to have an early check-in even though the normal check-in time was 3pm. We explored the lobby and the reception area before heading to our room. 

The reception area is facing the nearby Adventure Park, which I understand is a water theme park meant for families. There was a photo-wall for the guests at the reception area to take photos at, and various props were available for photo opportunities against the colorful backdrop!

This hotel was relatively new, as renovation/painting jobs were still going on at some areas within the hotel. I love the quiet and lush surroundings. The cosy environment was very welcome too, and with all these plus points, it was only natural to feel pampered here!

After exploring the hotel surroundings, we headed to our room. We were given the Deluxe King Room with an attached balcony. We fell in love with the room as it was amazingly lavish and comfy.

The room was spacious and clean, and I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the refreshments in the room, including the contents of the minibar, were all complimentary! 

The hotel is very generous with their amenities, and they provide their guests with almost everything one could possible need! 

We drove to SKS Mall for lunch which was about a 5-8min drive from the hotel. We had a simple lunch, and our meal damage was RM20. 

After lunch, we went back to our hotel to ‘lepark’ in the room as we woke up pretty early in the morning to have breakfast in SG before heading into Malaysia. 

  

Time for dinner! We visited a popular eatery place in Desaru called the Super Lobster Restaurant. They are known for serving delicious lobsters, and they offer 11 different cooking methods. The most-ordered preparation is the ‘superior broth’, but unfortunately this was sold out... so we chose another popular cooking method instead. We chose Garlic Steamed Lobsters, and they were amazingly fresh! If you love garlic as much as I do, do give it a try! It's worth both my thumbs up!

Apart from the lobster dish, we also ordered 3 other zi-char dishes for our dinner too. The lobster was deliciously succulent. The meat was fresh with tender and crunchy bite! Our dinner was delightful, as I enjoyed the food very much. We were surprised by the damage of our meal. We only paid RM150 in total! 

After our meal, we headed back to the hotel, and we chilled out at the ‘sessions’ for some drinks and live band performance. They were having a 1-for-1 beer promotion, and we paid less than RM15 for 2 glasses of half-pint beer! 

We were then delighted by the hotel's surprise gesture, as they delivered 2 house-crafted mocktails to our room, as well as some free souvenirs!! Thanks for the surprise! You guys are AWESOME!!

Our room stay was inclusive of breakfast, and we headed down to the ‘Sessions’ cafe to enjoy the buffet spread! There was a wide selection of Western and Asian cuisines. I was quite enamoured with the different food options, and especially the yummy nasi lemak! 

We rested for awhile after our hearty breakfast. Our typical routine during a staycation will always consist of a chilling/relaxing session at the hotel's swimming pool.

 We checked out around 1230pm, and we did some exploring at another resort, which apparently is one of the oldest and more commonly stayed at hotel in Desaru - The Lotus Desaru Beach Resort. It was huge in scale but kinda old. It reminded me of my childhood days back in the 80's/90's, and how the old school resorts used to be!

We had our lunch at one of the cafes in Lotus Desaru Beach Resort, and the damage was pretty pleasant. One thing for sure, as compare to Hard Rock Hotel Desaru Coast, the food at Lotus Desaru was more affordable! 

Thanks Hard Rock Hotel Desaru Coast for the kind hospitality towards our stay, and last but not least, thanks Desaru for the wonderful memories, and I promise, and I will be back again!