Rommie2k6

I'm a foodie, and want to take a trip to KL. I'm using points, and trying to use as little as possible

Cat 2 (12,500 pts):
- Sheraton KL
- Renaissance KL

Cat 3 (17,500 pts)
- JW Marriott
- Hotel Stripes (AC Collection)
- Majestic (AC Collection)
- Le Meredien
- Westin KL

I also have Plat Premier status. Any recommendations on which restaurant will have best lounge food, or even better breakfast buffet, and also evening food? I don't expect to pay for any of that with Plat Premier. Also, not into Western food, I want to eat Malaysian food. Thanks!

Nazdoom

I was much more impressed with JW KL than Renaissance. JW serves tapa style food (amuse bouche sized plates with 5 or so different dishes and a made to order station) but Ren is more buffet style (lower quality, easier to eat a lot, less booze). Things were hit or miss, such as a mini "mushroom pizza" which was marinara sauce and cheese baked on top of half a mushroom (no dough). Note, Ren can have some very cheap rates (I paid 60 USD and also received 8pm checkout) so may be worth paying cash over points if going there.

JW is in the tourist area of town (looks a bit like Vegas strip or Hong Kong's TST) while Ren gave me a lovely KL Tower view from my bed with otherwise limited things to go to within walking distance. Both serve largely intl dishes, although JW breakfast had many local / indian options. Stay away from the beef bacon.

EuropeanPete

HollyGlen

Le Meridien offers the best and most generous breakfast buffet and evening lounge food in KL, bar none. In fact, it has the most generous lounge offering I have come across in the SPG / Marriott system. The evening lounge offering rotates daily, so you will get Chinese, Indian, Italian, Malay and others, depending on what day of the week you are there. The JWM is more generous than the Westin, but both fall short of the LM.

If you don't score an upgrade, however, the rooms are among the smallest by KL standards, and it sounds like you are planning to hang out at the hotel a bit. If space is important to you, the Westin, JW and Sheraton have far bigger rooms (I haven't stayed at the others on your list).

As @EuropeanPete said, I recommend that you venture further afield, as there is a lot of good food available in KL.

If you are planning on restricting yourself to within a walking distance's radius of your hotel, your best choices would be the Sheraton and the JWM / Westin (which are next to each other). There are excellent hawker choices (and a lot of them!), in air-conditioned comfort, in Lot 10 Hutong just by the Westin and JWM. Sheraton and the Stripes are by "the Row" and a bunch of old school local eateries in the neighbourhood bordered by Jalan Dang Wangi and Jalan Raja Abdullah. Some of them, such as the very famous Yut Kee, jumped the shark years ago but still manage to attract a healthy queue every weekday lunchtime. KL Sentral, where the LM and the Aloft are located, is a foodie wasteland.

If you are open to leaving KL and exploring the scene in dynamic emerging townships such as TTDI, Damansara, Petaling Jaya, etc., KL Sentral is your best possible base as it is located on the edge of the city boundary, meaning it's easy to get a Grab (our local equivalent of Uber) out of there without getting stuck in a massive traffic jam trying to get out of the CBD (where the Sheraton / Stripes, Westin / JWM and Renaissance are located).

hockeyinsider

At least for breakfast, all of the properties have lower quality offerings. Not necessarily bad, but not high quality ingredients. It's probably more a reflection of what's available in Kuala Lumpur. The J.W. Marriott's food was marginally better than the Renaissance, but if you like Malaysian food then go to the various food trucks and street markets within walking distance of the J.W. Marriott. There wasn't much around the Renaissance, outside of restaurants in the mall at the Petronas twin towers.

hockeyinsider

Almost all of the hotels, with the exception of the J.W. Marriott and the Ritz-Carlton properties (managed by the same franchisee, YTL Hotels), have low cash rates that may be a better value than points. In August and September 2017 I stayed for nearly two weeks at the Renaissance and a week at the J.W. Marriott with a night in-between at the Majestic.

The Renaissance, which unlike most of the hotels in Kuala Lumpur is managed by Marriott, was just a weird hotel because originally it was two distinct hotels, akin to the Moana Westin Surfrider in Honolulu. Each tower was completely different. Renovations should be almost done by now, if they aren't already finished. I'd be curious to see what they've done with the separate lobbies and the hallways that connect them.

The breakfast at the Renaissance was buffet and low quality. They definitely believe in quantity over quality. I didn't think the buffet breakfast at the J.W. Marriott was any higher quality, though it was more extensive and had more non-Western options. Alcohol at the Renaissance was absurdly priced. I know hotels make their money on booze, but spending more for alcohol than your nightly room rate is a first for me. It was so expensive that in two weeks staying there I only saw 3-4 guests ever drink at the lobby bar, which a couple nights per week had decent entertainment. I felt sorry for the bartenders as they had nothing to do.

I think the renovated rooms at the J.W. Marriott are better, though when I stayed there they didn't renovate the bathroom in the top-floor suite. Housekeeping at the Renaissance had issues. They ran out of towels some days. Other days things weren't restocked. Management seemed to know about this because there were other complaints about the same issues on TripAdvisor.

The executive lounge staff at both properties were equally good. All of the staff after a day or so tried their best to know your name and remember what you like to drink. My glass was never empty. The J.W. Marriott was slightly more generous with alcohol, including self-serve if I remember correctly.

The Renaissance had an awesome pool, supposedly the biggest hotel pool in Malaysia. You could definitely sunbathe there. The J.W. Marriott pool was closed when I was there and guests were redirected to the Ritz-Carlton pool, which was pathetic. Not only doesn't it get any sunshine, but it was pathetically small.

The J.W. Marriott is in the center of action. (The Westin and Ritz-Carlton are neighbors.) The Renaissance is a little more isolated, but it's still an easy walk to the Petronas Towers, which has a big shopping mall and quite a few restaurants. I will say the J.W. Marriott's location was somewhat off-putting because of the street prostitution. I didn't see any of that by the Renaissance whereas it was all over the areas near the J.W. Marriott with the food trucks and street food vendors. It's one thing to see a bawdy houses doing business as a massage parlor. It's something else to be aggressively pitched by a couple dozen women.

Most of the Renaissance guests stayed for 1-2 nights whereas the J.W. Marriott had guests who stayed for a week, for what it's worth.

xyicah

Hi all -

I'm planning a trip to KL soon and wanted to know if there was a clear "best Marriott hotel" in the KL area. I'm a Premier Plat + Ambassador with ~1M points and will be staying on points. I prefer luxury hotels, but prioritize service and "feel" to any particular brand proposition. I've looked at the St. Regis, Ritz-Carlton, JW Marriott, Le Meridien, Renaissance, but all of the hotels seem to be pretty similar value at their respective price points.

From what I've gathered, the Le Meridien is at a sweet spot in its cost, but standard rooms are smaller; the JW Marriott is similar to the Ritz-Carlton, but at a lower overall price point; and the St. Regis isn't worth the cost, even if it's the newest. I've read the respective hotel threads, but would love any perspectives comparing the options if people have stayed at multiple properties.

Thank you!

samosa

fl1ger

hockeyinsider

Well, it helps to have an incredibly cheap labor cost. Hotels in Malaysia can offer to staff up to the levels that a comparable hotel of the same brand in North America or Europe could never afford.

Also, there is no stigma working in service and hospitality in Asia. In fact, working at a big, internationally branded hotel isn't just a career, as opposed a "job," but it's an opportunity for a brighter future.

margarita girl

Could not find a master thread for either of these properties, so email addresses added to the wiki here.

happygolucky_nomad

I just checked out from JW Marriott K.L. 3 days ago. Was upgraded to a suite as a Platinum Premier. We were ushered into the club lounge at 10 AM but the suite was not ready. We were asked to wait in the club lounge for 1 hour as the suite would be ready by 11 AM.

Was invited to have breakfast in the lounge but we did not take up the invitation since we were not hungry.

Great attitude and service from the staffs in the club lounge and the guy who did the check in for us. He came over and passed us the room keys exactly at 11 AM while we were relaxing in the club lounge and even apologised for not being able to give us the suite earlier.

Someone even called us in the afternoon to ask whether there is anything we require.

Overall, a good stay.

Happy

helvetic

I imagine JW isn't worth a 2x premium over LM, Ren, Majestic? Ritz is also at 2x — but I'm not a fan of Ritzes. St. Regis and W are absurd.

helvetic

Ren it is. Looks quite impressive and the price can't be beat. The St. Regis came down quite a bit using my corp code but I honestly think it'd be wasted on me this trip

hockeyinsider

The J.W. Marriott is nice, but not for 2 times more per night.

The Renaissance always has great rates.

Let us know about the Renaissance, especially the lounge offerings. The renovations should be 100% done by now. Supposedly, the complimentary wine in the lounge now includes a sparkling wine.

You could always do one night at The Majestic, Autograph Collection just to say you stayed there.