Crowne Plaza Kuwait Al Thuraya City

What is your Priority Club status?
Diamond

Were you (or for multi-stayers are you generally) happy with the hotel/stay?
Yes

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Standard > 1 King Bed Diplomatic Suite

How are the rooms?
Decently sized at 74m².
One dining / living room plus one bedroom with a work desk.
One bathroom with toilet, bidet and sink.
One wet room split between rain shower and bathtub with handheld shower.
Extremely clean.
Powerful air conditioning, as expected for the middle east.
All windows face an indoor courtyard, home to the front desk and restaurant.
Visible one floor below is an internal balcony belonging to the lounge.

How is the exec. lounge?
An expansive space freely accessible to those whose key cards are coded for the 7th floor, primarily filled with dining tables and like my room, faces the indoor courtyard.

Generous and plentiful buffets which would rival restaurant offerings at less upscale IHG properties. Breakfast 0600-1030. I went at 1000 and by this time, a dedicated chef was not in evidence; in fact the lounge was devoid of other humans until the host popped back to begin clearing up – but she gave me the impression that a custom order could still have been fulfilled.

Dinner (1800-2000) included Arabic mezze, various warm carbs, protein and salad/veggies. Middle eastern sweet bites left over from afternoon tea doubled as dessert. Beverage-wise, there was Arabic and western coffee, the usual global soft drink brands and a Kuwaiti-manufactured bottled juice containing fruit chunks.

The lounge was heavily patronised with moderate “vulture” behaviour when the food arrived. The evening host did not really interact with any guests except to clear plates.

What was good and what was bad?
Good
An archetypal international business hotel, perfectly suited to the Crowne Plaza brand with polite staff who are eager to serve. My status was recognised with the upgrade, restaurant breakfast and early check in – I had use of the room for over 24 hours and was able to grab a second breakfast in the lounge after arriving as well as a high quality dinner in the evening rather than just snacks/canapes.

Complimentary transfers are provided to the airport (about 10 minutes) and to Avenues Mall. Kuwait City is about 30 minutes away by local bus or taxi, which of course can also take you to most of the rest of the country.

Bad
There was only one area where I could find fault. As there was no pre-arrival communication from the hotel, nor is it mentioned on the website, I was not aware that they preferred airport transportation to be pre-booked. This created a strange situation where I felt admonished for just turning up at the airport. The misunderstanding repeated itself when the check-in agent’s phrasing led me to believe that he had noted down the time I would depart to return to the airport, yet the same agent feigned surprise when I came to check out. Both times it was not a big deal in the end as they said they would “make an exception” due to my Diamond status and immediately arranged for a vehicle.

Value for $ or Priority Club Points? Would you return?
Paid 31k points instead of KWD 77 (~USD 250).
I don’t have any plans or desire to visit Kuwait again, but I would gladly stay at a hotel like this in any other world city. It puts some very tired CPs with low service levels in the UK/Europe to shame.

Photos in main thread.