Check In

Checkin is on the fortieth floor and was the usual flurry of paperwork you get in Asia. I was on a prepaid rate and also left a 200 MYR deposit for incidentals.

I was luckily upgraded to a one bedroom suite and took the pints rather than breakfast. And here was the first area of penny pinching, an Element hotel that doesn’t offer the brand standard free breakfast.

Room

Looks can be deceiving!

First impression, what a great apartment with all the mod cons and even a heavenly bed. But on closer inspection, some things were missing.

My room had a coffee capsule machine, with the wrong power plug, to get it to work someone had used a plastic adaptor which offered no ground which was the standard for Malaysia. The hotel also supplied capsules in two varieties, but just one of each, too bad if you liked one variety and wanted two cups.

Speaking of cups, two coffee mugs and two spoons were the entire fit out for the apartment. No knives, forks, spoons or even plates. I enjoyed my duty free wine in my coffee mug. No glasses either, be it in the kitchen or bathroom.

Guest Laundry

One of the unexpected bonuses was the inclusion of a guest laundry in the hotel. As I had been traveling two weeks, it was great to wash at my leisure. Of course this facility like many thinks in the hotel has not really been thought through, its 10 MYR per wash or dry which requires 20 coins! Maybe tokens might be an idea next time.

On the positive side, good use of technology to overcome the need for detergent and fabric softener, although the room could do with a bin.

Pool

Situated on a level just below reception, along with the gym and aforementioned guest laundry. While lacking the ambience of a tropical outdoor setting, being high in the sky and indoors, it’s still a nice space, with very tall ceilings.

Wellness, or walletness

Given the brand is focused on wellness and looking after yourself, I was intrigued by the promotions, they seemed more focused on my wallet than my waist. Had I been there on the weekend, I could have had 2 hours of unlimited drinks (illegal as a promotion in Australia, but of course I wasn’t in Australia) for a small sum!

Dining

I was contemplating room service, but it appeared to involve actually ringing a local number rather than a single digit dial, so I headed to the restaurant.

Was I glad I did. 

As a rule, I avoid western style dishes in Asia, but the specials made that hard:

For $20USD I could get steak, cheesecake and a beer, sold. And I would have to say it was one of the best steaks I have ever had. To me the restaurant was a real winner, if the food they have across the board is up to the quality and pricing of my dinner, they should be doing very well, sadly there where only three other diners while I was there, which was a Monday night.

I also found the the decor very nice, and despite being in the lobby area with high ceilings, the ambience was good as well.

Location

The hotel is located in a mostly office/residential area, across the road you will find the Intercontiental and just up the road is Ampang Park train station, an easy 5 minute walk. For my visit Ampang Park shopping centre was still open with its interesting stalls as well as fast food options, but many stores are closing as the centre is to be demolished.

Overall

This hotel has so much unrealised potential, it’s almost like the intentions were good but the money ran out near completion.

Giving you top shelf appliances then expecting you to call room service for plates etc suggests to me they are trying to drive people to use the restaurant, and save house keeping timewise.

While it may seem I am nit picking, I really want to relax and have everything at hand to use the facilities I have without having to pickup a phone to call someone. And I like more than one cup of coffee, preferably with milk.

This hotel is great value for the 345MYR I paid, but I bet it could get more if it just stopped the stingyness, adopted brand standard free breakfast and had glasses in the room, along with the odd plates and maybe even some basic cooking gear.