Guy Betsy

What's a Concieve?

I too was there at the Westin KL last month. Loved the stay. The staff are great, and the location is great. Am still a little gobsmacked of Pavillion Mall!

You should try LM instead of Sheraton Imperial. The former has a similar atmosphere as the Westin whereas the latter feels like a let down. The location isn't that great unless you like to sit in traffic as the road in front is always jammed.

NYCWahoo

Stayed at this property in early August during what a concierge called, "Arab week." Supposedly before the Ramadan many Middle Eastern couples/families vacation in KL. Ladies in black veils were very visible all over the cities and at the Westin.

Check In: Arrived around 10pm at the Club floor. The person at the desk was playing on the computer and took him a while to acknowledge me who was standing right in front of him. I knew hotel was almost sold out so didn't expect upgrades. I did ask for any chance for upgrades anyway(Petronas Tower view or suite) and the club attendant was very rude and short with me, "Yes, we upgrade you to the SPG floor."

When I got to my "upgraded" room(with my best friend) I was shocked to find out it was a smoking room with two double beds and not a non-smoking king bed which I booked. At this point I thought about just let it go...but I was slightly annoyed by the club attendant and felt bad for my best friend that he didn't get to see the Tower view.(I mentioned to him several times how great the view from Westin was) I called the manager on duty and very cordially explained the situation. He apologized and told me that hotel was completed sold out for the night. He offered $10 USD off from broadband internet connection. Are you freaking kidding me??? You get that anyway as a Plat. I was talking him for 15min and that's all he can offer? So I decided to go for a kill. I asked him whether it's Westin's standard practice to discriminate against gay couple(or any two male guests) by assigning two double beds even though I booked a king bed. I reminded him that he can deal with me right at that moment or deal with me few week later when SPG will ask him to respond to my complaint. He knew what I was talking about.

Few minutes later he came back with only other "room" he had available, the Chairman's Penthouse Suite. The penthouse was quite amazing, just huge, 2 floors of it. The interior was a bit outdated, but this is the biggest room I have ever stayed at any SPG properties. From upstairs you can look into the downstairs living room/dining room/kitchen. Upstairs had a small area for a treadmill and the bathroom was bigger than a bedroom. I hope other folks get to experience the Chairman's suite and know many people in KL to throw a kick-... party.

Shuttle-Bored

Booked in at the Westin next week, and got an e-mail yesterday saying the pool is closed for renovation and the option is to us the one next door at the JW Marriott. Checking spg.com this now also shows under special conditions (pretty sure it wasn't there before).

Toying with options to move over to the Ritz-Carlton or the Hilton - but before I cancel, anyone got any feedback on the practicalities of the JW Marriott pool arrangement? Sounds like a bit of a faff - collecting an invitation card etc....

SanDiego1K

I've no idea how well their system will work - but I do know I prefer staying in town instead of at by the KLIA Express, which is where the Hilton is. Le Meridien and Hilton are attached to each other. Either is brilliant for a late in, early out stay when you have an overnight between flights. But if I have a couple nights in KL, I find it bland. I would prefer to be in the more energetic city.

Shuttle-Bored

Useful to know. We've booked in at the Hilton, but the Other Half does have concerns about its location. That said, it seems to have a nice pool (guess if you're a bit further out, space isn't such a constraint!).

Maybe we're back to the Ritz-Carlton then - I get pretty reasonable corporate rates there.

Dendrite

I like Sheraton Imperial for the bigger room, almost 50 sq m, and if you get the room facing twin towers, the view is fabulous.

The location is slightly compensated with the monorail station at almost door step. BB is only 3 stations away, Chow Kit is one station away

VanMan

Just checked out of Le Meridien. The pool, shared with the Hilton, has a great new feature. A large jacuzzi, with the temperature just right...and no kids allowed!

Also, the Le Meridien has a new Italian restaurant opening, to replace the Middle Eastern one, in late November. The menu selections look pretty good and reasonably priced.

Just across the street in KL Sentral there is a no hassle taxi kiosk, with coupons that will have the driver deliver you to wherever, for a flat rate...no meter, no fuss.

bostonbali

I had a GREAT stay here last week. Upgraded to a huge, 2-room suite (xx07) at check-in. While the suite did not have a view of the Petronas towers, it was definitely a great room with plenty of floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Pavillion shopping mall as well as the local streets behind the Westin.
The room also overlooked the Marriott and the Ritz Carlton, both of which are right next door to the Westin.

The highlight of our stay was the breakfast in the Living Room. This must have been the most elaborate breakfast buffet I have ever seen.

Plenty of made-to-order warm food stations (one station for breakfast meats, including steak. Another station for Indian Rotti/curries, etc)

Just when we thought we had checked out the entire buffet area (it is spread out across the entire dining room - not just confined to one area), we discovered the Bakery.

This place looked like a high-end bakery with dozens of prepared items (quiches, breads, baked sweets, etc). All were included in the 68-ringgit buffet price (which was waived for Plats).
Just as I walked to grab the last croissant sitting on the counter, the oven beeped, and the door swung open revealing a new batch of fresh, warm croissants. Yummy!

The lounge was also quite nice, though the food options there are a bit disappointing.

All in all, it was a great stay. We had a late flight (midnight) out of KLIA, and the front desk granted us a very late checkout (6PM).

mario33

Few rooms have a view of the Petronas Towers after the 2 residential tower blocks were erected on top of Pavilion Mall.

The Westin Suite still looks good after all these years, if only they would replace those old tv sets which every other hotel in the region is doing (even the really worn Sheraton Bandara in CGK has a 42 inch plasma in the suite living room and a 37 inch in the bedroom) .None of the Westin Suite have a view of the Twin Towers.

andymo99

bostonbali, we were likely at the hotel around the same time.

I had a 2-night stay just before Xmas and then a 1-night stay just after New Year.

For the first stay, we got the same xx07 suite as you did. What a fantastic upgrade! It is a proper separate bedroom from the living/dining/work area. Floor to ceiling windows throughout. 1.5 bathrooms. As noted, the only aspect overlooked is the old-style tvs. The master bathroom is very nicely done, with an outstanding shower (great water pressure).

Platinums are invited to check in at the lounge on 33. The staff there is very gracious and accommodating. The lounge itself is nice. Food service is not notable during the day, but decent during the 530-730pm happy hour. This includes a cheese tree, a rotating hot app, a station (one day was an Indian rotti type thing, another was mini hot sandwiches, I forget the other), and a dessert. Plus open bar. (Other hours just soft drinks.)

The lounge also serves breakfast in the morning. We used this when checking out before 7am to catch a flight. Other than that, do check out the absurd buffet downstairs. It is really over the top. That bakery in the back was just icing on the cake. And everywhere you look you find something you'd missed earlier, whether it is the salads or the salmon or the cheeses. Just crazy. And comped for Plats, including those on awards (we were C&P).

They go the extra mile to recognize plats. In addition to 500 pts amenity (neither of mine have posted yet - typical) they offer choice of another gift. The first time, we took the special chocolate bar. It turned out to be white chocolate, so we exchanged it for the chocolate covered marshmallow. That too was disappointing b/c the marshmallow was strawberry (or raspberry?) flavored. Oh well, the next stay we just went with the mixed nuts.

They also press 3 garments for free upon arrival. Internet was reasonably priced at the half price level (~$10 for 24 hours).

Concierges were helpful and cheerful and patient. Somehow, a lot of the staff knew our names in pretty short order - a staple at higher end Asian properties.

Bellhops were great too. Very responsive. They also stored some things for us in the 10 days or so b/w our stays.

Location is excellent. Near a lot within walking distance, and pretty close to the monorail.

Pool is nice. There is also a sauna and gym.

C&P is a true bargain here. And they don't even mess around the unfair exchange rates.

On our second stay, for one night, there was no outstanding upgrade. But our room was fine. This was on Sunday night, just before the first business day of the New Year. I understand from a colleague who stays here frequently for work that the abundance of (Plat) consultants makes upgrades difficult in normal circumstances. I think our pre-Xmas upgrade was lucky, as most had shut down for holidays already.

Regardless, it was a great stay in a well located hotel at a great C&P value.


Oh, some comments on a/p xfer. Our first time, we arrived at the LCCT. We went to the cab stand and paid 102.10 MYR. I was too naive to realize we were paying for a "premium" car. When we returned to the LCCT a few days later, we paid 80 MYR directly to the driver of a "budget" taxi that the hotel doormen summoned for us. A few weeks later, we arrived again at the LCCT, and this time knew enough to ask for the budget taxi. The fare was 74.30 MYR. The agent tried to say we had too much baggage for the budget taxi, but relented when we pushed. We fit fine with one bag in the passenger seat. This time, we were returning to KUL (the main terminal) the next morning, and arranged directly with our driver to pick us up in the morning for 80 MYR. He was there waiting for us and I paid him a bit extra. Bus or train to Sentral is very cheap (~10 MYR), but I wouldn't want to go this route unless I had very little baggage. You then need to cab or monorail to closer to the hotel (and then walk if you monorailed).

Dendrite

Do you get free buffet as Plat? wow, I am going a trip there.

mario33

Official "airport taxi" rate from KUL (either terminal) to city centre in budget car is MYR75, while from city centre to airport it should be MYR65 (though many drivers will try to charge MYR75 for the return sector as well)

angeline77

you can choose either at the lounge or restaurant for buffet breakfast for all 3 hotels in kl.
yes, it's free! for clubroom above

andymo99

Yes, the budget taxi rate was 74.30 MYR from KUL to city. The premium taxi rate was 102.10.

You may be right that the official budget rate from city to KUL is 65. I was fine paying 80 MYR to a reliable driver who was waiting for us as promised very early in the morning.

mario33

If you are "upgraded" to a clubroom/suite, you are not entitled to the "club" level benefits at the Sheraton Imperial; your only benefit is club lounge access and breakfast is restricted to the lounge (unless they have changed their policy recently)

Only the Westin & LeMeridien give platinum the option of breakfast in their restaurants.