CHASING FOOD DREAMS: VIP Hotel @ Segamat, Johor

A Short & Sweet Staycation in Sleepy Town of Segamat

Time sure flies. It didn’t seem too long ago a good friend rope us into exploring the sleepy town or Segamat in Johor for a short weekend trip. Soon after, the weekend came quickly and we all packed up and head over to Segamat for our short getaway from the hustle bustle of the city.

My little one was excited. To him, every road trip was an adventure, even if it’s only a nearby or short one. The drive to Segamat was barely under 3 hours and we took off Friday afternoon to try and avoid traffic. The road there was small and narrow as we zoomed consistently on the two-lane road, passing lots of rural kampungs along the way.

By the time we arrived Segamat, it was dinner time. Without much at sight since the sky has already turned dark, we finally reached VIP Hotel where we were supposed to check in for the weekend. Much to our surprise, VIP Hotel stood out among the rows of shops and houses in the vicinity. We didn’t expect much from 3-star hotel but we were very much pleased when we saw VIP Hotel.

The hotel stood out for its height and size compared to all the other buildings in that area. Well-lite, the hotel looked new and well-kept from its outside appearance too. There’s a big space for parking upfront, which is already a plus point since we were all a little tired from traveling and it really didn’t take much of an effort to park our car and lug our luggage to the front desk.

A quick check-in with minimal fuss, we were literally starving as we could see and smell something wonderful from the restaurant in the hotel next to the reception. Literally dropping all our luggage, we head over to The Chef’s Restaurant to grab a quick dinner.

The Chef’s Restaurant is the hotel’s all-day-dining restaurant that features a menu filled with local as well as international dishes. At sight, the restaurant is spacious and well-designed with warm tones and soft lighting that immediately welcomes us to be an ease.

Although the restaurant does have buffet during weekends or festive occasions, there is always a regular a la carte menu for diners. We opted for a la carte that evening and was pleasantly surprise at the delicious list of familiar favorites as well as some local Segamat dishes.

My little one’s Great & Famous Creamy-licious (RM13) turned out to be a very delicious and satisfying thick mushroom soup served with crispy tempura mushrooms. Beautifully full of earthy mushroom flavours, we took turns and stole a few spoonful of this yummy soup from him.

He also had the Fisherman’s Delight (RM26), a classic combo of fish and chips. Two thick generous pieces of fish fillet beautifully crumbed and fried till golden is served with lots of crispy steak fries, tartare sauce with lemon and a side salad. Needless to say, he polished off the whole plate happily.

I opted for Chicken Chop (RM32) since I didn’t want rice or noodles. Mine was also yummy with two pieces of crispy battered chicken thigh served on a bed of creamy mashed potato, sautéed vegetables and my choice of black pepper sauce.

Though my dish was delicious, I couldn’t help but to long for my dining companion’s Mee Rebus (RM22). It’s a house signature and I can see why. Generously served in a large bowl, the yellow noodles was smothered in lots of thick tomatoey rebus sauce and came with two large prawns and some other condiments. Darn it, I should have ordered that… wink!

My other half had the Cantonese Style Noodle (RM22) which looked decent too plus it also comes with two large prawns. The generous portions and quality of ingredients really surpassed the price they charge since it is after all a hotel.

After that satisfying meal, we head towards our room for the weekend. For a relatively small hotel, VIP Hotel offers a few types of rooms from standard rooms to suites. We had the Family Suite that has Queen bed and a Single bed as well as enough space to even add another single bed upon request. Price for Family Suite starts from RM248 onwards.

We really like our Family Suite at sight, happy from the fact that the room was very spacious in size and everything looked neat and clean. There were even extra touches of elephants folded from towels that we never would expect from a 3-star hotel.

Little D couldn’t wait to jump on the bed to pose with the cute elephants!

While the room design didn’t look as modern as some of the hotels we’ve been, I must commend that the room was certainly clean, bright and well-maintained. Most importantly to me was the clean factor and the coolness of the room.

There was a long desk at the side of the room for work amenities. It was also here that the extra Single bed was added and yet there was plenty of space for us to move around effortlessly.

Simple cabinet with a small safe for private keeping, along with a small fridge, coffee & tea amenities and room slippers were sufficient niceties for a hotel stay.

The bathroom comes with a shower room and the usual bathroom amenities as well as hair dryer.

Room view at night

Our bed was firm and we certainly had a good night of resting as soon as our head hits the pillows. So much so, we really hesitate to rise and shine the next morning.

Nevertheless, a quick shower and we head down to the hotel’s all-day-dining for breakfast. Much to our amazement, the breakfast buffet spread is fairly decent with a long spread of local and international breakfast treats.

From local Nasi Lemak, Fried Noodles, Chicken Rendang, Mee Rebus, Teochew Porridge to American breakfast of Eggs, Omelettes, Sausages to Cereals, Toast, Cheese & Crackers, Fruits and Yoghurts, there’s even a Waffle and Pancake station for freshly ordered waffles and pancakes with jams and honey.

After such a lovely breakfast treat, there’s nothing more satisfy than to head to the swimming pool for a leisure swim in the morning sun. VIP Hotel is the only hotel with a swimming pool in Segamat. So we are actually glad we stayed at VIP Hotel considering my son loves swimming a lot.

The swimming pool is large and although it doesn’t have any fancy design, we still enjoyed our leisure swim with its airy spacious setting.

The gym is also located next to the swimming pool so one can get your exercise with a lovely view of blue waters against blue sky.

As the evening sets, our view from our room was serene and calming. We stayed till Sunday and checked out feeling refreshed from our short but sweet staycation. VIP Hotel impressed us more than expected for a 3-star hotel. Service was decent and the most important was that the hotel was well-maintained. If I am ever heading to Segamat or nearby in Johor, I would certainly return here again with my family.