Fraser Place Puteri Harbour — Hotel in Iskandar Puteri

Thoroughly enjoyed a pleasant and restful stay in room 1615 for 3D2N. Overall we were very impressed with the hotel and would definitely consider returning again! The heated circular kids pool of about 6m diameter was our favourite feature! The larger adult pool wasn’t heated but has a powerful jacuzzi.

The room was decently sized, king sized bed and upholstered headboard were firm and comfortable. Wished that the just-right-sized blanket was slightly larger though. The upholstered high back armchair and ottoman were similarly of great quality – firm and in great condition. The fittings and fixtures in the room appeared new and relatively well maintained – the washer/dryer, handwashing area at the kitchenette, built in carpentry (table and wardrobe).

The attached open-air balcony was great! Our swimwear dried very quickly when we hung it there (they were still damp after being hung overnight in the room). Special mention goes to the mini fridge that was super cold – our milk almost because ice cream; usually the bar fridge in hotels can barely keep anything inside reasonably cold. The generous amount of power sockets is fantastic; no problem even for two people’s devices and chargers being plugged in. Appreciated the complimentary bottled water as well.

The bathtub was spotlessly new and deep, however the loose drain stopper meant that the water was draining pretty quickly. Water pressure for the rainshower and shower head were excellent. The (marble?) tiles at the entrance and toilet were cold to the touch, but are also very slippery when wet. I think the rubber floor mats should be provided by default rather than upon request. No complaints about the bath amenities, other than that the disposable in room slippers were of the poorest quality, do consider getting slightly better ones that are not so thin. I’m not a fan of the heavily scented shower gel/shampoo/conditioner, but that’s not a big deal as I usually bring my own.

The room in general suffers from poor soundproofing – we can hear the booming of chairs and feet from the adjacent unit upstairs, faint music from the band at the hard rock café at night, but most frustratingly would be the loud twang/boom of vehicle exhausts from street racing at night. The thin glass sliding doors and thin curtains do not help much, and light sleepers would probably not have a good night’s rest. I wonder if the rooms facing away from the road would be quieter? Also, the four legged study chair may need better padding as the parquet is showing significant wear, so perhaps when due for replacement, office chairs with rollers could be considered. Similarly, the luggage rack is missing rubber caps on 2 out of 4 legs, which scratch the parquet floor. Hangers with metal clips are loose/damaged, so do check/replace them.

Suggestions for maintenance/renewal/improvement: improve main building singage to include fraser Place (large sign only stated Pinetree resort); consider a welcome email could pre-empt guests with some instructions? -wall mounted directions from level 1 carpark to lift lobby is unclear – I thought the closed double doors were the Surau -Upholstered seats in the lobby has obvious/unsightly stains -Exterior walls of the building are in need of an overdue fresh coat of paint -Urinals at the swimming pool toilet are very foul smelling, have blackened drainage spots and some even have discarded tissues thrown there -Height of washbasin in toilet is too shallow – poor design whereby water splashes out and collects on the countertop -Bottom corner of the silicone liner of glass shower partition has black/mold -Increase in room dining options, or at designate a place at the café for guests who want to order ala carte dishes (we were told that we could only have the buffet there) -Allocate a space for (i) a business center whereby we could work on our laptops and (ii) provide tables and chairs for guests who want to have a meal, chat, or play...

Thoroughly enjoyed a pleasant and restful stay in room 1615 for 3D2N. The heated circular kids pool of about 6m diameter was our favourite feature! The larger adult pool wasn’t heated but has a powerful jacuzzi.||The room was decently sized, king sized bed and upholstered headboard were firm and comfortable. Wished that the just-right-sized blanket was slightly larger though. The upholstered high back armchair and ottoman were similarly of great quality – firm and in great condition. The fittings and fixtures in the room appeared new and relatively well maintained – the washer/dryer, handwashing area at the kitchenette, built in carpentry (table and wardrobe). ||The attached open-air balcony was great! Our swimwear dried very quickly when we hung it there (they were still damp after being hung overnight in the room). Special mention goes to the mini fridge that was super cold – our milk almost because ice cream; usually the bar fridge in hotels can barely keep anything inside reasonably cold. The generous amount of power sockets is fantastic; no problem even for two people’s devices and chargers being plugged in. Appreciated the complimentary bottled water as well.||The bathtub was spotlessly new and deep, however the loose drain stopper meant that the water was draining pretty quickly. Water pressure for the rainshower and shower head were excellent. The (marble?) tiles at the entrance and toilet were cold to the touch, but are also very slippery when wet. I think the rubber floor mats should be provided by default rather than upon request. No complaints about the bath amenities, other than that the disposable in room slippers were of the poorest quality, do consider getting slightly better ones that are not so thin. I’m not a fan of the heavily scented shower gel/shampoo/conditioner, but that’s not a big deal as I usually bring my own.||The room in general suffers from poor soundproofing – we can hear the booming of chairs and feet from the adjacent unit upstairs, faint music from the band at the hard rock café at night, but most frustratingly would be the loud twang/boom of vehicle exhausts from street racing at night. The thin glass sliding doors and thin curtains do not help much, and light sleepers would probably not have a good night’s rest. I wonder if the rooms facing away from the road would be quieter? Also, the four legged study chair may need better padding as the parquet is showing significant wear, so perhaps when due for replacement, office chairs with rollers could be considered. Similarly, the luggage rack is missing rubber caps on 2 out of 4 legs, which scratch the parquet floor. Hangers with metal clips are loose/damaged, so do check/replace them.||Suggestions for maintenance/renewal/improvement:|- improve main building singage to include fraser Place (large sign only stated Pinetree resort); consider a welcome email could pre-empt guests with some instructions?|-wall mounted directions from level 1 carpark to lift lobby is unclear – I thought the closed double doors were the Surau|-Upholstered seats in the lobby has obvious/unsightly stains|-Exterior walls of the building are in need of an overdue fresh coat of paint|-Urinals at the swimming pool toilet are very foul smelling, have blackened drainage spots and some even have discarded tissues thrown there|-Height of washbasin in toilet is too shallow – poor design whereby water splashes out and collects on the countertop|-Bottom corner of the silicone liner of glass shower partition has black/mold|-Increase in room dining options, or at designate a place at the café for guests who want to order ala carte dishes (we were told that we could only have the buffet there)|-Allocate a space for (i) a business center whereby we could work on our laptops and (ii) provide tables and chairs for guests who want to have a meal, chat, or play...

In summary, I would recommend to stay away from this place. Check in here on 24-25 Dis 2020 at room 1003, 1013, 1014. Below are the pros and cons :

Pros : Quite new Building and facilities Modern design For a rated 5* property, the offered price was quite affordable ( during CMCO)

Cons : During our arrival (15:00) their system broke down. Thus we have to wait for an hour to check in to our room, not to mention we got the keys to 1003 at 17:00. We hoped that the hotel could offer us compensation by late check out to make up for the time loss, sadly it never happened. Management sucks.

The elevator. Did you know this property only possess 4 elevator, but they have already blocked 2 of them for the use of basement only. So that only leave us with only 2 elevator to go to our rooms and facilities, and truthfully the waiting time until you can get into the elevator is averagely 10-15 minutes. The waiting time grew longer during peak check in time (15:00-16:00) and peak check out time ( 12:00-13:00). Please dont forget the SOP for the elevator is only 4 person at a times, so the waiting time could be slightly longer. Knowing these problem could arise during weekends and PH, the management should have placed chairs in front of the elevator at every level. Not everyone can stay standing for long hours, especially elderly and kids. Once again, the management failed.

Buffet breakfast. During CMCO and RMCO, I have been to various 4* & 5* hotel around Malaysia ( Royale Chulan, Marriot, Grand Blue wave, Sunway and etc) but never have I stumbled the way they have it here, they serve you for what do you want to eat. Now maybe you think its good, its an upgraded service, but the situation is worst. You have to queue up and wait to be served at the buffet counter. The average waiting line is around 30 minutes until you be served. Why? Because only 1 waiter that serve all of us. We only have 2 hands, so there's only so much we can carry before we repeat the same process again to topup our food. Last time I am being treated like this was during my Boarding School days. Never expect to feel it again at a so called 5* property. Please also remember we have only 60 minutes time limit per slot to eat up because the cafe (Swatch) is not large enough to host more than 50 people at a time.

Room condition. Our room 1013 and 1014 doesn't have hot water. Maybe the heater was broken. So we only bath with cold water. I once went to no star hotel, and they excellently have hot bath. Our room 1003 have problems with hand bidet near toilet bowl, pressure to slow. The Bath tub also cant retain water, some sort of problem with the drain cap. Had to call the technician, only for the water retention capability of the bath tub to hold for about and hour, before the same problem repeat. I think old hotel also don't have a problem like this. And to top it up, room 1013 and 1014 have thermostat problem, we cant adjust our room temperature. We already set the aircond temp to 30 degrees, but the aircond still continue blowing up cold air (24 degrees). We slept in cold and wake up with a runny nose.

Lack of facilities control. During CMCO/RMCO, I believe the SOP for hotel facilities ( Swimming pool, gym, etc) usage need to be booked first, so we can practice social distancing and have time limit. This property dont practice it in such a way, you can go up and just dive into the pool. During my visit, the pool was crowded, no social distancing, far exceeded SOP prescription ( 10 person at a time). Well done. If there is new case detected here, I wouldn't be suprised at all.

Summary : In summary, I wouldn't recommend this place. Because it doesn't deserve the star its rated. If they said it was a 3* property, I would have agreed based on my groups...