- Unfortunately, no sparkling wine was offered in the lounge. After Kota Kinobalu we stayed in Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur and they did not have any sparking in the lounge either.
In Kota Kinobalu the lounge offered a white blend from France on the first night that was O.K. - about 3.5 on vivino.com scale. The second white was a "tropic chardonnay" from Argentina? and that wine had a rather strange taste - it was left mostly untouched. On the consequent nights the French blend was replaced by Sauvignon blanc from NZ that was more miss than hit (about 3.1-3.2). Red wines were not better for sure. We stopped at a local supermarket within the big shopping center on the way to the Jesselton jetty and found both whites on sale for ca. 110-120 MYR ($24-26). I think the alcohol taxes must be really high in Borneo.
Note that our room rate was 289MYR/night and I hope that the hotel is getting wine at sizable discount.

How does this compare to the Hyatt Centric, the Marriott, and the Le Meridien?

Same question, particularly comparing the two Hyatts. The Hyatt Regency has a lounge. Does the Hyatt Centric, and if so how do the lounges compare?

I replied to part of your question in the other Centric KK thread. There wasn't any lounge at the Centric KK - and having just had a look at the website - I don't think this will have changed since April 2023. The HR does have a lounge and this is probably one of the highlights of the property as its on the highest floor and commands great views of the sea and plenty of light. There is coffee, tea and biscuits / nuts available throughout the day, with a 2 hr evening drinks and light bites service. There wasn't anything memorable about the evening snacks / bites - and not comparable to say the HR Bali in Sanur or the HR Yogyakarta - both of which I rate in terms of choice and quality of food.

I stayed 2 nights at the HR immediately prior to my stay at the Centric. The Regency is a much older hotel and only about a 6 minute walk away. The age of the hotel shows in the rooms (was upgraded to a Regency suite) and the on site restaurants. While the room was very spacious and clean - it was very dark and I much preferred to clean, modern and minimalist aesthetic of the Centric. Breakfast was better at the Centric. I think it ultimately comes down to room rate - in April - the Centric was probably $20 more a night but I opted for a few nights at the HR so it counted as a my first stay for a promo that was running at the time, with my second stay and bonus points accruing for my second stay at the Centric. If I were to go back to KK and the rate differential is in the region of $20 a night again and I could be confident of getting a standard suite at both of these properties, I would go for the Centric.

Thank you, AncientSquash that's very helpful. I appreciate you taking the time to give a very informative response.