Fraser Place is located about 5 minutes walk from KLCC, where the Petronas Twin Towers are located. It is also around 10 minutes walk from Pavilion Shopping Mall and the shopping malls around it. The property is situated in a place whereby major shopping malls in KL is found. The hotel is located in between Bukit Nanas and Raja Chulan Monorail Stations, making it an ideal base for guests to explore the capital city of Malaysia.

We checked into a suite 2704, 2-bedroom deluxe suite in the hotel. The 93m² suite comprises of the main hall, a master bedroom and another smaller bedroom. Entering the suite, one will find the living room and the kitchenette area.

Just to the right of the main door is where one will find a fully equipped kitchenette, complete with an oven, a stovetop and a full-size fridge. There are a toaster, an electric kettle and a coffee machine (coffee powder is not included) on the countertop of the sink, next to the stove. A full set of cutlery for four, complete with bowls, plates, glasses, mugs were found in the drawers and cabinets below and on top of the sink area. To the right of the sink area is where one will find a washing machine and the microwave oven. I thought including washing powder by the hotel was a very nice gesture, showing how well they have thought out on the needs of guests staying in this suite. In front of the stove are a dining table and four chairs. Complimentary soft drinks and instant coffee and tea were placed on top of the table.

Further into the living room is where one will find the couch area. A 3-seater sofa placed by the wall, provided space for the suite’s occupant to move about. There is a coffee table in front of the sofa, decked out with magazines for guests’ reading pleasure. A swivel armchair was placed next to the sofa, in front of the door to the balcony. The LED TV is mounted at the corner where the balcony door is located. It is well thought out on the angle of the TV mounting as it allows guests to watch TV both from the couch and the dining table. The suite we have gotten has a huge balcony that stretches across the entire width of the suite. When I looked down and up on to the other suites, I realise this is one of the few suites that has a balcony. The balcony looks into the city and is a great place to chill with a cold drink. The entire living looked contemporary and lively mainly due to the bright colours that the hotel chose to decorate the living in.

There are 2 doors inside the suite. The left door leads to the master bedroom, which has a wooden and earthy theme. The master bedroom gotta be the largest room in the suite, even bigger than the living room. Entering the master bedroom, one will be greeted by the study area, with a large work desk and several PowerPoint outlets by the wall, this is an area where one can work on. Opposite the study desk is a huge walk-in wardrobe. There is ample space for one to store even up to 1 month of clothing in this wardrobe. Other than the area for hanging clothes, there is no lack of drawers and cabinets for more storage spaces. The only safe in the suite is found in this walk-in wardrobe. An artificial wall separates the study area and the sleeping area in this suite. Passing the artificial wall is where one will find the sleeping area. The centrepiece of this area of the suite is the king-size bed. The bed is tucked into the room and has a lot of space for one to even dance in the bedroom. Facing the bed is another LED TV and a swivel chair. However, the placement of the TV is a tad too far from the bed. Beside the bed is where one will find the entrance to the bathroom. Decked out in yellow marble, the huge bathroom can be further segregated into the toilet area, the sink and the shower/bathtub area. I like the idea of separating the wet and dry areas in this bathroom. The bathtub and the walk-in shower are placed behind a glass door.

The right door in the living room, from the main entrance, is where the smaller bedroom is located. When comparing to the master bedroom, the size of this room is a mere fraction of it. Despite being small, this room has its bathroom. The room, as with the master bedroom is decked out in wooden and earthy tones. When entering the room, a queen-size bed takes centre stage. The sleep quality in this bed is superb. I was able to catch a good night sleep on this bed, coupled with the firmness of the pillow, I was well-rested on this bed. Opposite the bed is the work desk. There is a TV mounted on the wall beside the work desk, compared to that in the master bedroom, the distance from the bed is ideal (perhaps due to the size of the room). As mentioned there is a toilet in this room, which only has a walk-in shower area and a toilet, other than the sink. Despite the size, the size of the bathroom feels sufficient. There is a wardrobe and some cabinets mounted onto the wall of the room, next to the entrance to the bathroom. The space in the wardrobe is sufficient for one to store up to 1-week clothing, however, one can always utilise the walk-in wardrobe in the master bedroom should one requires more space for storage of clothes.

All in all, the chic design of the suite, coupled with the use of bright colours brings life to the suite. Some amenities are well thought out that can be seen throughout the suite. The sleep quality of the bed is superb, and one can be assured of good night rest. The air-conditioning in the suite is excellent and is capable of providing the cool air amid the humid climate in KL.

The hotel has a rooftop infinity pool facing KL Tower, located on the 18th floor of the hotel building. The pool is rather small in size but provided a great spot for guests to soak in during a hot day. There are, however, a limited number of sundeck chairs around. The hotel also has a jacuzzi pool and steam room inside each male and female changing rooms next to the swimming pool.

Located on the 18th floor, one can find a mid-sized gym, housing the standard gym equipment such as treadmills, weights and dumbbells.

Breakfast is served in Swatches Restaurant, located on the 1st floor of the hotel. The hotel serves mainly western and Malaysian cuisine during breakfast service. One can also find fruits and various squeezed fruit juices as well as salads and yoghurts during breakfast. Do try the Nasi Lemak served during breakfast, I find the rice very fragrant and the chilli sauce for Nasi Lemak very tasty. I also thought the on-the-spot freshly baked croissants available during breakfast service to be very refreshing. The dining area in the restaurant is large, which seemed to be able to handle the crowd at the time of my visit.

The service was overhyped and mediocre, particularly with the check-in. Despite being early, our check-in was processed very slowly and we did not manage to get to our suite until 4 pm. We arrived at the hotel at 12.45 pm and asked if we could check-in. The staff at the reception assured us that we would be able to check-in as soon as the suite is being cleaned up and the hotel is in the process of turning around the suite. 30 mins passed that there were no updates. Every time we went up to the staff at the check-in counter, we were met with the same answer. Seeing that we were wasting our time at the lobby, we decided to head out to KLCC with our luggage. The staffs, at that time, were not interested in rendering any assistance, other than asking us to wait. There was no help in taking care of luggage nor any suggestions to leave our luggage in the left baggage facilities. We went back to the hotel at 3.30 pm and checked if our suite was ready, and we were told it wasn’t ready!

I requested to speak to the duty manager regarding the delay. The duty manager at that point was Maini. Maini was very defensive throughout the conversion. She even blamed us for requesting a high floor suite and would not give us any updates regarding the status of the suite. She insisted that we wait until the suite is ready or if we can’t wait, we would have to put up with their staffs coming into the suite to fix some defects. That is as good as not giving us a choice. As a duty manager, she has to audacity to hand us a suite that is not ready. It appears to Maini, standards are not important, and it is important for her to get rid of us. As a duty manager, she did not offer alternate solutions nor was she willing to do service recovery. During our heated discussions, I told her that the least she can do is to upgrade us to the next category (which is 2 Bedroom Executive), but Maini insisted of not doing that and continued to ask us to wait. Throughout the conversion, Maini is not empathetic about our situation and how the delay had screwed our plans for our trip. She is just wanting us to solve her problem instead of solving our problem. At one point in our discussion, I told her that I wanted to speak to GM, since as a duty manager, the one with the most authority in the hotel then, wouldn’t do her job. That was the last time I saw Maini. The next staff who came to update us of our room is the Housekeeping Executive, whose job was not to interface with the guests but to ensure that the suite was in good condition. It appeared that Maini as the duty manager pushed her job to someone else. Throughout the conversion, Maini was not apologetic about the delay and gave me the impression that we are posing on her! As a duty manager, Maini failed to understand what it is about service. When Maini was missing in action, one of her staffs at the reception must have felt embarrassed that the manager was treating the guests so poorly that she apologised to us on Maini’s behalf. The poor staff had to whisper the apology to us, which clearly show the disapproval of the manager’s attitude in handling our case. Of course, I never get to speak to the GM as the duty manager was not seen since.

I believe Mani was a one-off case. When she pushed her responsibility to the housekeeping executive, Hidayah, things were different. Hidayah displayed empathy with our situation and listened with an open heart. She was shocked that we were not given an alternate suite and were told to wait without any updates. Hidayah told the pains to take over a job which was not in her job scope and exceeded what the duty manager could have done. Hidayah was sincere in her apology about the delay in the checking in and escorted us to the suite. She even showed us where the problem area was and assured us that things were fix. She even told us to give her a call should we need anything. At this point, I felt Hidayah has taken over the function of what a duty manager should be doing. Hidayah also took the trouble to show us around the suite and briefed us on the facilities in the suite. When I brought up the issue regarding a late checkout, Hidayah arranged a complimentary late check out for us almost immediately. Hidayah displayed what is service all about despite not part of her job, instead of pushing the bucket to another person.

The other staff I spoke to the next day when checking out was Danny. Danny was the duty manager on the day of my checking out and took the time to listen with an open mind on my encounter with Maini. He was embarrassed by Maini’s attitude and even highlighted that Maini should have done some service recovery. Danny was empathetic to our situation and mentioned that such things should not have happened. As a duty manager, Maini should have listened to us and help us solve our problem and not keep us in suspense regarding the status of our suite. Despite not his fault, Danny took the responsibility and apologised on behalf of Maini and the team. It is apparent that Danny internalised what is it to be service-oriented and thanked me for bringing this feedback to his attention.

Other than the Duty Manager Maini and some of the staffs at the check-in counter, the staffs that we met were fantastic. The housekeeping staff that I met along the corridor smiled and greeted us whenever we walk past. There was an instance I approached her for some bath amenities, despite being interrupted with her work, the staff smiled and acceded to my requests. She even asked if we need more water. This shows that the staff does her job with a heart (of taking care of the guests). The staffs at the Swatches Restaurant were friendly as well. I approached the egg station the staff there were smiling and asked if one egg is enough. Plates were cleared almost immediately by the observant staffs whenever we finished our food. Even when we leave the restaurant, the staff greeted us and bid us farewell.

The hardware in the hotel is fantastic. We had a good night sleep and the suite is clean and comfortable. The suite is large and very self sufficient. The facilities in the hotel is great (it is a pity that we did not get to use them as our plan was disrupted by the late check-in saga). Howeve,r the service needs to be improved tremendously. Our check-in was way past the stipulated time, the attitude displayed by the duty manager Maini is to be frowned upon. The service lapse and the attitude of the duty manager dissuaded me to recommend the hotel to others. I would think twice about staying at Fraser Place Kuala Lumpur.