Else Kuala Lumpur
 

Recently stayed at my first Mr. and Mrs. Smith hotel. I booked a nonrefundable rate for 2 nights via the World of Hyatt app for the Else Kuala Lumpur. Extremely extremely impressed overall with my stay. I am a Globalist.

My rate included breakfast, although this was the only option on the Hyatt app. Not sure if I would've received breakfast otherwise- probably not.
I was upgraded to the beautiful 70sqm "Sutera Suite." The base rooms at this hotel are 25sqm and go up from there... I think category wise, this represented a 3 or 4 category upgrade.

The hotel itself is located in the Lee Rubber Building, a historical landmark from the 1920s which was (at only 4 floors) the tallest building in KL at some point. The hotel did a complete renovation of the inside of the hotel and added a couple more stories at the top where the rooms with balconies are located. The result is some of the most aesthetically pleasing designed city hotels I've ever stayed at. The hotel is located in Chinatown, walking distance from many restaurants. If I had to give a fault to the hotel, it would be the location as I personally do not like Chinatown. If you do however, this is literally the perfect place to stay.

I was initially hesitant to stay at this hotel as just a week prior I had come from staying at the 21 Carpenter, a similar type of hotel in Singapore: an old building converted to a boutique hotel. They are a part of the Design Hotels chain/Marriott Bonvoy. At the 21 Carpenter, the rooms were dirty (insects in the room, both dead and alive) and tiny, the service was extremely curt, and breakfast was not included nor was I given any acknowledgement of my Bonvoy status. In contrast, the Else KL is what every boutique hotel should strive to be like.

Some other notes about the hotel:

• There is a rooftop pool overlooking KL tower. There is also a high-end restaurant which has great reviews called Yellow Fin Horse- I did not dine here, but expect to spend around 250 MYR per person. Looked fantastic and was lively when I passed by one evening.
• Some unique features include common spaces on each floor. This includes a Library with a meeting room, a "Living Room", and a gym with "Floatation Pods" available for a fee (100 MYR / 60 min). The common areas (besides the gym of course) are designed for guests to be able to have a place to bring a laptop to do some work or read a book. I loved these extra touches.
• Breakfast is fine, no buffet just an a la carte menu with slightly limited choices. You are limited to one starter, entree, and drink.
• Service was relatively fantastic here- in general better than any hotel I've stayed at in KL. Not the best benchmark, but still.
• This is a boutique hotel with 49 rooms total.
• In the suites, toiletries are Aesop. Otherwise, they are a local brand.

You may want to create a new review thread for this property rather than post here in this thread for generic M&MS posts, where it will soon get lost.

[Mod note: now split off into a separate thread]

Booked a night on the strength of this review. Looking forward to my stay next week and will post some pictures.

I did 2 one-night stays here recently - one in a 2nd category room, and one in a 3rd. Pleasantly surprised. There are some few quirks here and there, but overall this is a solid boutique property.

Next time I will try the suite. The toiletries scent in the typical rooms reminds me of airport bathroom cleaners. Eek.

Just checked in, so first impressions:

Good:
- The design and aesthetic is certainly on point
- A lot of the stuff they use in the room are good, eg mattress is comfortable and hairdryer is a Dyson.

Not so good:
- 0 Globalist recognition, multiple higher rooms available but no upgrade given for a 1 night stay. Might've gotten the worse view too although can't be sure.
- Hallway leading to rooms is open air (?), or at least not air conditioned. Elevator is also not air conditioned. Not fun if you are pulling big luggages

Depends:
- People taking instagram pictures here and there. Great if you are an influencer, but maybe not so great for everyone else
- Never been to this part of town but not a big fan of it. Penrose is nearby though, one of the top 50 Asia bar.

I'll probably stick to a less hip option next time like FS or GH. Looking forward to the new PH.

Staying as Hilton Diamond next week, assuming I will get breakfast as a benefit makes it cheaper booking via Hilton.com than direct ? (same price showing)

apart from Penrose is there any other "must try" F&B nearby ?

Since you're presumably asking about this as a SLH property now associated with Hilton, it should probably be asked here ...

Small Luxury Hotels (SLH) - FlyerTalk Forums

Oy, is this property bookable both through Hyatt/MMS and Hilton/SLH?

Yes

Design is unique, reminded me of boutique hotels in Paris (small spaces but lots of frilly details).

Service was lackluster, whereby staff were engaging but not actually helpful. For instance, when I was dropped off (there is no covered drop off btw) it was pouring, and there was 2 staff members at the door. I was expecting someone to come with an umbrella ... but nothing. Ended up soaked retreiving my bags from the boot and walking in just for them to pull the doors open and "Welcome". I did ask if there was an umbrella I could borrow to which the reply was I could find my own in the room.

Check in was 1 level up, with all levels accessible by lift (at least no suprises there). Seem to only have 1 check in check/agent using a tablet but not an issue since I was the only guest there. Offered a cold welcome drink (again, for a boutique hotel some would give a cold drink during hot weather and vice versa) check in was quick but no mention of being Hilton Diamond nor room upgrade. Asked if my Honors number was on file (roundabout way to fish for an upgrade) and the agent probably got it as she said "yes, and we're really full today...." .Was given a drink token to use at Yellow Fin Horse after 530pm (redeems a Gin cocktail).

Went up to the room on Level 3 (booked basic) and it was certainly tiny. Website states 25 sqm but I think mine was less than 20 sqm. Did some exploring and ended up at Unwind (next to Yellow Fin Horse) which had glasses of wine for RM30 (only 1 choice of white or red). Apparently there is no standard house pour and it changes daily. Thereafter made my way to redeem my Welcome Drink and had a light dinner at Yellow Fin Horse.

Came back to the room to find they had a turn down service, and the mini bar was replinished which was a generous touch. Glassware could do with a better clean however.

Not sure if it was just my room, but was intermittendly woken up by street noise. I'm not a light sleeper so this would definitely be an issue that strangely is not reflected in the reviews I read before booking. Requested a room change at 3am but was only gotten back at 6am telling me there were no other rooms and I could have a "1pm check out" instead. Hmmmm ... was planing to be out by 9am. Decided to just head for breakfast which is ala carte. Nothing outstanding and tastes about the same as any other Hilton Buffet but plated fancy

At 20k points, it's an interesting option to try once. But on cash rate of RM600, the DoubleTree or Hilton KL is a no brainer. Not inclined to return mostly due to the noise issue.


https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...262c334928.jpg
Yellow Fin Horse, Scallop and Caviar
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...026f9d50bc.jpg
Weather card during turn down. Strange they would know it would be raining yet not train staff on getting guests umbrellas at the drop off
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...aafe42733d.jpg
Mini furniture in a mini room
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...8e0d1877f5.jpg
Can imagine why this would be difficult to clean. Can't imagine why one would use it for a hotel room glass.

Isn't this Hotel being managed By M&MS/Hyatt? What has Hilton Diamond got to do with it?

No, this is an independent property, MMS & SLH are marketing platforms - they don't do management, and Hyatt & Hilton are just OTAs.

No more part of MMS?
 

The listing seems to have disappeared from the Hyatt platform ..

It's on Marriott (Design Hotels) and Hilton (Small Luxury Hotels).

No recognition of status either way.

It's no longer on the Hyatt app but is still on its own at the MMS website.

https://www.mrandmrssmith.com/luxury...e-kuala-lumpur