Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur - REVIEW - MASTER THREAD
Dec 30, 2014, 7:44 am
#106
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Between AMS and BRU
Posts: 8,852
I have just completed a multiple night stay here.... Some aspects are (very) good and some aren't. All in all a pretty decent hotel with a great lounge.
First impressions
Not so good..... Just a few days before staying I had sent an e-mail asking two questions: 1. Would it be possible to have an early check-in since my flight was arriving early? (I expected to be at the hotel somewhere between 9:00-10:00 and still saw plenty of rooms available). 2. Would I be able to upgrade using a DSU?
The reply took more than 24hrs to arrive: 1. Reserve a room for the night before (Duh...). 2. No DSU when booking a MER (simply not true). So both answers that left a lot to be desired, I decided to let it go and take my chances. Not much choice either since I was already at the airport when I got the e-mail.
Arrived at the hotel at 9:45, no problem checking-in early (so that was great), no Diamond recognition whatsoever and just a standard room overlooking the park while better rooms were still available (not so great). I decided not to ask questions and be gratefull I got an early checkin. Awfully cold and soulless lobby downstairs and two spots where substantial amounts of water were leaking through the ceiling before I got to my room.
My Diamond welcome letter arrived the next day. So not such a great first impression.
The room
Fairly big for a standard room, nice bed and a great feature to have full sized windows. Not such a great design is the bathroom, with a bath that is only big enough for a toddler and with a faucet that has such sharp edges that I managed to scratch myself in a way that blood was drawn. Pretty nice walk in closet and lots of storage space.
The gym/spa/pool
Pretty big gym area as well. Great selection of strenght equipment, lousy one for cardio (unless you only use a threadmill). Obnoxious loud music making it impossible to use my own. The spa and pool were quite nice, but some construction noise from all the building sites when relaxing at the pool.
The club lounge and restaurant
This is where things were pretty good to amazing. Not only was there a spectacular view, the staff was pretty spectacular as well. As was the food, sipping a gin-tonic while eating and looking at the Petronas towers left me without much desire to go out to dinner. A bit of a shame really :-). Breakfast in the restaurant was great too with an awfully big selection. Only complaint I would have is that the eggs benedict/florentine were pre-fabricated and almost cold without much flavor.
The rest
I found having to go throught the lobby or the carpark to get to the first floor somewhat annoying. Might seem nice to have the lobby at the 39th floor, but don't force your guests to take two elevators to get down when you can go to the 2nd floor but not down one more floor. Form over function here. Beats me what the lobby at the entrance is for, wasted space that also feels very cold... as does the lobby upstairs, a bit less though. Morning prayers from the nearby mosque woke me twice at 6:00am.
So a pretty mixed review, where the positives still outweighed the negatives.
First impressions
Not so good..... Just a few days before staying I had sent an e-mail asking two questions: 1. Would it be possible to have an early check-in since my flight was arriving early? (I expected to be at the hotel somewhere between 9:00-10:00 and still saw plenty of rooms available). 2. Would I be able to upgrade using a DSU?
The reply took more than 24hrs to arrive: 1. Reserve a room for the night before (Duh...). 2. No DSU when booking a MER (simply not true). So both answers that left a lot to be desired, I decided to let it go and take my chances. Not much choice either since I was already at the airport when I got the e-mail.
Arrived at the hotel at 9:45, no problem checking-in early (so that was great), no Diamond recognition whatsoever and just a standard room overlooking the park while better rooms were still available (not so great). I decided not to ask questions and be gratefull I got an early checkin. Awfully cold and soulless lobby downstairs and two spots where substantial amounts of water were leaking through the ceiling before I got to my room.
My Diamond welcome letter arrived the next day. So not such a great first impression.
The room
Fairly big for a standard room, nice bed and a great feature to have full sized windows. Not such a great design is the bathroom, with a bath that is only big enough for a toddler and with a faucet that has such sharp edges that I managed to scratch myself in a way that blood was drawn. Pretty nice walk in closet and lots of storage space.
The gym/spa/pool
Pretty big gym area as well. Great selection of strenght equipment, lousy one for cardio (unless you only use a threadmill). Obnoxious loud music making it impossible to use my own. The spa and pool were quite nice, but some construction noise from all the building sites when relaxing at the pool.
The club lounge and restaurant
This is where things were pretty good to amazing. Not only was there a spectacular view, the staff was pretty spectacular as well. As was the food, sipping a gin-tonic while eating and looking at the Petronas towers left me without much desire to go out to dinner. A bit of a shame really :-). Breakfast in the restaurant was great too with an awfully big selection. Only complaint I would have is that the eggs benedict/florentine were pre-fabricated and almost cold without much flavor.
The rest
I found having to go throught the lobby or the carpark to get to the first floor somewhat annoying. Might seem nice to have the lobby at the 39th floor, but don't force your guests to take two elevators to get down when you can go to the 2nd floor but not down one more floor. Form over function here. Beats me what the lobby at the entrance is for, wasted space that also feels very cold... as does the lobby upstairs, a bit less though. Morning prayers from the nearby mosque woke me twice at 6:00am.
So a pretty mixed review, where the positives still outweighed the negatives.
Last edited by RTW1; Dec 30, 2014 at 7:53 am
Jan 6, 2015, 9:52 pm
#107
Suspended
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Brunei
Programs: Enrich Sapphire. Kris Flyer Silver.Le Club Accorhotels,Starwood.
Posts: 2,201
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.
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.
I have to agree with your comments on the staff.
Jan 11, 2015, 11:19 am
#108
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Belgium
Programs: Flying Blue Platinum for Life, Hyatt Discoverist (ex CC), Marriott Titanium, Miles& More Senator
Posts: 25
Stayed there in November for 5 nights, zero recognition and no upgrade whatsoever for being Diamond...Lounge pretty good, but noise from restaurant upstairs that had a function comes thru
Breakfast spread good at lounge and at restaurant. Evening snacks ok at lounge.
Pool is great, enjoyed that part. Housekeeping a bit lost, asked for non-slip shower mat but couldn't get one after a couple attempts...and gave up. I thought a wet towel in the shower area would remind her, but to no avail!
Breakfast spread good at lounge and at restaurant. Evening snacks ok at lounge.
Pool is great, enjoyed that part. Housekeeping a bit lost, asked for non-slip shower mat but couldn't get one after a couple attempts...and gave up. I thought a wet towel in the shower area would remind her, but to no avail!
Jan 11, 2015, 5:12 pm
#109
Suspended
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Brunei
Programs: Enrich Sapphire. Kris Flyer Silver.Le Club Accorhotels,Starwood.
Posts: 2,201
I think the problems, minor as theybe to some, a bit more disappointing for others stems from the culture within the hotel in KL and the general manager. The staff respond to the leadership and the culture he or she implements and introduces with his senior management team.
I would point to the JW Marriot in downtown KL as an example of a hotel who seem to have their house in order and have sound leadership..top to bottom, staff take their jobs seriously and give a damn.
Albeit for RM100-RM300 cheaper than Grand Hyatt.
I would point to the JW Marriot in downtown KL as an example of a hotel who seem to have their house in order and have sound leadership..top to bottom, staff take their jobs seriously and give a damn.
Albeit for RM100-RM300 cheaper than Grand Hyatt.
Mar 17, 2015, 6:22 pm
#111
Suspended
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Brunei
Programs: Enrich Sapphire. Kris Flyer Silver.Le Club Accorhotels,Starwood.
Posts: 2,201
For domestic arrivals at KLIA, the pre-paid taxi counter is directly in front of you as you walk out into the arrival area.
Never used or asked but will ask on my next trip to KL.
Mar 17, 2015, 7:34 pm
#112
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: MEL
Programs: Bonvoy LT Plat. WOH Glob. SQ Gold
Posts: 1,637
Is it an easy walk to the towers from this Hotel? Distance looks fine - just wondering about state of footpaths/sidewalks etc. I know taxis are easy but do prefer to walk when possible.
Mar 17, 2015, 7:37 pm
#113
Suspended
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Brunei
Programs: Enrich Sapphire. Kris Flyer Silver.Le Club Accorhotels,Starwood.
Posts: 2,201
Or walk out of the hotel entrance, take a right turn and a 10 minute walk along the side of the road to the towers.
I always take the underground link myself..
Mar 17, 2015, 7:43 pm
#114
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: MEL
Programs: Bonvoy LT Plat. WOH Glob. SQ Gold
Posts: 1,637
There is an underground link between the hotel (back side of the hotel) and the twin towers. Very efficient and a 5-8 minute walk into the KLCC shopping center and then to the entrance of the towers at lobby level.
Or walk out of the hotel entrance, take a right turn and a 10 minute walk along the side of the road to the towers.
I always take the underground link myself..
Or walk out of the hotel entrance, take a right turn and a 10 minute walk along the side of the road to the towers.
I always take the underground link myself..
May 5, 2015, 3:21 am
#115
Join Date: Apr 2014
Programs: Hyatt Globalist, Marriott Platinum, IHG Platinum
Posts: 45
I'm trying to make a booking at this hotel for later this month, and wanted to use 6,000 points for a suite upgrade on the Hyatt Daily Rate. Now, the problem is when I called Hyatt, they tell me they need to charge 850MYR if I want to use 6,000 points for the upgrade, as compared to the 730MYR that is showing up online as the Hyatt Daily Rate.
Is that right? Can a hotel decide it wants to charge more for a Hyatt Daily Rate when using points for an upgrade?
Is that right? Can a hotel decide it wants to charge more for a Hyatt Daily Rate when using points for an upgrade?
Insist on this, and eventually they will relent and ask for your confirmation number, and update the reservation with the minimum daily rate (if you already had the upgrade done by the global Hyatt reservation hotline) and sent a confirmation email again.
This is what I did to get the website daily rate of MYR 655 instead of the MYR 775 rate that the Hyatt global reservation hotline quoted to get a suite upgrade using points.
Jul 20, 2015, 5:01 am
#116
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: LAX
Programs: Hilton Gold, Hyatt Explorist, Sixt Diamond, Hertz PC, Bonvoy Gold, UA G
Posts: 596
Spent five nights here and loved them all.
Room was great. I used a DSU and it was definitely worth it. The standard Grand Suite is a large corner suite with large living room (the size of an entire entry level suite at many Hyatt's) and the bedroom and bathroom are also quite large.
Service in the club is amazing. They remembered my order and would often have things for me before I ordered them. The scariest thing was when I first entered the club for breakfast one of the employees welcomed me "Mr. Skyvanman" which blew my mind that without having ever had an interaction with him before he knew my name.
The club lounge attendants and servers were awesome, both in service and friendliness.
The food at the club was also fantastic and the spread extremely varied night by night and also more impressively, morning to morning. As a diamond you can also go to Thirty8 for Breakfast, something I did on only two occasions because the club atmosphere was just so much better.
The free parking is nice if you have a car and the best part is that you can get the validation ticket in the lounge and avoid waiting upstairs in the Sky Lobby.
Uber drivers don't seem to know where this hotel is and will often be waiting next door at the Aquaria KL/ Convention Center entrance. Other than this the location and ease of access is great, walking distance to the KLCC rapid transit stop and plenty of cabs on the streets outside to grab in order to avoid the super expensive blue hotel taxis.
Downstairs restaurant JP Teres is one of my favorite places to eat in KL.
Pool is nice though something is a little off. Very nicely decorated, sometimes busy, but something just seems off. Maybe it is the service, maybe it is the noise from traffic...really couldn't figure it out but never really loved the pool there. I like it, just not love it.
The Gym is very well equipped and I went there three times. The only thing i wish it had which it doesn't is a foam or cork yoga yoga block. I think that when busy this gym could be quite packed though since although it has enough cardio equipment to handle a decent crowd it only has one functional trainer and at times there was a wait when just three or four people were in the gym.
The only lacking I found in service was that the first three days I was brought fruit and tarts and a plate with knife and fork. The fourth day only fruit with no tarts or plate, and the fifth day nothing. Not sure what was going on there.
I'll definitely be staying here again next time I'm in KL, it's one of my favorite GH properties.
Room was great. I used a DSU and it was definitely worth it. The standard Grand Suite is a large corner suite with large living room (the size of an entire entry level suite at many Hyatt's) and the bedroom and bathroom are also quite large.
Service in the club is amazing. They remembered my order and would often have things for me before I ordered them. The scariest thing was when I first entered the club for breakfast one of the employees welcomed me "Mr. Skyvanman" which blew my mind that without having ever had an interaction with him before he knew my name.
The club lounge attendants and servers were awesome, both in service and friendliness.
The food at the club was also fantastic and the spread extremely varied night by night and also more impressively, morning to morning. As a diamond you can also go to Thirty8 for Breakfast, something I did on only two occasions because the club atmosphere was just so much better.
The free parking is nice if you have a car and the best part is that you can get the validation ticket in the lounge and avoid waiting upstairs in the Sky Lobby.
Uber drivers don't seem to know where this hotel is and will often be waiting next door at the Aquaria KL/ Convention Center entrance. Other than this the location and ease of access is great, walking distance to the KLCC rapid transit stop and plenty of cabs on the streets outside to grab in order to avoid the super expensive blue hotel taxis.
Downstairs restaurant JP Teres is one of my favorite places to eat in KL.
Pool is nice though something is a little off. Very nicely decorated, sometimes busy, but something just seems off. Maybe it is the service, maybe it is the noise from traffic...really couldn't figure it out but never really loved the pool there. I like it, just not love it.
The Gym is very well equipped and I went there three times. The only thing i wish it had which it doesn't is a foam or cork yoga yoga block. I think that when busy this gym could be quite packed though since although it has enough cardio equipment to handle a decent crowd it only has one functional trainer and at times there was a wait when just three or four people were in the gym.
The only lacking I found in service was that the first three days I was brought fruit and tarts and a plate with knife and fork. The fourth day only fruit with no tarts or plate, and the fifth day nothing. Not sure what was going on there.
I'll definitely be staying here again next time I'm in KL, it's one of my favorite GH properties.
Jul 20, 2015, 5:06 am
#117
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: LAX
Programs: Hilton Gold, Hyatt Explorist, Sixt Diamond, Hertz PC, Bonvoy Gold, UA G
Posts: 596
I found having to go throught the lobby or the carpark to get to the first floor somewhat annoying. Might seem nice to have the lobby at the 39th floor, but don't force your guests to take two elevators to get down when you can go to the 2nd floor but not down one more floor.
Oct 21, 2015, 6:28 pm
#119
Join Date: Apr 2007
Programs: QF, VA, AC, Hyatt, Marriott
Posts: 3,784
Oct 22, 2015, 8:27 am
#120
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Between AMS and BRU
Posts: 8,852
I would recommend the restaurant, the selection is large and very nice.