Le Meridien KL Hotel

We stayed here for 3 nights during our GP sale KL Vacation. We were supposed to stay there for only 2 nights but due to our mistake (both of my hubby and I agreed to come back to Miri on the 16th March but on that day at 1.30am, we double checked the ticket and found out that our departure flight is on 17th March!), we had to extend to 17th March instead. I had already done packing and was about to lock our bags while my hubby was about to text the driver to pick us up at the airport when we realized the actual date of departure! That was the first time in the history of our vacation (we went for vacation every year) that we came across this silly mistake! My hubby chose Le Meridien hotel because it is opposite to KL Sentral and it would be very easy for us to board the ERL Express to KLIA. Our flight is at 8.30 am, and with 5 kids and 5 bags on tow, this is definitely the most convenient place to stay even though the price was kind of heavy to my dearest hubby's wallet.

Le Meridien hotel is a five star hotel and it is next to Hilton hotel. The security is very tight, where by every vehicles that enter the hotel will be stopped by the security and checked with a some kind of detector, all over the vehicle. If you pass the check point, then you can enter the hotel. We were flabbergasted by the large door and this was the first time for me to see a hotel door that is not see through, you can't see what's inside of the hotel. The lobby was not grand enough but inside the lift, you can hear the natural waterfall streaming sounds or the birds chirping. The doormen was all smiling warmly but as again, we were having some problem with the front desk officer. She was not friendly, we didn't get any smile from her and the best part was when my hubby told her that he wanted to cancel the breakfast for our last night there because we need to check out before 6 am, she flatly turned down our request saying she can't do anything about that. When my hubby insisted of canceling the breakfast, she called someone on the phone and from the conversation, I can see that she was more like telling the person on the phone about the-can't-cancel-breakfast-and-change-the-rate-thingy rather than asking can-they-cancel-breakfast-and-change-the-rate. My hubby said out loud about never experiencing of this kind of problems (hubby always travelling on meeting  purposes and he had stayed at various hotels all over Malaysia) and the Gong Li-brow-officer (that's what I called her) seems like not bothered at all with my hubby's comment.

The funny thing was, when we realized about our mistake of the departure that, my hubby quickly called the front desk office to extend another night and when he asked wether he can get the rate without breakfast, the officer who answered the call said that of course, there's no problem. I'm very pissed by the Gong Li-brow-officer because working at a 5star hotel, you can't just simply make stupid decision or mistake to your customers.

Another problem was when my hubby called the hotel to ask wether there's any shuttle from the hotel to Midvalley Megamall. At that time, we were already at KL Sentral. My hubby called the hotel with his mobile phone and he had to wait for about 2-3 minutes for the person who answered the call to confirmed wether there is any shuttle. My hubby was pissed off by this situation that he started to complain and lash out angry words to the person on the line, because as a staff of the hotel (and the person who answered incoming calls to the hotel), he or she should know all things about the hotel. The person told him that there is no shuttle indeed.

Imported creamer to go with coffee or tea

Our room 1368

Again, another funny part was when we arrived at our room, I called the front office and asked about the shuttle. The person who answered the call said that she will get back to me because she need to check. After waiting for 5 minutes, there's still no call from her and I called back. When I told her I was waiting for her call, she said that line was very busy and yes, there's a shuttle from Le Meridien to Midvalley Megamall but there are only 2 departure time that is at 11.30am and 4.10pm. The shuttle will only send us back at 3.40pm and if we departed from the hotel at 4.10pm, we need to go back to the hotel by our own because the shuttle was provided by The Gardens. I was so confused with the two different answers by the hotel's staffs that I just couldn't be bothered to argue with them anymore.
All in all, the room is small, but they gave us a complimentary extra bed. The teas and coffees were made in France and very luxurious. Again, the housekeeping staff (non local, according to my sister who works at the Immigration Dept., he may be a Viatnamese), was very kind and helpful and he always gave us extra bottles of mineral water and lots of coffees and teas, and other amenities and he never forget to smile. The concierge was very kind because on our checked out day, he helped us to bring the bags right up to MAS check in counter at KL Sentral.

In my opinion, as a 5 star hotel, the management should take extra care about their front desk officers because no matter how grand or luxury is your hotel, we as customers will never come back to stay at your hotel if we experienced unpleasant and unsatisfactory services from your staffs except from the lower lines such as the concierge and housekeeping department. Managers, please take note. Thanks.

Impiana KLCC Hotel

My family and I stayed here at Impiana KLCC Hotel for 4 days and 3 nights. The first impression that I get from this hotel was how helpful were the concierge and driver for helping us out from the taxi, with the bags and even with the kids! But, as soon as we were standing in front of the front desk to check in, all of the 3 front desk officer were not bothered with us and were not even smiling! When my hubby told one of them that he wanted to check in, the officer just ask for his name and details but my hubby told her that the booking were already made by his friend and he even had the booking number. When the officer tried to look for the booking details, she informed my hubby that she needed the voucher that had been used to do the booking from my hubby's friend and she also informed my hubby that the hotel was full and we needed to wait for a vacancy.

The room

My hubby called his friend and his friend told that everything was already arranged when he do the booking and the voucher was not suppose to be a problem but the officer insisted of seeing the voucher. So, after a few minutes of arguing, besides the cynically smiles given by the other 2 officers, my hubby's friend agreed to come even though he had to come all the way from Puchong.

Potpourris

The weight

We waited for the vacant room at the lobby. Minutes past by and it was already half an hour of waiting. We asked the front office about any vacancy but they told us there aren't any. People were already checking out but how come there are no empty room? I was thinking maybe there's other people waiting in line but there are no signs of people waiting for rooms. The kids were getting crankier and for the whole time we were waiting for the room, only the nice driver and the concierge who seems to concern about us. The concierge even told me that if I need to freshen up the kids, I can go to the shower room at level 4. I was touched by their nice gesture but disappointed that it did not came from the front desk officer, who, at my opinion, are the ones who should be entertaining us for our needs. The driver was chatty and he told me that he is from Pahang and had been married to a Sarawakian ,but due to long distance relationship, they were divorced last year. He even told us that he will drive us to Suria KLCC whenever we want to.

The bridge linking to KL Convention Center

On the fully air-con bridge

The best part was, after waiting for almost 2 hours, the driver and the concierge was surprised that we still didn't get our room and they looked pity at our kids. My patience was running off and I talked angrily about the poor service of the front desk officers to my manager with a loud voice and I was pretty damn sure that they overheard of what I was saying because after that, they started to smile at us and even tried to make some effort to say something to me and the kids. I was trying so hard to lash out angry words or even to curse them and after 2 hours of waiting, we managed to get our room. The officer apologized for the delay and she smiled widely to us, contra with what she had done earlier when we didn't get any smile from her.
After arriving in our room, I was pretty amazed by the spacious room and the wood flooring that had been used by the hotel. Our rooms overlooks the unfinished Grad Hyatt Hotel and the kids were playing happily with the big space of the room. It is very modern and I love the bathroom. The housekeeping was very nice, even though he is not a local, I suspect that he is a Viatnamese or a Thai, he gave us extra mineral water bottles and even more amenities, teas and coffees, unlike other hotels that I've been to where those extra things were charged if you asked more for it.

The Bed

The amenities

The amenities

On our 3 day at the hotel, I was puzzled by the red carpet that was being vacuumed and rolled out by the staff and I asked them which VIP was coming and to my surprise, the VIP was a VVIP, the Sultan of Perak, Sultan Azlan Syah! He was coming for a private tea break and I was hoping to have a glimpse of him. But luck was not by my side, baby Darwish were very cranky and after attending his needs, the Sultan had already went for his tea breaks. All I can see was his expensive ride (I'm not sure what because I am not very knowledgable about cars) and lots of police traffic's rides.
Staying at Impiana KLCC hotel had given me a big chance to go to my favorite place in KL for 4 times that is Suria KLCC. We even managed to walk to Pavilion, Sungei Wang, BB Plaza and even Jukebox Shoe Shop, situated at the next block from BB and Sungei Wang! Hahahahah.. Just imagine, walking all the way there by foot, with 5 kids on tow! Wow!
All in all, in my opinion, being a 4 star hotel, the accommodation of the hotel was great and satisfactory, the services given by the lower staff such as the driver, the security, the concierge and even the house keeping people were great and tip top BUT the service of the front desk is DEFINITELY VERY POOR and unsatisfactory at all. We even had problems while checking out where we stand at the counter and nobody were attending to us, they were so busy looking down at some-papers-that-I-don't-what-or-they-just-pretending-to-look-busy and after 5 to 10 minutes later, an officer finally served us. I forgot to tell about what happened to the voucher that the officer insisted to see. True to her words, she took the voucher, looked at it for a few seconds and returned it back. WTF!!! Wasting my hubby's friend's time and it looks like she was joking with the matter!

Am I going to stay there again? Maybe? Maybe Not? No definite answer to it because of hard to look for food except for the needs to go to Suria KLCC and the poor service from the front desk. To the front desk officers who reads this, PLEASE CHANGE YOUR ATTITUDE! Being at the front desk means you need to attend us, the customers, professionally, warmly and informatively. As far as I'm concern, we never cause any problem or being rude to you and we expect you to do the same. You are not the one who pays the bills. We do. So, we expect to get good service with our payments. Manager, please take note. Thanks!

Bad Review On Menawan Restaurant, Imperial Palace Hotel Miri

Last Saturday, we went to buy some anchovies (ikan bilis) at Pasar Miri and do some pants shopping for Dayana because she doesn't have any decent pants for our trip to KL. Then, everbody was complaining about how hungry they were and my hubby suggested to bring us to Menawan Restaurant at Imperial Palace Hotel for lunch. It's a new place and my hubby and I love to hunt different places for our gastronomical adventure. True to the name of the restaurant itself (Menawan), it is nice and comfortable and it's quite similar to the other branch of Imperial Hotel's restaurant. And the best part is, the food are cheaper than other hotels with the same rating. They don't offer buffet except for breakfast time.

When we arrived, there were at least 5 to 8 tables occupied and each table only consists of 2 to 4 person per table and most of them are already enjoying their food. We ordered simple fried noodles with egg only, laksa sarawak, nasi lemak with chicken curry, fried rice with shrimp, a big teapot of hot Milo and a big teapot of hot coffee. The maitre 'd repeated our order and walked away. we have to wait for about 10 minutes before the drinks arrived. Then 20 minutes later, they sent nasi lemak. The children were very hungry and I asked the waitress why it's taking such a long time for them to send our orders. She replied that they were many people and that's why it's taking time for the chef to cook. This is totally opposite with the current scenario. I didn't want to cause a scene and I waited again, trying to be patient. The next dish that they sent out was my food, fried rice with shrimp. It's nice but when you're pissed off, you don't have the appetite to enjoy it. I have to share with the kids because their simple fried noodle had not yet arrived. I was about to yell what the hell is so hard about frying a simple dish when they finally sent the noodle, but despite repeating the order twice, they sent the wrong version of the noodle. I don't want to have my kids to wait some more that I just ask them to eat the noodle. The milo was alright but the coffee was terrible. It tasted like 1 teaspoon of instant coffee mixed with a liter of water. Yucks! After finishing our meals, I wanted to make some complaints but the kids were nagging about needing to go to the toilet and Dayana was not feeling good and threw up a little bit. I left the restaurant while my hubby paid the bills and I was so pissed off with the staff (very slow and not friendly except for one or two) that I didn't want to give any smile or thank them for the services.

The first few photos where we were smiling is the part where we didn't about the waiting part that we needed to endure and I only remembered to snap the photo of nasi lemak only because I was very angry. You can see from the photos that many of the tables are empty.