I can't speak to the lounge in the east wing. With respect to the manager, I suspect that she was a food & beverage manager - the service where I had the minor issue. Normally I am good about taking names, but I forgot to jot hers down. I did introduce her to FT, however, and she read each page re: this property on my phone.

Just finishing up a stay here. Booked a suite since it was not much more than a regular room. Plat member. Wanted to deal with some issues before my checkout at 6am tomorrow.

Pros:
suite was large
choice of breakfast in lounge or restaurant

Cons:
given a benefit sheet listing 2 pieces of laundry per day. Was told it is for pressing only. Showed GM the sheet of paper and he told me it was wrong.

also told by GM, regular laundry service means return next day. Showed him laundry sheet that states regular service means picking up laundry before 12pm and return after 6pm same day. Again, I was told that the information was wrong.

To be fair, GM said it is on them to make sure the information is updated, comped my laundry today. I only used it one day.

Club lounge was small and cannot handle the number of guests in this festive season.

Due to my early checkout, someone from Marriott app said they can arrange a takeaway breakfast. Asked at front desk and told no such thing. Asked at restaurant and told no such thing. Club lounge attendant said it is possible.

Power ports in room is inconsistent. There is a universal power point in living room with a USB outlet. In bedroom there is a universal power port on left side of the bed but none on right side. Left side of bed has 2 phones and an alarm clock with no room for leaving ipads/iphones to be charged.

Breakfast at lounge and restaurant were meh.

Significant road noise and door closing noise from other rooms.

Housekeeping missed the thrash in the powder room and did not replace the bath mat towel.

Had a better stay at Sheraton previously.

There is a lot of training required at this property.

It's interesting you say this. I stayed almost 90 nights last summer and often had to call for fresh towels in the evening because housekeeping had left stained ones. I mentioned this to the "executive housekeeper" but she didn't inspire great confidence that anything would change. In defence of the club lounge, it does have a second room at the back which can be a very quiet place to work during the day. If they could fix the housekeeping, improve the main breakfast, and serve sparkling wine in the lounge, it would be a good competitor to Hilton KL Sentral for the price. As it is, I'd only stay at the Ren if the rate were considerably less than 300 MYR.

The east tower of the Renaissance Kuala Lumpur Hotel & Convention Centre has been renovated and rebranded as the Four Points by Sheraton Kuala Lumpur, City Centre.

The west tower remains the Renaissance, it's now a dual-branded property, sharing facilities in the low-rise connecting podium structure.

https://www.hospitalitynet.org/annou.../41010328.html

The app shows both hotels available for TN though?

Sorry, maybe my post was unclear, only one tower was converted. I'll edit it so it's clearer.

Has anyone stayed here recently? Looking for updates on the rooms and lounge offerings since its reopening

Also interested in hearing about recent experiences. Pricing appears to be higher than before so I expect better services and lounge offerings to justify that difference.

Prices have gone up because this place is now in serious demand from families especially with young children. The pool area has been recently renovated into a water park complete with slides and wet play area. Lots of kids running around the hotel even over the weekdays I was here.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...e8d3c4279.jpeg

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...d2b495c27.jpeg
Pool wet play area

The rooms and lounge have also been updated. I was not a big fan of the low seats which made it difficult to enjoy the sumptous dinner spread available from 6-8pm. Alcohol is served till 9pm

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...0700d4f00.jpeg

I wouldn't recommend this place for business travellers or mile seekers due to the crowds at breakfast and its noisy location over the other properties in more assessible locations like the Le Meridien in Sentral or Westin/JW in the middle of Bukit Bintang.

There are some nice two week rates available here currently. Does anyone remember which the rooms were which were on a corner and had lots more space, despite not being suites? It might have been x21 but it's so long since I stayed. For 472 MYR all in it's quite reasonable compared to other full service Marriotts in KL, especially if one needs to be near KLCC.

Have trip planned for October here mostly due to proximity to KLCC and Hard Rock cafe (i like loud rock music with my old fashioned after a long work day). Are the crowds in the lounge or other parts of the hotel? Also, did you get a chance to try the restaurants for dinner?

Business travellers and families on holiday will be well taken care of with the extremely thoughtful facilities and manpower deployed along with it. This is our current favourite hotel in KL (we've stayed in close to 10 both with and outside of marriott); children will love the wet/dry playgrounds and the lovely kids-friendly spread at the family lounge.

Pricing: 5/5 - almost identically priced to the far inferior sheraton just down the road that is known lately for its underwhelming service and room quality.

Location: 3/5 - as it's not as centrally located as many other Marriott branded hotels we've stayed at, for example, St Regis/Le Meridien, Westin, JW.

Food: 4.5/5 - quality breakfast buffet is usually of very good quality; i'd rate it as number 2 in KL (behind St Regis which is of a class of its own), the staples/carbohydrate dishes somehow are a hit-and-miss (somedays really good, other days bland or too salty)

Lounge: 6/5 - hats off to the management for setting aside a separate family lounge area just for children to have dinner, it's a first for us as I havent seen any other hotel sparing the expense (and food/labour cost) for families. This arrangement still allows business travelers to dine at the executive lounge without the chaos that kids inevitably may bring.

Parking: 2/5 - other KL marriott hotels either charge a flat per entry fee, or compliment the parking charges entirely. The RM10 per day charge, which while not much, subtracts from the otherwise amazing stay.

Rooms: 3.5/5 - our suite night award request was graciously approved. Big plus points for the very much appreciated two sofa beds that come with the suite! However to my surprise, post-renovation defect checks are very poorly done, if done at all. I also note that unlike Renaissance JB, the KL Renaissance suite doesnt come with the very welcome dining table and chairs.

Staff: 6/5 - I dont often write such a detailed review, but decided to do so upon seeing how spirited/motivated/friendly the staff members are across the board.

Facilities: 6/5 - the reasonably sized swimming pools are complemented by water slides, a wet playground and the largest dry playground that we've seen in a hotel. Looking forward to the kids club completing its renovation! The extensive provision for kids facilities perhaps is superior to any of the Marriott AP Vacation Clubs.

I really liked the Renaissance in comparison with many of the other Marriott options in KL. Here are my impressions and photos:

Pros:

• Upgraded before arrival to an Executive Suite and placed on a high floor with a lovely view of Menara KL
• Suite was ready at 8 AM after a night flight
• Lovely view
• Plenty of comfortable seating
• Bed was comfortable - medium mattress, thick plush pillows, covers of fine plushness for climate
• Shower pressure was fantastic and strong (I used the wand)
• Lovely set of welcome and Lifetime nights gifts
• Staff was VERY friendly throughout
• Good walkable location
• Did not ask about late checkout but they didn’t seem to have a problem when I left around 1 PM
• Breakfast seemingly only offered in club - was offered on arrival (overslept next day) - good, though, I enjoyed my eggs Benedict with salmon

Neutral:

• No real afternoon tea sweet treats in lounge, but good iced latte

Cons:

• One pillowcase was stained, but switched quickly by nearby housekeeper

I would come back.

Photos (please expand the Spoiler tag):


We and the kids enjoyed a restful and joyous 4D3N stay at our favourite hotel. We appreciated the granting of our email request for an upgrade to the suite (with its 2 sofa beds).

During our stay, I had an insightful chat with Mr Ridzi, the Director of Operations, and Mr Martin, the GM, about what the wonderful product and team they oversee and also suggested some observations/improvements. I appreciate the lengthy and very precious hour long dialogue where many of my curious questions about hotel operations were graciously answered.

After I gave feedback about the lack of children amenities or welcome snacks, we came back to two gigantic chocolate pinatas filled with snacks that the kids couldn't wait to smash open.

Staff: 6/5 – At all times of the day, there are many staff stationed at the lobby to welcome guests. Yup even at 11pm, there was impressively a greeter, a security guard and 2 check in counters open. The hotel staff are spirited/motivated/courteous. The positive and welcoming atmosphere perhaps is aptly captured by my 5 year old remarking that “Malaysia hotels are friendlier than Singapore hotels.”

Facilities: 6/5 - The sprawling swimming pool with water slides that stretches across the concourse of both R KL and 4 points KL makes the other hotels look like theirs are puddles in comparison. The dry and wet playgrounds are similarly impressively large and in great condition. I understand that the pools are cleaned daily. The size of the dry playground is the largest that we've seen in a hotel. The arrangement for a complimentary Kids Club is also really unique, usually only seen in resorts. When asked about the lack of lift door sensors and malfunctioning arrow displays and buttons, Mr Ridzi explained that the lifts were not merely being upgraded but replaced.



Pricing: 5/5 – similarly priced to the far inferior Sheraton just down the road that is lately infamous for its underwhelming product customer experience.

Location: 3/5 - Not as centrally located as many other Marriott branded hotels we've stayed at, for example, St Regis/Le Meridien, Westin, JW. But taking grab is relatively easy outside of rush hour, and KLCC is within walking distance for those who don’t mind the trek.

Food (Breakfast @ Restaurant): 3.5/5 – The taste/spread is pretty much on par with or slightly better than the offerings at Westin/JW/Sheraton but trails the excellent LM KL and SR KL’s breakfast in terms of food quality. Highlights include the delicious gluten free chocolate chip cookies and the red apples (a rarity in Malaysian hotels from our experience) that we could churn into fresh juice. The ever-friendly Indian Chef recognized us on our first day back here (even though we last came a few months ago), and on day 2, he already had bananas ready for our banana Prata/Canai. We appreciated



Food (Family Lounge): R KL’s Family Lounge is always a trailblazing pioneer in KL, with a specially curated menu that parents and children would welcome. Whereas other Marriott’s evening cocktail often have adult-focused menu that are largely spicy, here there’s fries, nuggets, pasta etc. I appreciate the many games like mini soccer and basketball stations, which our kids had a blistering time playing with the chef and lounge staff (rather than eating their dinner) =D I understand from Mr Ridzi that he is overseeing the purchasing of more family friendly furniture so that’s something we can look forward to. This arrangement of a separate family lounge still allows business travelers to dine at the executive lounge without the chaos that kids inevitably may bring.



Some areas whereby R KL could do better:

-Frustratingly, Platinum Elite (PE) and higher Bonvoy members are restricted to the executive lounge for the complimentary breakfast benefit, unless the booking includes breakfast. Mr Martin explained that severe overcrowding at the restaurant led to long queues and unhappy/frustrated guests, and therefore the arrangement was made for crowd control - PE+ members have a less extensive breakfast spread but at least a high quality experience is maintained at the lounge/restaurant. However, for our kids, the buffet breakfast is the highlight of every hotel stay – the live stations of waffles, prata/canai, noodles, fresh fruit juices etc. that likely wont be available at the lounge; to be restricted to the lounge breakfasts especially for long stays is quite the downer.

-Do consider building an alternative walkway and ramp to the monorail station whereby we don't have to walk past two rows of smokers (currently we have to jump down a ~50cm drop)

-Parking for inhouse guests is a RM10 per day, although multiple entries are permitted with the new camera recognition system (as far as I observe, almost all other 5 star hotel offer complimentary parking for guests)

-The lack of towel rings/hooks to place towels to dry our hands

-The lack of a towel hook near the shower/long metal handle to hang the towel - one would have to walk across the entire toilet dripping water everywhere to retrieve a hung up towel

-Empower/assist the staff at kids club to request parents/older children who talk loudly (at a volume of shouting) to tone down or leave the kids club. The noise who overwhelming on a Monday with 3-4 such families inside, and other 4-5 more well-mannered/considerate families.

-I highlighted to Mr Ridzi the barely-functioning/well-worn condition of the many toys and games in the kids club, which he explains usually get worn out within 2-3 months of daily play. I trust that he will make the necessary updates/replacements.

-Make more exciting/interactive board card/games available for lease (with a monetary deposit to ensure pieces do not go missing) – not the boring games like risk/monopoly but like Scrabble/Catan/Ticket to Ride? A possible location to play the games could be outside the kids club or at the family lounge?