kcaluwae

Here some feedback on JW KL and Ren KL.

JW KL:
- Good location, pretty close to a lot of shopping centers, bukit bintang with some night life and loads of restaurants. (food courts in all the shopping malls, lot 10 (5-10 minutes walk) and jalan alor (15 minutes walk)
- Closest monorail station is a 10 minute walk (near Lot10)
- Not ideal if you're planning on travelling with luggage and want to go by public transportation
- The hotel has 13 restaurants but all are pretty expensive and you can get better food at better prices nearby
- Everybody from the staff we encountered were very professional, very helpful and very friendly all the time. From the moment we stepped in the hotel we had nothing to worry about anymore and they took care of everything. Best off all, they kept their promised, you could trust them with important things and know that it would be done. Thumbs up for their service!
- Rooms and bed are OK. Nicely decorated, free water, thee & coffee. Nice toiletries.

Ren KL:
- Location is closer to Petronas (10min walk) and closer to Monorail station.
- Further from Bukit Bintang but you could take the Monorail (2 stops) or walk (20 minutes) The hotels are not that far apart after all.
- We had breakfast here on sunday morning. Their buffet is huge. They charge 55RM which is quite expensive to local standards but the buffet is very, very, very big and includes everything: salad bar, eggs to order, all western aspects like pancakes, waffles, ... all Asian aspects: noodles, chicken curry, .... fruits, yogurt, chocolate fountain, cereals and I'm probably still forgetting a lot!
- Room was equally nice
- In the JW the room had a bath, in the Ren the room has a (rain) shower
- As a lowly Silver I was upgraded to a room on their lifestyle floor with lounge access and a fantastic view of the Petronas twin towers. Certainly a plus. I did not use their business services as much as I used them in the JW but all my contacts with the employees were certainly OK.

If I would return I would opt for the Ren.

johnaalex

Thanks for the reviews - can you give any comments on the swimming pools in both properties?

BKKLEE

I've stayed at both and would opt for the JW (except for the seating for breakfast which is the most uncomfortable seats I've had seen/used) and will be staying here again in Nov.......

JW has a small pool (was used as temporary lounge area when lounge under went refurb)..........never used the one at Ren..........

nldogbert

Wow, that was very generous of them. I have never stayed at the JW before, though i would have expected that your conclusion you would go back to the JW instead of the Ren. Is the reason because of location or quality of service/room?

How did the rental go? I just saw your question earlier, but normally it should be ok even if stopped by cops. I too always rent from Hertz when I am in Malaysia, though experience can be a hit or miss. Compared to Avis, a much better experience from car maintenance point of view, though still a rip off from value aspect. [I was told by both companies, that they only start swapping cars after 6-7 years of usage!!]

kcaluwae

Sorry, I cannot give any info about the swimming pools or fitness. Haven't used it in these hotels.

Did not take bfast at the JW. The temptations restaurant we used for bfast at the Ren was quite noisy as well and the seats were rather basic. (but the bfast itself was really good! :-))

Why do you prefer the JW above the Ren?

The plusses for the Ren for me were the generous upgrade we received. I think it's a little bit cheaper as well compared to the JW and the service seems to me to be equally good compared to the JW.

The car we received was OK. (50000km, 3 or 4yrs old)
We rented the car at Kota Bharu and returned it at KLIA. The pick-up at Kota Bharu took almost 2 hours....
The reservation we made was from 10AM and we arrived at Kota Bharu airport a quarter to 10 to notice that nobody was at the Hertz counter. Some minutes past 10 we asked the neighbors of Hawk and J&W if they knew were the Hertz people were. They went looking for them at the car park and a few minutes later we could get started.
For a reason unknown to me they seem to have to copy the whole reservation in another system. At one point he even asked me the paper copy of the reservation I brought with me to check what rate I had...
After something like 40 minutes he asked for the credit card. My card was not working. I had used it somewhere else before so I knew it should work. I asked if he could do it manually but he refused. A few phone calls later he told me they had a new terminal and the programming of this new terminal was not yet finished. It took one more hour to program the terminal. Around noon we finally drove off with the car. During that period Hawk had rented 2 or 3 cars to people that didn't have a reservation.... Never before had such a bad experience with Hertz. (this really was not "travel with the speed of Hertz" )
Unfortunately that same evening somebody has driven into our car whilst it was parked along the road. This rental seems a bit doomed for me.
Just today I received the invoice for the cost of the car repairs.
It seems the people at KLIA handle it really professionally. (I was a bit afraid after my experience at Kota Bharu)

BKKLEE

pluses:
- have been pre-arrival upgraded to a suite each time (5 so far) we've stayed here (but knowing the Rms Mgr may be part of this perk)
- lounge offerings in the evening are very good as is "high tea" in the afternoon
- location of shopping and restaurants, like Pavillion, across the street
- monorail not very convenient if lugging baggage so "forces" me to take a taxi to airport which is not expensive and easier on my (bad) back
- Malaysian friends dropping by find it easy to drive to and park at JW then anywhere near Petronas (where they work)

minuses:
- basement restaurant chairs (for breakfast) are the worst
- small pool

Note: if we're coming to KL to do "heavy" shopping I prefer Hilton Central Station as easy to roll the bags onto Arpt Express

Dolphinyong

Glad that you enjoy Malaysia

It's very generous of them to upgrade your room to a room with lounge access

Just wonder, anyone has experience on both jw and Ren lounge recently? How would you compare these 2?

I only stayed at the jw and took their breakfast as platinum in the restaurant, and I'm dare to say that they serve the best breakfast I have ever had across Europe and Asia. Maybe someone could compare it with the breakfast in Ren if anyone experience both?

Would love to know that since we are planning to have a stay at jw soon

soy

Will be at the JW for a couple of nights at the end of our SE-Asia trip. we have 2 kids, just turned 2&4 yrs. Some questions about the JW;

Will I be able to bring the kids into the lounge (before anyone mentions it, we will leave immediately if they are misbehaving and would only be there for 30-60mins) ?
What hours are evening drinks and canapes?
What hours for breakfast?

Anyone know an email address for the JW. I found one for the owner (YTL hotels) but did not get any response

seville

Hi

I'd switch to the Ren - far better for the kids and spectacular pool v JWs tiny thing!

BKKLEE

just completed another 3-night stay at the JW Kuala Lumpur....

once again upgraded to a jr. suite........lounge offering of high-tea and cold/hot snacks in the evening are substantial (we passed on dinner the first night)..........plats (don't know if also Gs) offered breakfast in lounge or breakfast restaurant......lounge set to be renovated in next few months with couches being replaced by more tables/chairs........next renovation due to be in breakfast restaurant (temporary rest to be opened in lobby)......4PM checkout granted w/o any problem.......

Pavillion Mall across the street expanded to the point of passing on Mid Valley as Pavillion has sufficient # of shops........Din Tai Fung now on 6th fl offering Taiwan dim-sum.......

will be returning here next year.........

SkyTeam777

How do people feel about the Ritz-Carlton in KL? I am confused since they do not have a dedicated club floor lounge. Instead, it says you go to the Library Lounge? Is that basically the lobby lounge? or is it reserved only for club level guests?

BKKLEE

if an exec lounge is important to you, just stay at the next-door JW......

Time traveller

I had a recent stay at the Ren KL. They have two wings, the East and West. Taxi dropped me off at the West Wing and the front desk directed me to check in at the Concierge Lounge. The décor in the West Wing is more traditional, but I got upgraded to a suite with a nice view of the KL Tower, but also a view of construction from the building across the street from the Renaissance. I later found out the East Wing has more modern décor and has been more recently renovated and has a view of the Petronas Towers. I found the West Wing to have an old world charm to it and the lounge attendants were very friendly. I was happy with the suite upgrade in the West Wing though.

The Renaissance is close walking distance to both the monorail and the subway. You can also walk to the Petronas Towers, but not a pleasant walk with the heat and humidity.

SkyTeam777

So there is no exec lounge at the Ritz? Im confused what the Library Lounge is?

BKKLEE

it's their lounge IF you have a suite, but no access if you just have a std room (and no access for Marriott G/Ps).............. but just next door the JW provides access to their lounge to all G/Ps with full bar and great apps served...........