hockeyinsider

Yeah. It's a close walk. Waiting to cross the street is probably longer than the walk itself. I think my only complaint would be if I had luggage. I'd hope the hotel would offer a porter to assist me in carrying it to the train station.

I know when I stayed here in September one of the porters was very, very good about carrying my luggage from the main entrance all the way to the old colonial entrance --which isn't easy as it involves stairs -- as the Uber driver went to the wrong pick-up location.

quant88

I stayed here in May and liked the hotel quite a bit other than the location. Good value if the location works for you although inconvenient for most public transit. Even walking to the nearby attractions like the Lake Gardens or Muzium Negara is unpleasant due to heat and hill.

KL Sentral is not the same as the KL station that is next to the Majestic. The Kelana Jaya LRT line stops at KL Sentral and then Pasar Seni. I think Pasar Seni and KL station are connected and once I managed to walk from Pasar Seni to the hotel through KL station although I'm not sure that is actually allowed and it's a bit of a walk.

According to google maps you should be able to walk to KL Sentral in 15-20 minutes but you have to cross at Jalan Sultan Sulaman and can't cross if you walk towards Muzium Negara.

barracuda93

Not interested in African ones, what about local Chinese though? I will be staying at Majestic in the end of month and likely alone, so will look for some nice company LOL.

barracuda93

JW is simply hugely overpriced, and almost any time can be BRGed. Ren, Majestic and Stripes prices seem to be more in line with the market (and less chance for BRG).

hockeyinsider

BRG?

Srisarin

hockeyinsider

I'm not an acronym-kind-of-guy.

wantan

read that this hotel has an Executive/Club Lounge ? Anyone has experience as Marriott Gold on upgrades and if the Lounge is any good ?

Srisarin

barracuda93

Lounge is barely existing. Choice of alcohol is pathetic. Tea with sweets is okay.

Yes, I had been upgraded as a Gold there, though it was not smooth and involved a talk to GR manager. Suites are outstanding.

quant88

I stayed as a gold last year and got upgraded to a junior suite.

CJKatl

The lounge is very different than other lounges. If you are looking to linger in a large comfortable room eating bogs or finger foods while you take in sweeping views, stay at the Ren. If you are looking to stay in a historic cool property in a nice room, you will have to accept the small, ground floor CL where you order your food from a limited menu and from a server who may not be so great. I love the Majestic, but the lounge is not its strength.

barracuda93

Oh yeah, they are pretty much the opposite of each other. Ren has amazing lounge offerings and convenient location, but rooms are Holiday Inn type, even Executive (haven't stayed in suite there, no comments). Majestic has great suites (stayed in Governor suite, but seen lowers cat. rooms too), but pathetic lounge and middle-of-nowhere location.

CJKatl

My room at the Majestic was the Presidential Suite in the new tower. It was one of the nicest rooms at any Marriott family hotel. It was a huge, two room suite on a corner with nice views and a great master bath and second bath in the living area. My room at the Ren was a high floor room with a view of Towers. I had to walk up two flights to get to the lounge food. IIRC the lounge in that tower was two floors but most of the food was on the top floor of the lounge. While it was one room, there was a work area in a very large alcove and there was a very nice bathroom. The room was very nice. I went to the other tower later that evening to check out the old school lounge and wound up riding up the elevator with someone from the hotel. He asked if I wanted to see their Presidential Suite. It was like an elegant, large apartment. IIRC there may have actually been a piano in the suite. While I doubt they would give the room to anyone as an UG, it was spectacular.

On the flight into KL when I was at the Ren I was seated in a row with two twenty-something English recent university grad backpackers who had been traveling at least six weeks already. They were staying at a hostel near the Ren so they rode into town in my taxi. When we pulled into the hotel and were asked which tower, they were amazed that there were two towers. They asked if they could come over the next morning to take showers. When they did, they proclaimed the Ren room had the nicest bathroom they had ever seen. The one kid's parents emailed me after to thank me. The mom told me the kid had actually sent her pictures. And I asked the housekeepers to clean the bathroom a second time and tipped them accordingly in case anyone is concerned about that.

As for the Majestic's location I was able to walk to Chinatown. A big plus is that it's close to Sentral Station. It's easy to take the train from the airport and hop on the free shuttle to the hotel and back. Many employees depend on the shuttle so it runs like clockwork.

hockeyinsider

I wouldn't call the Renaissance a hotel with Holiday Inn-esque rooms. I've stayed in the new rooms since the renovation. They're in keeping with what Marriott is doing across the Marriott and Renaissance brands as properties are renovated.

I've stayed at the Renaissance, J.W. Marriott and The Majestic.

I would pick the J.W. Marriott for the lounge and location. The open bar service and hours were more extensive in September 2017 than at the Renaissance, but I've heard the Renaissance is improving its offerings. I thought the presentation of the food at the J.W. Marriott's lounge was better -- and maybe slightly higher quality -- but I think the offerings were more substantial at the Renaissance, especially if you were looking to have dinner. Unlike the Renaissance, there is always a chef in the lounge at the J.W. Marriott. The chef will make you anything you want, should you have a dietary conflict with whatever is being served. Once the Renaissance is fully renovated I think it will be a close call between it and the J.W. Marriott, especially since the Renaissance lounge has cityscape views. The J.W. Marriott lounge is kind of small and is in a windowless room, much like the J.W. Marriott Grosvenor House in London but without the lighting and extra space. It was very crowded at peak times.

Outside of the lounges, I thought there were a lot of little issues with the Renaissance. For example, housekeeping would some days run out of hand towels or face towels. Other days I would get two bottles of shampoo but no bottles of conditioner. Things like that. Prices for alcohol in the Renaissance's West Tower lobby bar were absurd. Like really, really expensive -- not just by Malaysian standards, but by U.S. standards. I never paid for a drink at the J.W. Marriott because the open bar in the lounge ran much longer.

Staff at the J.W. Marriott and Renaissance are equally good. I can't say enough good things about them. They were professional, spoke fluent English, and always delivered when I asked for something.

I liked that The Majestic had some of the amenities that you'd find in an old school hotel -- like stationary with the hotel's name on it -- and I also liked some of the extra amenities -- the old school gentlemen's club and even barber shop -- but I was a little disappointed. Maintenance was lacking in some places. For example, some of the areas of the old wing needed new paint. My bathroom needed new tile or a good tile regrouting. I think it was a good value for the price, but I don't think it lived up to the expectations. This is always a problem at grand old hotels, especially when they've built a modern annex. It's very seldom that the modern annex and old heritage wing blend together seamlessly.

For what it's worth, the Renaissance is managed by Marriott International whereas the J.W. Marriott and The Majestic are managed by YTL Hotels. I believe YTL also manages the Ritz-Carlton, which is semi-connected to the J.W. Marriott.