InterContinental Hotels Kuala Lumpur was the only premium option for IHG members when they are in town. I had a staycation there last year during the early days of post-pandemic opening. Truth be told, I was super disappointed with the experience. I even wrote lengthy reviews in the post-stay feedback form to tell them to improve.
This year, I enrolled in a points promotion and had to clock nights before the end of August. I returned to InterContinental Hotels Kuala Lumpur, wondering if they have improved?
Overview
Room Number: 1801
Booking Type: Classic Twin Bed High Floor
Checking In to InterContinental Kuala Lumpur
As I took the last flight out straight after work, I checked in slightly past midnight. The lobby was far from deserted and there were guests still checking in. However, I was attended to promptly and was checked in within 10 minutes from arriving at the hotel.
The reception staff was far friendlier than previously. He maintained eye contact and was cordial throughout the process.
I got a high floor unit furthest from the lift, which was what I had indicated in my profile as my preference. To be honest, it was the first time an IHG hotel had fulfilled my preferential needs. For reasons unknown, I was usually assigned a room that was just one or two units away from the lift. While I never complained to IHG about this, I always took the opportunity to assess the sound proofing of the rooms – most of them didn’t make the cut as I could still hear kids thumping across my door after 10pm – which was one of my pet peeves.
Bedroom
At 42sqm, it was spacious after fitting in 2 queen beds and a double couch. Such spaciousness for a non executive room is hard to find in this day and age! The room was fitted with everything expected of an Asian hotel room. From bathrobes, slippers to ironing board and in-room safe. There was also a separate study desk with a sturdy work chair.
On paper, my room was the “classic” room. It was a politically correct term for an un-renovated room from the 90s. As such, there weren’t fancy controls for the blackout curtains. In fact, a telling sign of its age was the Sega-like control panel by the bed for the lights, aircon and alarm clock. Unfortunately, the controls weren’t working well. Some buttons were either faulty or simply wasn’t linked to a light. In fact, majority of the lights had to be turned on/off using the light near the entryway, making the control fairly useless.
The bed itself was of good quality. It was more of the firm side, as it didn’t sink under my weight. However, the pillows were flat and filmsy. Luckily for me, I booked a twin bedroom. Each bed was fitted with 2 pillows, so I could use the spare pillows to prop myself up to the desired height.
For an old room, it had plenty of power sockets for the travellers who needed to stay connected. One could charge his devices by the study desk or at the bed, which had both power sockets and USB charging ports.
The central cooling system of the room pumped out musty air that was borderline uncomfortable. The air quality seemed to improve from the second day, though I could have grown accustomed to the stale air.
Bathroom
The bathroom was also marked by its spaciousness. It had a separate bathtub and shower stall, with an equally spacious vanity counter in between.
One would only need to bring personal toiletries when staying in InterContinental Hotels Kuala Lumpur. Toiletries like dental kits, shower gel, shampoo and conditioner were provided. They even had shower caps, combs, cotton buds and sewing kits!
The last time I stayed here, they were in the midst of transiting to providing the shower gel / shampoo / conditioner in reusable bottles, and my room was one of those that were still given small bottles good for a day’s use. During the stay, the housekeeping didn’t replenish the bottles. When I called them for replenishment, they claimed they “don’t replace the bottles”, thinking I was staying in a transited room. After some hoo-ha, they finally realized they were mistaken. I could only receive replenishment after a few hours of haggling. I would say that really left a bad impression on their service quality.
This time around, though, my “gripe” would be a contact lens left on the soap shelf by a previous guest. Even after one round of housekeeping, the lens was still there. I wonder when it will finally be cleared?? 🤔
Service at InterContinental Kuala Lumpur
Admittedly, I was one of those IHG members who clocked the status by staying in its cheaper hotels (like Holiday Inn JB). Therefore, when it comes to hardware and infrastructure, I have a rather high tolerance level. However, I somehow am particularly sensitive to bad service, no thanks to my experience working at Singapore Airlines.
What Happened Last Year…
Other than the absurd challenge of getting my toiletries replenished last year, and facing a condescending reception staff last year, there was a myriad of other sub-standard service incidents unbecoming of a 5-star hotel.
For example, the pantry only provided utensils for making beverages. I had forgotten to request for utensils for my food delivery, so I called the housekeeping to send me a set. When I checked out 2 days later, the utensils were still not delivered. Yes, I had my dinner with the teaspoon in the pantry.
Another issue with the housekeeping was that they failed to make my room, even after I had specifically called to get them to do so. Funny enough, I had checked in at 2pm on the first day and the housekeeping actually tried to do my room at 4pm. In my feedback to InterContinental Hotels, this weird scheduling by the housekeeping was high on my list.
One thing I could not let go was the lack of service recovery even though I had surfaced those issues to the reception. Mind you, those incidents arose separately, so I engaged the staff on different occasions. They had plenty of opportunities to do service recovery, which they didn’t. They didn’t try to make up for their shortcomings in my subsequent calls to them, which went to show that they either didn’t have a system to note down guests’ requests and issues, or they simply could not be bothered.
Review of Service at InterContinental Kuala Lumpur (Updated)
This year, things have improved. As mentioned, the reception staff was far friendlier. They had also prepared a welcome note and gift in my room. In my 2 years chasing IHG points, this was the second time I had received a welcome from the hotel, the first time being from Holiday Inn Resort Krabi Ao Nang Beach.
Housekeeping also did my room as requested. In fact, I also made sure I spoke to the staff, who was doing up the room next door, to eliminate communication breakdown from the reception. Of course, there was that issue of contact lenses that proved that the cleanliness standard still needed to be improved.
The contact lens issue was the worst unsatisfactory incident that I had encountered during this stay, but it wasn’t so critical that I had to call the staff up for immediate remedy. As such, a sign of improvement was that I didn’t have to make a single call to the reception to ask for problems to be rectified.
On a side note, I purposely didn’t raise the contact lens issue, as I wanted to assess the hotel’s cleaning standard. Sometimes, people miss out on some areas, and I’m OK with that as I’ve rarely encountered service staff that gave their 100%. However, if they managed to miss cleaning away the contacts lens for 2 days in a row, it was a sign that they have a systemic issue, which of course I surfaced to the hotel in my post-stay feedback.
Cleanliness
Speaking of cleanliness, one of my pet peeves of space-starved hotels was how they would stuff fresh towels at crevices that normal people would avoid. For example, under the sink (think all the mould present in that area), or beside the toilet bowl (think of the bacteria that would splash onto the towels as you use it), or both.
Thankfully, InterContinental Hotels Kuala Lumpur made full use of its space and placed the fresh towels far from the undesirable places. They were placed on the vanity counter, beside the bathtub – a location that is usually dry and clean.
Amenities
InterContinental Hotels Kuala Lumpur, being a 5-star hotel, has an open air pool, gym and a spa. The pool was large enough for doing laps, and there was a small kids pool too. The gym was well equipped, with several treadmills, bicycles and weight machines.
Sompoton Spa, also located at the same level as the gym and pool also offered a variety of spa services. Unfortunately, they are managed separately, so guests could not charge to their rooms to earn points. The design of the spa was also lacking, which was unbefitting of a spa within a 5-star hotel.
The inhouse restaurant – Serena Brasserie – that also served buffet breakfast to guests was on the first level. It served a good spread of Malaysian and Western cuisine. There were also live stations for noodles and omelettes – which was standard in most established Asian hotels. The breakfast was good for those who want to sleep in and do not want to venture out of the hotel early in the morning. However, it was not that great, because I did not include it in my package in my latest stay.
Location and Neighbourhood
InterContinental Hotels Kuala Lumpur is located in the Ampang district. For the uninitiated, the area is on the city centre fringe, which is a 20-minute walk from the famous landmark of Petronas Twin Towers. However, one could take the subway if walking is not desired.
The hotel is right beside the Ampang Park MRT station, which is connected directly to the KLCC and KL Sentral. This meant that one could easily take the public transport from the airport to the hotel, via KL Express, then transferring to the MRT PY Line at KL Sentral. That being said, there was no shelter between the station and the hotel, so taking Grab from KL Sentral might make more sense on rainy days.
The Ampang district isn’t as bustling as the KLCC area. Despite that, there were still shopping malls across the road from the hotel with plenty of food and shopping options. The Intermark Mall had fast food and local favorites like My Grandma’s. There are also international brands like Starbucks and franchises like Hanare Japanese and Dunkin Donuts. There was also a food hall for the budget conscious. The mall also contained a supermarket and several pharmacies, on top of the usual stores.
On the other end of the junction was The LINC KL. IT was a small mall housing mostly local, indies brands. However, there were large restaurants, one of which was De. Wan 1958 by Chef Wan serving Malaysian Chinese food. The food was superb, which I will do a separate review.
Parting Words
I might have stayed at InterContinental Hotels Kuala Lumpur with a bias from my previous bad experience. My memory of the previous stay was marked by its bad service standard – surprising for a 5-star hotel. While the staff salvaged that impression, I wouldn’t say they are worthy of a 5-star rating. While staff’s attitude had improved, the cleanliness standard of the hotel was still lacking.
The room’s hardware was also a mixed pot of good and bad. I liked how they had updated an aging room with new stuff like the additional charging points. I did not mind that they are retaining a sega-style lighting control that was a throwback to the 90s, except that the control panel basically did nothing. In order to turn off all the lights, I had to walk to the switch by the entryway. The central ventilation was also pumping musty air. So, while I liked the spaciousness of the room and the luxury of double couch and separate study desk, I couldn’t bring myself to say the room was worthy of a 5-star rating,
To be honest, InterContinental Hotels Kuala Lumpur was the only InterContinental branded hotel I had stayed in, so I do not know how this hotel compared against its peers. However, comparing to other 5-star hotels like The Westin or Alila Bangsar by Hyatt, InterContinental Hotels Kuala Lumpur is definitely an imposter.
That being said, the location of InterContinental Hotels Kuala Lumpur, combined with its facilities makes it a good staycation choice. That is, if they could rectify the issue of musty air conditioning. While they go about fixing these issues to reclaim their title of a 5-star hotel proper, I would be exploring its competitors when I’m in Kuala Lumpur.
Till then, stay wanderlust!
All photos and videos were taken using Google Pixel 4a, and edited with Google Photos.
How to Get There
InterContinental Hotels Kuala Lumpur
165, Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur,
50450 Kuala Lumpur,
Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
https://www.ihg.com/intercontinental/hotels/us/en/kuala-lumpur/kulha/hoteldetail
+60327826000