True Waldorf Service? Not quite yet

The legendary Waldorf Astoria brand made its long-awaited debut in Kuwait on August 24th, 2022, and being an avid follower of the brand and its illustrious history, I wanted to be one of the first to check it out. I booked a one-night staycation on the first weekend post-opening, and went in with high expectations.

Waldorf Astoria Kuwait is located at the Avenues, the largest shopping mall in Kuwait and a full-fledged leisure and entertainment destination unto itself. With a direct connection to over 1000 stores, a diverse selection of restaurants and themed indoor zones [i.e. an old souk, a marble-clad and glittering section for designer brands, an area inspired by SoHo in New York City] at a guest’s disposal, the Waldorf Astoria makes for an ideal, shopping-heavy weekend escape.

The hotel’s greater location, however, isn’t particularly ideal: the Avenues development encompassing the Waldorf Astoria and Hilton Garden Inn on the other side of the mall is bordered by industrial garages and car dealerships on one side and the Fifth Ring Road, a major multi-lane highway, on the other. This means that walking outdoors is all but impossible as there is nowhere to walk to, let alone in pedestrian-unfriendly Kuwait, and the views from the hotel will either overlook the highway itself or the roof of the mall with the Kuwait City skyline in the distance. Any sights and workplaces will need to be accessed by car from the hotel, as public transportation like buses and metro lines either do not function properly or exist outright.

Due to the mall having a single point of entry from the Fifth Ring Road, traffic into the mall and hotel can be intense and noisy; there is currently construction going on outside and around the hotel to build new bridges and flyovers to ease congestion, but note that this results in reduced view quality and tightened roadways into the mall until the construction wraps up in one or two years.

Kuwait International Airport is 15 minutes away by car and Kuwait City 20 minutes away, but note that these trip times can extend dramatically due to the aforementioned heavy traffic into and around the mall.

Upon pulling into the porte cochère following a barrier crossing and staff verifying if you were a staying guest or dining visitor, a team of friendly valet agents greeted us, unloaded our bags and welcomed us to the property. When one of the team members noticed that I was taking a photo of my mother next to the entrance sign, he energetically offered to take our picture together, and took several good ones.

Entering the marble-heavy lobby, one is immediately greeted by the signature Waldorf Astoria clock, inspired by the original property in New York and each tailored to a respective hotel’s destination; as such, the clock at Waldorf Astoria Kuwait is inspired by the way that Kuwaiti sailors used to look to the stars and planets for navigation, with multicolor glass orbs suspended in a glass sphere representing this tradition. Above the clock is an atrium spanning the nine floor height of the building, while gold detailing and dark furniture filled the lobby. This is without doubt a luxurious space, with themes harkening back to 1930s, Art Deco New York - the era of Waldorf Astoria New York’s debut.

The three reception desks are located to the right of the entrance, and we were guided to one of the desks to start checking in while an associate at a hospitality desk to the right prepared two sparkling [non-alcoholic - this is dry Kuwait, after all] welcome drinks for us. The check in experience was, in total honesty, very underwhelming and below par for several reasons:

• Hilton makes a point about the Waldorf experience covering everything from pre-arrival to departure, but I did not receive any pre-arrival emails or any form of contact.
• I called the hotel the day before to ask about the possibility of a suite upgrade as a Hilton Honors Diamond member, and was assured I would receive a call back before the end of the day about it. I did not.
• I checked in online and selected a room via the Hilton Honors app, with the promise of an upgrade subject to availability at check in. The details around my eventual upgrade are below, but I was only offered the room I selected.
• There was no genuine hospitality from the front desk agent; she was polite, but her interactions were almost programmed and rehearsed rather than fluid and effortless.
• My Diamond status was not acknowledged in any way during check in.
• I asked the agent if a suite upgrade was possible as every room category was available for booking [I had the app open in my hand], and was told that as the hotel has just soft opened, they only have limited inventory and are placing guests on the sixth and seventh floors and as such, no suite upgrades could be performed. I politely pushed back on the the upgrade possibility since suites were available for sale, and the agent simply froze and said “I’m sorry.” I didn’t pursue this any further.
• I booked a King Room with access to the Ikaros Club, the hotel’s executive club, and received no information about its location or any of its benefits. I was also given the wrong timings to breakfast at the hotel restaurant [I was told breakfast was until 10:30 AM, when in fact it is until 11 AM on weekends, when I was staying].

Once we finished check-in, we were escorted to the elevator by the agent, who told us our room was located on the seventh floor and sent us on our way.

Upon arriving at our room, I was surprised to walk into a room that was still populated with a previous guest’s belongings, and clearly in the middle of a housekeeping turnover: the bed was stripped, pillows were strewn about on the couch and desk, a bouquet of dying flowers lay on the desk, used slippers were on the floor of the wardrobe, and used towels and toiletry bags were on the bathroom vanity. I took a few photos, returned to the front desk and quietly explained that there was a problem with the room assigned and showed the team a photo of the room’s condition. A neighboring manager overheard this, and very quickly offered a bevy of apologies before escorting us to the Peacock Alley lounge. We were seated and offered beverages as an apology, and the Front Office Manager personally came over, offered his details and informed me of an upgrade to a suite as a recovery measure.

Once we finished our drinks, we went to our upgraded Ikaros Deluxe One Bedroom Suite on the sixth floor. Located at the end of the hallway, we walked into a spacious hallway with a powder room to the right and sliding doors leading to the bedroom, wardrobe and bathroom, while straight down the entry hallway was the living room.

The living room is split into two zones as it is located in the corner of the building. The initial landing area includes a circular dining table with two chairs and curved bench decked in pillows, while an elliptical desk with chair formed an office area right across from it. Wooden slats and a metal spiral sculpture on a marble table separated this zone from the primary living area, which consisted of three circular tables in the middle of a large L-shaped sofa and two armchairs. There was a television in the dining/working area, and another in the living area. Our floor-to-ceiling windows overlooked the Avenues roof, covered in a rather tacky green carpet that was improperly applied in spots or weighed down by paint cans in others, with the Hilton Garden Inn tower visible across the way and the Kuwait City skyline to the right and beyond.

The separate bedroom contained a plush king bed dressed in Waldorf Astoria’s new, signature 400-thread count Frette linens and four pillows, a bench at the end of the bed, a yellow armchair, dresser and another television. A window in the bedroom overlooked the road circling the Avenues, and air conditioning equipment below.

Off the bedroom was a hallway that contained a full, spacious walk in wardrobe on one side, a dressing table with stool, mirror and hairdryer on the other, and a double door to the main bathroom. The bathroom is very spacious, with a large soaking bathtub, double vanity sink, and separate stalls on either side of the vanity containing a commode and bidet in one, and a large shower in the other. The fixtures are in burnished gold, and the shower stall contained a movable stool, rain shower head and separate wand. Bath amenities are Salvatore Ferragamo-branded Tuscan Soul, which were previously brand standard for the Waldorf Astoria. Hilton has just announced that they will be partnering with Aesop for their new bath line, and I was surprised that this was not available at the Kuwait hotel considering other properties worldwide have had Aesop products in place for some time.

The overall color palette throughout the accommodations is dark woods on the floors and furnishings, with pops of blue and yellow/gold in the artwork and detailing. The ceilings are not particularly high, so the darker colors make the rooms feel more somber and tighter than they actually are. I get a “luxury of excess” theme from the hotel, given the heavy use of accessories in the room [large printed canvases, photographs, marble accessories, metal sculptures, books, lots of throw pillows, space-consuming furniture]; while some will appreciate this, I am more a fan of brighter colors and greater subtlety in furnishing and decoration.

Wi-fi is available on a complimentary basis for Hilton Honors members, but I found its reliability very questionable as it always dropped out for me, and I couldn’t get any signal in certain parts of the hotel like at the pool.

We had drinks at Peacock Alley following our room snafu, and had two zero proof cocktails [a Waldorf Spritz and Mojito] that we found refreshing, but they were overfilled with ice resulting in not too much actual beverage. Two small bowls of [stale] almonds and freshly-cooked blue and sweet potato chips were brought out as well. This being the COVID/post-COVID age, all menus at the hotel are accessed via QR codes on small paper cards at each table and inside the rooms.

Due to the reception agent not explaining any of our added benefits accompanying our Ikaros Club reservation, we completely missed the first day of culinary presentations at the lounge. Apparently, the club lounge offers a breakfast buffet, lunch spread, afternoon tea, dinner and desserts at different times of the day in a dedicated venue on the seventh floor. We peeked in on the breakfast buffet, choosing instead to avail ourselves of the larger selection at AVA, but partook in lunch, where a small but nicely-curated buffet offered choices such as a cream of mushroom soup, multiple salads, hot dishes and desserts. Teas, coffees, juices and waters are available throughout the day. I found the quality of food to be very good, and wish I could have experienced more of the culinary offerings were I properly informed of them at check in.

We had breakfast at AVA, the hotel’s main restaurant located on the mezzanine above the lobby and overlooking the Prestige section of the Avenues. The dark woods and blue-and-yellow detailing seen in the rest of the hotel sets the tone for the restaurant space, while an extensive buffet and multiple stations containing everything from a coffee bar and cheese counter to potato börek and mezzes are available for self-service. Staff were on hand to offer coffee, tea and beverages as water and juices, while a QR code revealed a small à la carte menu for the egg and pancake/waffle dishes. As non-meat eater, I asked if the Oscar Benedict on the menu could be made vegetarian and the staff prepared a lovely eggs Florentine without fuss. Overall food quality was very high, and the staff were generally very attentive - although a few members were aloof and perfunctory in their service delivery, and brought out one of the tea drinks before it was requested leading to it getting cold. The background music at the restaurant was also far too loud for what should have been ambient at best.

At the pool deck, the OXIO Lounge & Pool bar serves drinks and food during the day, and converts to the Kubbar Poolside Restaurant by evening, serving grilled Levantine dishes. We had two drinks during the daytime, and found them refreshing and decently sized.

In the coming months, the hotel will open a branch of London favorite ROKA, housed in a cantilevered structure above the pool deck with a separate exterior entrance.

The hotel will house a full spa in the months to come, incorporating treatment rooms, sauna, steam room and associated facilities. There is currently a spacious gym equipped with Technogym equipment, with shower and changing rooms located across the outdoor area.

There is a nice outdoor pool with sun loungers, air conditioned cabanas and some landscaping, with the OXIO Lounge & Pool bar/Kubbar Lounge located at the end of the pool, with the soon-to-open ROKA cantilevered above them. The black-and-gold mosaic pool is a reasonable size, and is deeper on opposing ends with the shallow section in the middle. Water temperature is warm and comfortable, but between the shallow overall depth and what I expect [and experienced] will be frequent, teeming hordes of loud, splashing children, don’t expect to get much exercise done here.

The neighboring cabanas come in two sizes, with the smaller ones housing a couch, armchair and table, and the larger ones having more seating in more space. The choice of ambient music is also a bit questionable, with Katy Perry, Alanis Morissette and other pop hits playing loudly throughout the space. Do note that even though the pool has landscaping to shield it somewhat from the Fifth Ring Road just below, you’ll always hear horns honking, exhausts burbling and be subject to planes zooming above as the hotel is on the flight path into and out of the nearby Kuwait International Airport.

The hotel houses a series of meeting rooms and a grand ballroom with a dedicated entrance from the driveway. As the hotel just opened and we were in for a night, we didn’t see these in use but given the Kuwaiti market’s affinity for show-stopping weddings and events, these will without a doubt be getting heavy use in the days to come.

True Waldorf Service, as Hilton sells their flagship offering, was scattered and lacking at this property. While staff are generally well intentioned, and many I am sure are new to hospitality, I expected more outright from a property with an iconic name and broadcasted aspirations to be the best hotel in Kuwait.

I was very disappointed by my dismal check in experience, which resulted in overall inconvenience and detracted from my ability to properly enjoy the facilities that were included in my room type. I also found the service at Peacock Alley to be polite but flustered, and delivery of items always taking far longer than should have been necessary. Some of the service flops I experienced over my stay included the following:

• I asked for a shoeshine via phone, and was told that the staff needed to check if the service was offered. A follow-up call revealed that the service was available, and someone would be up shortly to collect my shoes. Nobody ever came up.
• We were woken up by a phone call at 1 AM. Nobody responded, and the reception did not provide any explanation as to who could have called us at that time and for whatever reason.
• While sitting on the pool steps partially submerged with my drink, I was asked by a lifeguard to physically exit the pool to consume my drink. I explained to him that I was outside the pool, but he said “you’re not getting me” and proceeded to push back. Not exactly premium delivery…

All across the hotel, I noticed large numbers of staff and a high staff-to-guest ratio, but this did not result in faster service or greater delivery in any way, and comes off as more form than function.

All this being said, I have to specifically thank Eric, the valet, for his positive energy and bombastic delivery, and Engin, the front office manager, for his service recovery and dedication to righting some of the glaring wrongs we experienced. I also want to thank Leo, the head concierge and manager of the Ikaros Club, for engaging with me personally and seeking feedback. I understand that the hotel is new and mistakes happen, but I hope that these errors can be ironed out lest they lead to more upset guests.

I am happy that another world class brand has landed in Kuwait and is bringing some healthy competition to the table, as the existing players in the market have been stagnating and resting on their laurels for too long. Waldorf Astoria Kuwait may have the right name and provenance, but it has its work cut out to finesse its service and tie the overall experience together, as the value proposition simply doesn’t exist right now. Time will tell…