Pullman Kuching




Looking at the profile of Felix Yeo, I'm not too convinced he has much Accor blood to spread much knowledge about Le Club.
Apart from 6 months trying to turn around Novotel Shenchen Westgate (two years ago), his past 10 months at the Pullman Kuching is the only time he has worked for the Accor group.
I am convinced that the best Accor properties with the best Loyalty treatment are those whose GMs have worked in Accor for awhile. Also, the understanding of a brand, the loyalty to the brand and understanding the guests' loyalty starts from top down. Counselling a staff-member is not going to help much if the GM himself doesnt believe in it.
"I struggle everyday to ensure all our loyal guests..." Well, that's a bit of a problem isn't it?





Ah, but I booked the "Time for Pleasure" rate. Tried phoning reception about that. No staff seem to have a clue what it is. The T&C says you receive "1 voucher per room per day to get an instant discount on a selection of services available in hotels (Bar, Restaurant, VOD,.)", but I received no vouchers, even having spoken to half a dozen staff.
It is near the Hilton and essentially my thoughts were 'the pullman is newer, bigger and more modern but lacks the service and sense of quality the hilton offers'.
I did feel the wood flooring seemed cheap and the chinese restaurant very expensive.
If visiting Kuching it would be hard to pass up on the Hilton, unless youre a member of the pullman rewards group etc...
It is near the Hilton and essentially my thoughts were 'the pullman is newer, bigger and more modern but lacks the service and sense of quality the hilton offers'.
I did feel the wood flooring seemed cheap and the chinese restaurant very expensive.
If visiting Kuching it would be hard to pass up on the Hilton, unless youre a member of the pullman rewards group etc...
I got a status match to hilton diamond recently and currently staying at Hilton Kuching to try the hotel. I would say Pullman Kuching win on every aspects except for the croissant during breakfast.
Always got room upgrade without asking in Pullman, Hilton no room upgrade only lounge access
Got free breakfast from both hotels but quality in Pullman much more better and more spread both in lounge and main restaurant
Always got upgraded to bigger room and room are new in Pullman, Hilton got small room, dated and old furniture, small bathroom and noisy.
Pullman definitely provide much more better lounge than Hilton.
Around more than half the hotel guest in Hilton is westerner and I can see that staff at Hilton have different attitude for asian guests. However in Pullman, same friendly treatment for all guests.
After staying in both hotels, I believe Pullman Kuching is the best hotel in Kuching, and no wonder Hilton keep doing status match, no way I will go back to Hilton after this stay.

Pullman Kuching
Average Stay at Pullman Kuching (22 Photos)
Pullman Kuching
Booked 3 rooms, all Superior rooms and as per Platinum benefit, 1 room got upgraded to Family room since there were 3 peoplein that particularroom. Main Cardholder was in the Family room and given Executive Lounge Access.
Arrival to hotel was late at night around 8+pm due to there being only 1 flight departing from Singapore as we took SilkAir. Welcome drink voucher given immediatly upon check in.
Lobby is very spacious and by far one of the biggest I haveencountered at an Accor Hotel. But let's be honest, big doesn't necessarily mean good. As you can see from the picture, it's a big and spacious lobby but to empty.
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Room
We were given tworooms on Level 11 and oneroom on Level 22, which the Executive lounge is also located at.
Rooms are big. Very spacious rooms however design of rooms are minimal. Hotel rooms are starting to show its age and very littlemaintenance/upkeep done, expected as with most hotels in Malaysia.
Halfway through my stay, the door lockmalfunctioned and thus, I could not enter my room for nearly an hour. The duty manager tried to use his master key to open the door but it appers to be amechanical issue and thus, render the master key useless.
Therefore, the hotel called theengineering crew to come to the room to see if they could open the door. They failed and had to fall back to their last resort. Which was using a metal rod, sticking it under the door and hoping for the best as they tried their best to hook it to the other door handle and manually pulling the door open. This all happened around 10-11pm.
After they finally opened the door, the duty manager offered to move us to another room as theycouldn't fix the door lockimmediately and had to send it back to themanufacturer. We shugged ourshoulders as we were tired and it was late and we had to pack all our stuff up to move rooms.
The following day, I met with the Hotel Manager and he explained to me the whole situation and apologised for the inconvenience caused. As we were checking out on the day itself, he offeredto provide transport for my whole family to the airport as a customer recovery.
Overall, I do not entirely blame the hotel for the door lock failling but I suspect it broke due to lowmaintenance.
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Service
Service at the hotel is average. No one at thehotel is really pro-active enough to check if the guest are enjoying their stay. But perhaps I believe it is due to location and culture. Service in Malaysia per say is not fantastic to compared countries like Thailand/Vietnam.
Dining
This was the biggest let down of the hotel. Food at the main restaurant, Puzzle was niether here nor there. We had 2 dinners at the hotel, both Ala carte, the first dinner, the food was pretty good however the second dinner, which most of us reordered the same disheswas HORRIBILE. The consistency just doesn't seem to stick.
Service was also sub-par with water taking 20 mins to serve and food taking 30 mins to serve when the restuaurant was empty. Thus, there could be no explanation on why they took that long. Even though service staff tried to offer Coffee/Tea as compesation for the slow service, no reason why service lagged so much when the restaurant was empty.
Pool
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Overall
Overall, this is the worst Pullman I have ever visited. But if I were to put in context that I was in Malaysia and the hotel is atleast 9 years old. I'll conisder the hotel as average.
I have no choice but to stay here again as there are not many International Hotels in Kuching and the Hilton is worst than the Pullman in my opinion.


1. Superior Room Executive Floor ~RM350
2. Executive Room ~RM390
Does 1. include lounge access ? I tried calling the hotel ... 1st person who answered said yes, any room with "Executive" has access to the lounge.
From my experience with Accor in Malaysia/Singapore, I double checked a few hours later, and .... 2nd person said no, I'll only get a high floor without lounge access

Asked to be transferred to lounge on both occasions , no answer (office hours).




1. Superior Room Executive Floor ~RM350
2. Executive Room ~RM390
Does 1. include lounge access ? I tried calling the hotel ... 1st person who answered said yes, any room with "Executive" has access to the lounge.
From my experience with Accor in Malaysia/Singapore, I double checked a few hours later, and .... 2nd person said no, I'll only get a high floor without lounge access

Asked to be transferred to lounge on both occasions , no answer (office hours).
This room is also not a valid room catagory on the Pullman Kuching's own website.
Looking at the rates and description, the Executive room is in fact the Deluxe room + benefits. What I think they have now done is created a Superior Room + benefits. (If you look at the room ft2).
But I would call again and get the Room Sales Director to clarify.
That is exactly how I felt coming to Kuching, an unknown city, in a foreign land, for the first time, it felt like I was being welcomed home! Only a few other hotels, Pullman Jakarta Central Park, is one, make me feel this way, and I find it very comforting.
I was whisked up to the executive lounge for check in, and double upgraded into an executive deluxe.
It is an impressive lounge, with views to match. Hamsari could not have been more welcoming, and continued to be so throughout my three night stay!
Whilst on the lounge, it is huge! They have the most ventilated smoking room I have ever encountered, a computer room with its own massage chair, evening cocktails (1800 until 1930) with free pour sprites, and a good selection of food that changes daily, and more than enough room to accommodate its patrons! Unfortunately my wife and son didn't make it on this occasion, however they welcome behaved childre.
I really appreciated the handwritten welcome card from the GM, the platinum upgrade, fruits platter, cheese platter, nightly turn down service, and drinks for a duel occupancy 😉
I had the pleasure of meeting both Ara and David in Deja-vu, and Picardilos in Puzzles, all long term assets, and very welcoming members of the Kuching team!
My only negatives...
A+ discount for drinks in the bar but not the food, and the A+ discount in the restaurant for the food not the drinks, why?
The ultracold air con in the room (and I love the cold) which didn't seem to react to the thermostat, however if you just turned off whilst sleeping it was more than fine.
The hot water in the shower takes a while (minutes) to come through, but when it does it is fine. and lastly...
The hallway on level 20 smelt a little like damp dog, I think the carpet needs to be changed.
Negatives aside, my days were filled, my nights were more than comfortable and it was always nice to be welcomed back each day by name!
Thank you Pullman Kuching


