Stay Report: Renaissance Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia - March 2011)

Stay Report: Renaissance Hotel Kuala Lumpur
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We were going to spend a couple of days in Kuala Lumpur, so I was looking for a nice hotel that was close to the sights and had easy access to transportation.  After some research, I found the Renaissance Marriott and decided to check it out since I have never stayed at a Renaissance property before.  Overall, it was a nice property that was very large and very accessible, but the rooms were average and so was the customer service. 

From the outside, the property looks very grand with a middle building and two towers on either side.  From the street, you walk up steps into the middle building into a very large lobby.  As you enter, on either side there are small sitting areas where guests can sit and relax.  You walk up additional stairs and into the main lobby and on the left are the many check-in desks, while on the right is the hotel’s restaurant and dining room.   In between the check-in desk and the restaurant is a hallway leading to the elevators to the guest room (for one tower).  Our reservation included complimentary breakfast, and this was served in the vast dining room on the first floor.  The breakfast was nice and had a large spread and provided a nice meal in the morning, but the staff seemed overwhelmed at times.

The average customer service started at check-in, which took longer than expected and was neither warm nor

Photo Courtesy of Renaissance Kuala Lumpur

friendly.  After we received our keys, we went up to our room located in the first tower.  Overall, the rooms were a decent size but did not feel updated; rather they looked and felt older and a bit used.  As you enter into the room, on the right was the bathroom and the left was the closet plus storage.  The bathroom was a decent size and contained a bathtub, sink, toilet, as well as bathroom toiletries but like the room it needed to be updated.  As you entered into the room, on the right were the two double beds while against the wall were the TV, some additional storage, and a desk.  Straight ahead was a window which looked out onto the pool and so provided nice views and good sunlight into the room.  The room size was decent, not grand but definitely not squished together.  The beds were decent, not too comfortable but not too uncomfortable, but did feel a bit older.  The overall décor of the room felt in need of an update. 

Photo courtesy of Renaissance Kuala Lumpur

I was traveling within the region so my stay at the hotel was broken into two short stays.  Because of this, I was not able to experience the other amenities of the hotel including the outdoor pool, fitness center, and spa.  Our room did face the outdoor pool and it looked nice, a bit small given the two towers, but it was definitely being utilized as we always saw people in or around the pool.  

The hotel did allow us to leave our luggage at the hotel, both while we were out of Kuala Lumpur as well as on our last day as our check-out was earlier than our scheduled flight.   The customer service on the check-out was also average, neither friendly nor warm.  One aspect of the customer service which was not good happened to us on our last day - we had left our checked out of our room and had spent the entire day walking around.  As we were heading back to our hotel, it started to rain really hard so we got soaking wet.  When we entered into hotel, we went to the check-in desk, indicated that we had been guests there and were picking up luggage, and asked for a towel to help us dry off.  The representative, at first, just looked at us and then after explaining the situation again, reluctantly gave us one small hand towel.  This hand towel was definitely not going to help as we were completely drenched so I asked for a bigger towel, to which I received the response of ‘we cannot provide anything bigger than this’ and walked away.  The service was not customer-friendly.

Photo Courtesy of Renaissance Kuala Lumpur

Overall, the location of the hotel is good as you are close to the sights and have easy access to transportation; however, the outdated rooms and the lack of customer service did not make this a pleasant stay.  What made the situation even more apparent is that the hotel we stayed in Singapore – also a Marriott property (see review here) – was updated, pleasant, and had amazing customer service even though we were only there for a short period of time.  The hotel where we had stayed longer – this hotel – did not provide the same level of service and thus made our stay not as pleasant.