kmcbrid2

So with *wood I could find the GM's name because my reservation confirmation would always come from the GM with their name.

what is the easy way to find the GM's name for each hotel?

price123

Google.

kmcbrid2

Wanted to know what you seasoned diamonds thought. I just completed a 2 night stay in one of their sites and I think it was one of the best suites I ever have stayed in for a standard suite upgrade. I have limited stays in Hyatt but over 200 status in spg.

InvestorTiger

May I know what is room upgrade for diamond members at this property? Is it the club grand deluxe room? Thanks a lot.

Elope

In theory, yes. But it won't happen automatically. You'll probably need to be quite forceful with the front desk but they do usually relent.

bostonpilot

In general, my comments on the GH KL are "generally nice, but inconsistent". I've done ~5-7 stays in the last 1.5 yrs there, some solo on business and some with the wife and kids.

I agree that their suites are top notch and have used a few DSU's there over the past year and love the room. Their Grand Club is among the best I've been to - both on the food selections, and more importantly in their club staff. Both Farah and DiDi are gems and huge brand ambassadors.

On the downside, I find their front desk staff to consistently be inconsistent and mediocre. Sometimes when I arrive, I have managers fawning over me, asking about the family, proactively upgrading me, etc. and other times it feels like they are doing me a favor by allowing me to check in.

My last stay a few weeks ago, the hotel screwed up a suit pressing request which was handled poorly. I dropped off the suit at ~noon with a request that it had to be back to me by 4pm at the absolute latest. By 4:30 still wasn't there, so I went back to the Grand Club to escalate. Many phone calls later and another 30 min they "found" the suit, which I really took to mean they had never done it in the first place and were scrambling to do then. In the end, the extra hour that they were late + KL's horrific traffic made me 30 min late to a business meeting. Mistakes happen and, although frustrating, I wrote it off - until the next morning when upon check out there was a charge for a portion of the pressing still on my bill. When politely pressed that the charge was inaccurate due to 1 - they offer free pressing of 2 garmets to Grand Club guest and 2 - they majorly screwed it up. The desk agent refused to remove the bill no matter what claiming that it was appropriate.

I asked that she call the manager for me to speak to, who happened to be the same manager who profusely apologized the day before for the issue. When he arrived, I politely told him that I would happily pay the 24 RM (~$8 usd) on my bill but it would be the last revenue that they'd ever see from me, to which he quickly fixed the problem and re-apologized.

My issue, and ultimate point of my too long post, is mistakes happen, its part of travel, and I don't care about the $8 that much, but its the underlying irrationality and inconsistency that annoys me with the property. It was their mistake, I paid the consequences with a business impact, and was willing to accept the apology as the end of the story, but then to make me pay for it and not remove it, despite there being notes in their system about the problem for any guest, let alone a diamond and frequent return customer is short sighted and another example of their lack of training and consistency of many of their front line employees.

The hotel is nice, I love the lounge, but I really question that the value proposition is there. The Shangri-La just down the street is consistently lower priced than the GH and although the rooms are older and not as large, they too have an excellent club and property. So, I've basically resigned myself that the GH is going to be my go to in KL for points stays with the family, but for business I'm going to choose primarily on price and schedule constraints (Shangri-La offers a 6pm late check out vs 4pm at Hyatt which occasionally is a life saver for me). The benefits at the GH just don't justify the premium to me in many cases.

jpdx

I've been meaning to update this thread and revise my review from 2 years ago. I stayed at GH KUL twice this summer -- one single night, upgraded to a club room with Petronas towers view (this took some haggling at check-in), and three nights with DSU. The suite upgrade is spectacular -- this may well be the largest "entry level" suite a DSU books into systemwide. Similarly, the club lounge is easily in the top-3 of Hyatt lounges in terms of selection, quality, and service. In contrast to my 2012 stay, the hotel now allows club lounge guests to take the full breakfast in the restaurant, and it's a stunning selection presented in a very pleasant space.

On the downside, I agree with bostonpilot that the service is inconsistent; the club staff were amazing, but the front desk and restaurant staff were borderline hostile (for the latter, the higher-ups, not the servers). And of course, despite the overall great experience, the price remains high for KL ... I stayed at the Majestic twice and got a very pleasant suite (MYR400, LHW status), and all the SPG options are credible contenders considering they command roughly half of the GH's rates. Another thing to consider is the often bad (and occasionally horrific) traffic in KL -- the one-night stay was a quick layover, and it took 45 minutes to get from Sentral to the GH, and we would have been better off staying at the Le Meridien (which, at MYR300, is great value for SPG Plats).

kmcbrid2

Agree the suite is amazing and I' curious if it may be the best entry level in Asia. Also curious how this lounge compares to GH Hong Kong as I understand that it may be the gold standard for lounge in Asia.

I had a little different experince with the restruant. My family arrived late on a Friday night and didn't feel like going out to eat. The resturant accomodated us on a Friday night when I think you require reservations. Not sure if it was becuase of the kids, they knew we were DIA or it was just the service but we had 2 different managers stop by the table to check on us. They even gave our 3 kids free ice cream.

I was able to get a BRG of 150 USD for my stay but agree I would have a hard time paying 180 or higher for a standard stay if I a suite upgrade wasn't gurantee.

Also agree not the best place for a 1 night stay. I always stay at the LM for 1 night stays, they have a good lounge and breakfeast spread and from check-out at the hotel to check-in at KLIA or KLIA2 I know it will not be more than an hour.

wolf72

I may stop staying at the Grand Hyatt.

1) Requested the room be cleaned properly and vacummed twice at least as my gf is undergoing chemotheraphy for cancer and we generally fly over to KL every other week or so for 3 days and put up at the Hyatt as the oncology department we visit is down the road and the Grand Hyatt is convenient. This was not done and upon check in, I double checked and asked the receptonist if they had, and he said yes.

Gf spent the whole night coughing and sneezing from dust allergies and didn't get any sleep. Chemo the next day and she was absolutely knackered before she even left the hotel.

2) Had a friend drop of an item for us to take home. He dropped it off a bit late at 10.00pm-10.30pm and gave our room number. We didn't know he did drop it off as we didn't hear from him and nobody from the concierge nor reception desk bothered to inform us until just before checking out our friends dropped us an sms to ask if we had left for the airport and had the item already.

We were very lucky he did drop us a message or we would have checked out of the hotel and been on our way to the airport without even collecting the item.

Item was an important dehumidifier for my gf to use when sleeping.

Front desk staff was hopeless when asked upon checking out if there was something left for us and told us to check downstairs on our way out. Staff below didn't know about it until they checked their log book and then went scurrying to look for it.

I don't like picking on hotels unless it's really warranted but this is the 2nd major incident I have had with Hyatt and they always seem to lack that little bit of 'grace' in dealing with issues.

bostonpilot

That's an interesting question that made me think. For me, I actually think I prefer the GH KL's lounge. For breakfast, I think the food is on par and I think KL may have a bit of an edge in the evening.

What puts KL over the top for me is the staff and the general vibe of the lounge. GH HK is great, but I find it a lot more "stuffy" and arrogant than KL.

But, to put it in context, I value real interaction with a personal touch vs the pomp and show of high end service. In the midst of a challenging business trip, I get a lot more out of a genuine "welcome back", "how's the family", a handshake and proactively making my preferred iced lemon team and vodka rocks than I do "yes sir", "right away sir", etc.

Thus GH KL>GH HK for my tastes (not true of the city though HK>>>>>KL for me).

All that said, its hard to go wrong with most any Hyatt in Asia in my view.

exmike

staying here now 3 night cash stay ($160/night) DSU to suite. The suite is fantastic (corner). Love the 4oz size toiletries. Service has been superb for me, and the lounge is definitely one of the best I've been to. Sure, they can call it evening canapes, but its really a full dinner buffet to me. In fact, between the awesome breakfast spread (in the lounge or in the 38 restaurant) and "canapes" I haven't paid for a meal during my trip to KL. I just wish the air quality wasn't so terrible. The views on a clear day would be spectacular. Anyone know if there is a "clean air season"? The cabbies told me its b/c of all the forests being burned down in indonesia.

bostonpilot

The "burning in Indonesia" is a standard go-to response for air quality here in Malaysia. It does have some truth to it, but it isn't the only cause. There is also a lot of burning here as well for example. On top of industry, massive humidity, etc.

There really isn't a clear season, but July seems to be about the worst in the few years I've lived here. Lately, we seem to be on a ~3 day cycle of beautiful blue sky->horrible haze->explosive rain storm->rinse and repeat. Parts of the year it seems to stay clearer for more consequtive days.

Enjoy KL and the Hyatt. I agree the lounge is great, but you are also within walking distance of some of the world's best street food.

ajca

Checked in to the GH KL on Diamond trial just now.

Think I have same the base room I had last time as non-Diamond. Standard room size and not facing towards the Twin Towers. What do Diamond members usually get here as non-suite upgrade?

The rooms are great though. Certainly the best rooms in town if you like modern hotels (as I do).

The club lounge is excellent - staff is omnipresent and know exactly how to be helpful without being intrusive. The food is exceptional - very tasty and a great selection of hot and cold. Nice Chianti as well.

By comparison, I was quite disappointed with the GH Bangkok club lounge last week. Limited food selection and poor wine choices.

markcwj

Just stayed here over the last weekend and it was amazing. Wow the view from level 38 was truly breathtaking!!

danger

It's difficult to fault this hotel.

After a six night stay in a suite over last new years I returned for a two night stay this month. I arrived right on 6pm and went straight to the Club Lounge for check-in where I was inivted to seat myself in the lounge and enjoy the evening spread. About 30 minutes later an agent came over with the paperwork. I'd been assigned a king city view, not a Petronas Towers view which, according to the website, is the best available room below a suite and was available. I raised that point and the agent went away to check. He returned a couple of minutes later to say that I'd been assigned a city view room because my preference is for close to the elevators. I enquired if breakfast was still complimentary in Thirty8 and when the answer was yes I said the existing room would be fine. I expect Gold Passport privileges to be upheld but at this hotel, where they go above and beyond in looking after Diamonds, I was more than content. I'm not a view room kind of guy anyway. As long as there's a view of something half-decent and not a roof or a brick wall, I'm fine.

And of the course the room was superb. In fact, I probably almost 'wasted' a DSU here last year when I was travelling by myself. This king view is more than adequate. I love the open design of the bathroom, the separate WC, walk-in closest and TV on an extendable arm so it can be viewed from a number of angles. And the bed is ridiculously comfortable. I received four apples, four small macarons and a typed welcome letter from the GM as standard (not the F&B Diamond amenity) and took the 1W. Multiple bottles of water were provided each day and there was an evening turndown in addition to the regular housekeeping. I was all ready to say the see through glass from the shower to the bed area was a huge design flaw, until I stumbled across the 'Privacy' switch. At first I thought it was the room's DND but, no, as noted above, it makes the glass opaque. Super cool. The Diamond 4pm check-out was included without question.

Breakfast in Thirty8 remains fantastic. The open design of the kitchen, along with the view and the all-round top quality and range of food makes it first rate in every respect. I like the fact that the items on the buffet, like the scrambled eggs, aren't provided in bucket loads. Like the eggs florentine/benedict that are rotated. There's only four or five at a time and when they go one of the numerous chefs prepares more, ensuring the food is always fresh.

The Club Lounge is also as good as I remember. The design of the 38th floor above means that the music (a pianist, in my experience) filters down to the lounge adding to the already great ambience. The furnishings and design compliment the extensive and very quality spread each night. One night I counted no less than four chefs wandering around the buffet to make sure all was in order. Each night there are four hot dishes, plus a hot meat freshly carved. The drink selection is large and now includes a list of eight or 10 cocktails. The staff are very friendly and enjoy engaging in light chat.

And the pool. Wow. I don't think I've ever been to a non-resort pool that just gets everything so right. Cabanas, plenty of sunbeds, heaps of greenery, an infinity edge, a children's pool, attendant service and a great cafe with very tasty food. Unlike so many hotel pools than close at 6pm or 7pm, this one doesn't close until 10pm and one attendant even suggested that that wasn't a firm time. I went down there one evening and there were a handful of people enjoying a late swim and simply relaxing, taking in the views, including the well lit Petronas Towers.

The gym is large and has a big range of equipment. The men's locker room (and presumably the ladies') has a large jacuzzi, steam room and sauna.

Club room guests receive two complimentary pieces of laundry per stay.

I misplaced my iPod and my sunglasses on separate occasions at the pool area and both were located and returned to me.

Staff throughout the hotel seem genuinely interested in making a guest's stay as good as it can be. Everyone you encounter smiles and says hello.

My only minor issue was the refrigerator in the room appears designed more as a cooler than a chiller. The drinks were never cold, just cool. In this climate, it really needs to be a proper fridge.

I've been to KL six or seven times and while the city doesn't actually do much for me, this hotel does. While I've only got six or seven Parks (including Paris and Seoul) and probably 10 or so Grands under my belt, this hotel is quite possibly my favourite Hyatt anywhere. I could very easily fly from Perth to KL and simply live at this hotel for a week.

I took the KLIA Ekspress from KUL to KL Sentral for MYR35 (about USD10) and then a premium (metered taxi) to the Hyatt for MYR27 (about USD8).