MANILA, Philippines – Looking for an out-of-the-ordinary hotel experience? This hotel is made of bricks – but not the ones you’re thinking of. Picture big, bright yellow, red, blue, and green bricks put together to make a huge castle that looks like it came straight out of a cartoon.
This is the LEGOLAND Malaysia Hotel in Iskandar Puteri, Johor.
To put it simply, it’s an interesting experience in and of itself. It’s the first fully-themed hotel in Malaysia and also the first LEGOLAND Hotel in all of Asia, so you can already expect that every corner of the building will scream LEGO.
For one, instead of the crisp white sheets and plain walls you would usually see in standard hotel rooms, all of the rooms in LEGOLAND Hotel Malaysia take on different themes – with a total of five to choose from.
During a media trip organized by Tourism Malaysia and the LEGOLAND Malaysia Resort, I had the chance to check the hotel out myself and experience what it’s like to stay there.
Jam-packed lobby
The ground level of the LEGOLAND Hotel is conveniently packed with everything you might need during your stay.
Heading into the lobby, you’ll immediately be greeted by a play area equipped with large interactive LEGO pirate ship and tower installations. The play area also comes with loose LEGO bricks that can be played with, so if you have kids with you, it’ll be sure to keep them busy while you check in at the front desk.
From time to time, LEGO mascots also make appearances in the lobby to interact with the kids (and kids at heart!) and have their photos taken with them.
Right in front of the check-in area is the gift shop, which is open from 9 am to 9 pm. Here, you can purchase basic LEGO sets, keychains, bags, and plush toys, among others. Most of the products sold in the hotel gift shop are more general, so if you’re looking for certain themed LEGO sets like the BTS or Harry Potter ones, you’ll only be able to find these in the gift shops situated in the theme park itself.
A few steps away from the gift shop is Bricks Family Restaurant, which is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It’s a buffet that serves a mix of Western and Asian cuisine. My personal favorite part of the restaurant is the outside area where you can have pasta cooked to your liking, as well as satay served fresh off the grill!
Breakfast is included with the hotel room, so that’s when the restaurant is usually the most packed. I noticed that the line to enter the dining area tends to get long at around 9 am, so it’s best to come earlier if you want to be seated right away.
If you’re looking to eat meals from a specific cuisine, though, there’s also Kai’s Sushi, which serves Japanese dishes like sashimi and donburi; Di Mattoni Restaurant, where you can have Italian dishes like pizza and pasta; and Coffee@Bricks, a deli that serves salads, pastries, and cold sandwiches.
Is ‘everything awesome’ in the hotel rooms?
Everything on the ground level is only a part of the amusing features you can find at the LEGOLAND Malaysia Hotel. The hotel rooms themselves offer a totally different experience.
Each hotel room can fit five to eight people. According to the LEGOLAND Malaysia Resort website, rates start at RM 1,090 or P13,628.08 per night. I suggest having at least three people in your group so you can make the most out of what you’re paying to stay there.
When booking a room, you can choose from five different themes: Pirate, Ninjago, Kingdom, Adventure, and LEGO Friends.
We stayed in the Pirate-themed room that can house two adults and three children. The adults’ sleeping area comes with a king-sized bed, while the children’s sleeping area has a bunk bed with a pull-out mattress. If you have an extra adult with you, I recommend that they sleep on the pull-out bed because it’s a lot more spacious compared to the bunk bed.
Staying true to the Pirate theme, the bunk bed and the king-sized bed were lined with striped red and white sheets with a skull on them. The entire room was also adorned with pirate-themed tapestry and decor made of LEGO.
The children’s sleeping area comes with a TV and a container full of LEGO bricks that can be played with.
But the best feature of all is the Treasure Hunt. On the table in the adults’ side of the hotel room, there’s a paper with a list of prompts that you have to answer to be able to figure out the combination of the treasure chest positioned just across the bunk bed. Once you unlock it, there are two small LEGO sets that you can keep!
Meanwhile, our room came with one bathroom, which had a shower, a toilet, a sink for the kids, and a sink for the adults.
However, the rooms that can hold up to eight people have two bathrooms, which come with both a bathtub and a shower.
Although the bathrooms come with the usual amenities like cotton buds, cotton pads, a comb, and a dental kit, among others, there’s only an all-in-one liquid soap that doubles as shampoo and shower gel, so it’s still better to bring your own toiletries.
Hotel rooms aside, if you’d like to go for a swim without having to go to the water park, you can head over to the pool area, which is open until 5 pm.
Overall, however, LEGOLAND Malaysia Hotel is a dream for any LEGO enthusiast looking for a different staycation. While the hotel does mostly cater to kids, I can attest that it can be fully enjoyed by adults as well. There are tons of things to build and explore, so the fun doesn’t really seem to end. – Rappler.com
Book a stay at LEGOLAND Malaysia Resort at https://bit.ly/rplrlegoresort and get 5% off when you use the code “RAPPLERTRAVEL”! We earn a small commission every time you book through this link.
