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INDEPENDENT AND UNBIASED - LUXURY TRAVELS REVIEWS 'THE PLAIN AND SIMPLE TRUTH'

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The Ritz-Carlton, Kuala Lumpur | Hotel Review

Hugely Disappointing! The Ritz in KL is Not Bombstic!

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The Ritz-Carlton – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: The Ritz-Carlton in Kuala Lumpur is ideally situated near commercial, business and entertainment centers in the district of Bukit Bintang. Designed after the classic Old English mold that the international five-star luxury hotel chain is known for, The Ritz-Carlton is one of the few options that travelers have for a five-star luxury accommodation here in KL, but even if you’re a fan of The Ritz don’t expect too much too soon…

First Impression/Lobby: Beforehand, we had arranged for a hotel transfer from the airport. Being aware that The Ritz is a five star hotel (and being fully aware of how much we were paying for the transfer) we had expected a nice uniformed driver in a BMW 700, Audi or something of that class. Instead, we were met by a cargo van, and a person that one could hardly say was a matching driver (he had no uniform and did not seem to represent the hotel). It almost appeared as if he was some random stranger pulled off the street. A more careful traveler would even be reluctant to go with him, lest he was a con (how can you be sure if it was your first time in a foreign country?).

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Reception: When we finally did make it to the Ritz KL we were impressed with the front desk. The service was courteous, professional and prepared. We were quickly shown up to our two bedroom suite where we completed our registration.

First impressions are not always accurate. This time, however, they ended up being spot on.

Concierge: We used the concierge one time, for dinner suggestions. He suggested Top Hat, a local Malay restaurant which turned to be a less than impressive evening. If that recommendation is any indication of what I could expect from them in the future, I would have to find a new resource for dinner recommendations.

The Suite: We had a large two-bedroom suite which was luxurious and appointed tastefully in hues of browns. It was furnished in the traditional 19th century English style with adaptations of local Malaysian and colonial Portuguese culture. Antiques and art pieces were well-placed in key areas of the room. Chairs, overstuffed sofas, patterned drapes, a king-sized bed with only the best quality sheets and lush carpeting made the room an almost perfect place for indulgence and complete abandon. But then, all the luxury was just on the surface, as we soon found out.

While the suite had all the potential for being fantastic bombastic, it ended up falling short in a few unforgivable areas: Even though we had booked and confirmed a non-smoking room we were given a smoking room; the main light, a florescent overhead, inside the living room would not shut off; one of the sink drains in the master bathroom was partially plugged and drained slower than molasses; and finally, the toilet in the second bathroom had feces on the outside of it! So even with its trendy hues of brown and Asian infused décor, the room failed to impress.

After way too many calls to get matters in order (it should not have taken but one call), we moved to an identical, but non-smoking suite. It was clean and all in working order. But it also had the same boring view.

Room Service: As with so much of the hotel, our experience with room service was disappointing at best. Whether it was ordering dinner or simply a bucket of ice, it took multiple calls to get anything done.

Housekeeping: While we were there, housekeeping seemed to do a good job; however, as I mentioned earlier, the first room we were in where the bathroom was hardly clean was simply unforgivable on the part of the housekeeping.

Restaurant: Our room included buffet breakfast at the hotel’s Tuscan-inspired breakfast restaurant, Rossini's, which was located on the first floor. We went down in the morning only to find that we had to wait in a long line to be seated. After waiting about fifteen minutes, we were finally seated.

Inside, the restaurant was a zoo! It was so crowded, and service (such as in ordering coffee and made-to-order egg) was extremely, extremely slow. The food was as ordinary as I have ever seen in a buffet breakfast. What they tried to pass off as a five-star buffet was embarrassingly cheap! I have had better quality and service at a three star hotel.

Pool/Spa/Activities: While their gym was well equipped with the latest in fitness and bodybuilding, the placed smelled of sweat and stale air. The wireless headsets (for listening to music while working out) did not function and the attendant on duty had no clue how to make them work. The experience in the gym was on par with our experience throughout the rest of the hotel—a big fat disappointment!

In addition to a gym, the hotel also had two pools-one for adults and one for families, as well as a spa.

Overall Impression Luckily we were only in KL for one night. I could not have dealt with the buffet breakfast again, and the thought of having to order breakfast through room service after our horrid experience with them the previous day would have been enough to motivate us to find a restaurant outside the hotel.

From the mess in our first suite to the fiasco of getting it resolved, and the van they hired to pick us up to the lack luster dinner recommendations, The Ritz-Carlton KL gets a rating of Not Bombastic (a rarity for a luxury hotel chain).

KL has many other hotels to choose from (five star or not), and one of them has to be better than The Ritz-Carlton Kuala Lumpur.

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