Well Well Well...
AC hotel has just opened the week prior to Chinese New Year. This is a YTL owned hotel since 2011 under the name " Vistana ". The building is around 20 years old and in desperate need of refurbishment. Through a franchise partnership this hotel is now part of Marriott under AC Hotels which are all under YTL.
I reckon YTL pushed very hard to get this hotel re-opened before CNY as there is a lot of money in this festive time in Malaysia. However it was a very poor experience for me. The hotel has gone through 0 renovation from what I can see from the previous Vistana apart from branding obviously. All I can see is a poorly painted hotel outside and that is it. Everything else is literally exactly the same. I arrived the 23rd Jan (CNY was 25th). The staff are obviously still very unfamiliar with the Marriott systems and understanding how it works. It took at least 10 minutes to check in. I was asked to join Marriott Bonvoy even though im Gold Elite and it says it on the paper they asked me to sign to join lol. I had a Deluxe King Room on the 2nd Floor, 224 (right opposite the service door for staff even though I asked for a quiet part of the floor). The room is very old, once again everything the same from the previous hotel apart from any branding. The bathroom has been renovated probably in the last 5 years. The shower head was extremely stained, the mirror had cracks in it. Ants were coming out the sink like a strong army lol! The towels are very cheap and thin. The aircon system is very old and loud, the bed however was comfy and I slept well. The rest of the room is in poor condition, the curtains are heavily stained, they dont even close the whole way by design so it lets a lot of light in. the tv I didnt even bother as its old, the wardrobes didn't have any slippers or gown, the chair and sofa very old and rips and stains. Just really somewhere you dont want to be or feel comfortable. The carpet is literally from the 90s lol. On certain days my room wasn't clean until nearly 4pm! The staff were in the corridors till late afternoon trying to catch up, they were very professional and friendly, this is more of a management issue or under staffing etc. The lift looks fairly new but makes such a horrible sound every time you get it in like a loud crank. the Gym literally has nothing inside lol, shouldn't even be called a gym and 1 aircon box to keep the room cool but it really doesnt. The swimming pool is fairly sized, they have a small kids pool too. This pool though is situated at the back of the hotel and the hotel is built in an L shape so it blocks the sun coming from the south so the pool area is cool but then the water is freezing. Some will like this but I prefer at least some sun to help the water have a bit of warmth. The in room phones are very old and trying to call down it just wouldnt connect and automatically cut the call. I then used the App to order some towels, which was not a good idea loll. The app in general is hit and miss even in 5 star hotels. I just did the old fashion thing and use my legs to go downstairs to get what I needed which then took another 20 minutes to arrive to my room :/ Breakfast I did not try as I am always out or wake up late so I cant speak on that. Check out was poor too. Currently they have special rates such as 1000 points per night night and breakfast for around 170Rm a night, so if you are going to Kuantan and you want to make some elite nights its ok. Otherwise I would avoid this hotel at any cost. I have stayed at nearly 7 YTL hotels and they are all poor apart from 1 Tanjong Jara Resort. This was actually a lovely stay and very well staffed. The others such as Ritz, JW Marriott, Stripes (All in KL) unfortunately I have some very bad and poor experiences. YTL is very big and deal a lot in construction too, they could of made this a great hotel or at least something nice to Kuantan but man oh man I wouldn't come back even to help boost my elite nights. It is a shame as there is no other Marriott in Kuantan so they got a foothold but I cant see what they do well here. Maybe I need to come back after to see if the service has improved and maybe facilities but I doubt the rooms will be changed any time soon.
Hope this helps.
