A Stay at the Le Meridien Putrajaya on Its 6th Day of Operation

Lobby Area

Latitude

Lift lobby area

Check-in was straightforward. Staff to guest ratio is quite high (new opening). I called ahead to check if they were operating the suites yet and was FD was able to block one for me (x13, L shaped). A lot of the staff were transferred in from Four Points Puchong.

Atelier Suite Living Room

Atelier Suite Bedroom/Bathroom

Atelier Suite Desk

As noted by theaccesscard, the furniture/finishings is definietely of noticably lower grade, similar to Le Meridien Survanabumi.

The suite offers a half bathroom near the entrance, a smaller than usual living area (probably due to the weird L shape).

Latest Recipe Entrance

Latest Recipe Buffet Area

Latest Recipe Buffet/Dining Area

Latest Recipe Dining Area

Le Mei Entrance

Le Mei Dining Area

Le Mei Private Room

This Le Meridien only has two restaurants - Latest Recipe and Le Mei. Bamboo Chic, Favola and other Le Meridien usuals are missing. According to one of the hotel associates, Le Mei is a Chinese/Cantonese restaurant that is new to Le Meridien - a creation of this particular property's owner. A little strange.

Le Meridien Putrajaya Foyer Escalators

Le Meridien Main Event Hall Space

Le Meridien Putrajaya Florist

Le Meridien Putrajaya Wedding Planners

A lot of space is given to event hall spaces. The hotel management probably expects this to be a revenue driver given the sets of dedicated escalators to the 2nd and 3rd levels, plus a space dedicated to wedding planning!

Le Meridien Putrajaya Swimming Pool

The pool is 'open' in a sense that the water is safe to swim in and there's a trolley of towels nearby. According to a friendly associate (who's supposed to work in the Kid's Club - opening soon!) they've ordered the deck chairs and are waiting for their arrival.

Construction work was still ongoing and it seems like they're quickly putting together the finishing touches on an adjacent bar to the pool, as well as the event spaces and meeting halls on the 2nd and 3rd levels.

Le Meridien Putrajaya Gym

The gym is 'open' 24hrs.

Considering the staff to guest ratio is at times being 5:1, it gets a little overwhemling because the eagerness becomes a little much. I'm generally chatty, but could see some of the other no-nonsense Six Sigma types being annoyed.

But even so, there were minor missteps and hiccups. Once the property sees more volume I predict will be a lot more apparent if the staff aren't actively brought up to speed. My hopes are high for this property though. Where there were mistakes made, managers were quick to react and train.

The hotel is situated at a corner of Putrajaya that isn't exactly near the main ERL station. That makes getting to the hotel a little difficult from KLIA. There's a shuttle service to a local KTM station (Serdang) run by the adjacent mall, but I suspect most guests wouldn't consider KTM an option.

Uber works very well, the hotel and its surrounding premises is clearly marked.

The hotel is connected to a huge shopping mall and is part of a larger development by IOI, called "IOI Resort City". The attached mall (IOI City Mall http://www.ioicitymall.com.my/) has a huge cinema with latest "motion seats", a bowling alley and a ice rink.

In lieu of the club lounge access (ready by end September), Platinum members are offered free access to Latest Recipe's dinner buffet (worth RM128++) until 10:30pm. This is quite a nice perk as most Plat evening benefits end at 8 or 9. Breakfast is offered from 6:30am to 10:30am, also at Latest Recipe.

The wide array of dishes both local and international is overwhemling. Even at 10pm when I stepped in, most of the food present on the various buffet islands were unfresh and untouched probably due to the low number of guests.

During this 'soft opening' period the hotel did pretty well considering it was the 6th day of operation. There were no major hiccups and every member of the staff I spoke to were professional and very familiar with Starwood and SPG. Effort was made to acknowledge loyalty.

At RM340 or 4000 starpoints this was an absolute bargain.