Situated within The Golden Triangle, an upscale district for business, shopping and entertainment in Kuala Lumpur, this hotel first caught my eye thanks to photos of its sleek and beautiful spaces. I was excited to experience it in person, and with the help of some promo codes and Trip coins on Trip.com, my husband and I were headed here for a weekend getaway!
- Inclusions:
- 2-night stay in City View Room
- Breakfast
- Spent: SGD$10.88 + $334.59 in Trip coins
Check-in
As our flight arrived late in the evening, we only reached the hotel at about 11.30pm so there wasn’t a soul at the reception area except the staff. Despite the late hour, Farah, the staff checking us in, gave us such a warm welcome that it made us feel right at home (: Next to the reception counters is a refreshment section where guests can help themselves to coffee, tea, bottled juices and snacks.
One potential point of incovenience is the separate lifts situation. As far as I know (and explored), there isn’t a direct lift connecting the ground floor to the rooms. Guests need to take the lifts up to the reception floor on level 6B before changing to a different set of lifts to access the rooms. Thankfully, the lift speeds are sufficiently fast to help mitigate this issue.
Room
We were assigned a room on the 17th floor (out of 21 floors) with extended corner windows for an expansive city view. Exuding modern understated luxury, the room sported soothing neutral tones, clean lines and polished surfaces. There seems to be at least two different configurations of this room type based on the online reviews I saw – I quite like this one as the extra panels of full-length windows do make it feel more spacious. Oddly enough, the curtains couldn’t be fully drawn to the sides so our view was actually slightly obstructed. I decided to manually fix this by using various pieces of furniture to hold back the curtains.
Upon entering the room, we found a box of sweet treats on our table (and since I don’t really fancy macarons, my husband had the lot). I was also pleasantly surprised to find a firm pillow already on the bed even though I didn’t indicate my preference anywhere or request for it, amazing! The bed was wonderfully firm too. As for turndown service, it is automatically provided every evening.
The bathroom features a tub and separate areas for the shower and WC. The WC even comes with an electronic bidet, an automatic lid and heated seating! Additionally, this was the first time we encountered toothbrush amenities that included toothpicks and interdental brushes, just wow. By the bathroom entrance, there is an attached walk-in closet that has ample storage for all your belongings.
The only downside of this room was the visible wear and tear, as well as some general lapses in its upkeep. During our stay, there was a dank smell from the drain in the shower and faint black stains around the sink. Furthermore, it was a tad disconcerting to find remnants of cut nails lying on the carpet in the corner.
Facilities
If your stay package comes with breakfast, it is served in a buffet style at Curate restaurant located on level 6B. The staff here were so friendly! On our first morning (Day 2), Olivia, one of the managers, approached our table and had a short chat with us. On our second morning (Day 3), Belal, the assistant director of F&B, popped by to ask how we were doing and whether we had everything we needed. A lovely personal touch indeed ❤
Even Nadzker, a regular staff, was extremely helpful and persistent in resolving a tiny confusion that occurred the first morning. Guests usually get a special treat on their check-out date at breakfast, but there was a bit of a mix-up where they mistakenly thought we were checking out that day. Eventually, the miscommunication was cleared up, with Nadzker taking the time to explain the situation to us. We received our little treat on the second morning – it turned out to be pancakes with a handwritten message in chocolate!
Unfortunately, when it came to the food, it was a mixed bag. Some dishes stood out more while others were just average. I really liked the miso soup with mushrooms and the omelette from the live station (it was slightly runny inside). My husband appreciated the use of various spices in some of the dishes.
It was nice to have the option of fresh juices here, although it was limited to just pineapple and watermelon. Staff would intermittently go around handing out mini canapes to guests too.
There are many dining options besides Curate within the hotel premises. One of them is The Lounge on level 6B, an all-day dining and afternoon tea venue. If you’re looking for a spectacular spot for evening tipples, you can visit the award-winning Bar Trigona nestled further inside. I didn’t get any photos of the bar as we were out on both nights but it sure looks stunning in the online reviews.
We got to enjoy a complimentary tea-tasting experience at The Lounge as part of the hotel’s Five Dimensions of Wellness programme during our stay. It was a simple 20-minute affair where we sampled a few of their premium teas from the menu.
My husband had the Tropical Signature Blend, consisting of black and green teas infused with hibiscus, guava, coconut, strawberry, marigolds and corn flowers. This was so smooth and fragrant, really easy to drink! I decided on the non-caffeinated Peach Fruit tea concocted from peaches with rosehips, hibiscus and other natural flavours. The tea had a very pretty shade of pink but such a pity that it was too tart for my liking, plus it had a strange aftertaste.
Farhan, the staff who attended to us, was cheerful and engaged us in friendly conversation (: He brought us small pastry snacks to go along with our tea and asked if we would like more when he saw that we finished them. As we chatted, my husband casually mentioned that he likes teh tarik. Farhan then recommended that we try a shot of their Signature Teh Tarik made from the Tropical Signature Blend with added condensed milk, delicious!
Other dining options include Yun House (on level 5B) and Nobu (on level 4A), specializing in Cantonese and Japanese-Peruvian cuisine respectively. Both restaurants have exquisite interiors and a serene ambience.
On level 7A is where most of the facilities are located, including the pools and gym. Open from 7am to 7pm, the pool area comprises one main pool and two other smaller pools (a vitality pool with jacuzzi functions and a shallow kids pool). Outside of opening hours, they actually use a physical lock to fasten the door handles so forget about sneaking in for a night dip!
Next to the pool is the Pool Bar & Grill serving up light snacks, healthy bites and drinks. Don’t forget to check out the steam room, sauna and relaxation lounge found in the gender-segregated changing rooms. As for the gym, it is open from 6am to 10pm and can be accessed via key card.
If your room includes access to the Executive Club on level 7B, you can enjoy breakfast, afternoon tea and evening cocktails there as part of their offerings. We didn’t opt for club access this time as we wanted to pack as many Breakout Escape rooms into our itinerary as possible, which meant we wouldn’t be able to fully utilize the lounge. Nevertheless, I managed to get a brief look at its interiors and boy, was it an enticing space!
Another complimentary Five Dimensions of Wellness activity we signed up for was the expert therapist knowledge-sharing session at The Spa on level 7A. Upon arriving, we were greeted by the spa staff and ushered up to the mezzanine lounge on level 7M.
Our session began with a short tour of the spa facilities, which consists of five single rooms, two couple rooms and one suite with a jacuzzi. We were then shown to the manicure and pedicure room where the rest of the session was conducted.
Different therapists have different specialities so depending on who you get, the topics could range from simple massage techniques and skincare tips to posture awareness and information on foot reflexology. Our therapists specialized in massage techniques so that was the focus for our session.
We were given an introduction to the various products they use for massages, followed by a demonstration of a dry shoulder and neck massage. As they massaged us, they explained the specific acupressure points they were targeting. Next, we were supposed to practice the techniques on each other but as we had an escape room to go for, we regrettably had to cut the session short.
Before leaving, we decided to purchase a 25ml bottle of massage oil (MYR156) as we really liked its calming scent after trying it earlier. A little souvenir of sorts!
My overall rating of the experience: 4 out of 5 stars. This hotel is full of gorgeous contemporary spaces that certainly live up to the hype, truly as alluring as depicted in the photos online! Service was stellar all round as well, just about every staff we met had an incredibly warm and helpful demeanour. Special shout-out to duty manager, Tvee, for very kindly extending our check-out time to 4pm as our flight was later in the evening. Since we visited The Tokyo Restaurant for lunch on our last day, we bought delicious cheesecakes to thank the staff who took such fantastic care of us ❤ Alas, there were some aspects that took away from the overall experience. Firstly, I felt that our room could’ve been better maintained and cleaned. The wear and tear was apparent and we also found a bunch of cut nails on the carpet. Secondly, the food at breakfast was largely unmemorable, with only a handful of quality dishes that made a better impression. Having said that, it still was a very decent and enjoyable stay (: Given the chance, I’d love to be back to check out their Executive Club offerings!
If this post helped you in some way and you’d like to buy me a coffee, I’d be incredibly grateful (:
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