Alila Bangsar Kuala Lumpur — Hotel in Kuala Lumpur

Completely unacceptable!

I had one of the worst stays ever at hotel Alila Bangsar, and what happened during my stay far outclasses hiccups in even 3-star hotels I've stayed in. I could hardly even find the hotel, arriving from Bangsar station, walked around the parkade, sweating in the hot weather, only to find the entrance on the opposite side of the parkade. Then you have to travel to the 41st floor to get to reception, which itself can take upwards of a few minutes. Then the thermostat in the room didn't work, and each time maintenance came to fix it, nothing changed, and the room remained a freezer. I contacted the front desk to inform them multiple times, so eventually, I just asked for an extra blanket, which surprisingly did arrive. But just when I thought all my problems were over, I noticed I couldn't plug in my computer to the wall outlet. So yet again, I called "electrical", who then went onto adjusting the socket to accept my plug, but informed me that once I unplugged it, I would no longer be able to use the outlet... what? The next morning, thinking I would have no more issues, I got turned the shower fossit just a bit too far and got sprayed by cold water when I least expected it. The shower cosmetics lack visible labels; the turning mechanism is unclear, even with the signage, and easily allows for turning too far to activate the shower; the garbage doesn't really look like a garbage, with no lining or labels to indicate it. I couldn't even figure out where I'm supposed to put the soap bar... feeling frustrated, I set out to determine if this happened to just me, and sure enough, another guest on the same floor confirmed that they also had issues with the termostat, so they had just turned it off. Of course, I had also tried that, but to no effect either. Intermittent WiFi, with no password provided without explicitly requesting it, and often only maxing out at 100kb/s, no smart TV with Google Chromecast support... the list of inconveniences goes on...

Hotel Alila Bansar did "upgrade" my room to the executive suite, but by then, it only complicated packing, having to re-pack and pack again, given I would check out the following afternoon. To make up for the inconveniences I experienced, they left me a bottle of wine and a jar of... corn flakes? I was kind of hoping for points, a few free nights' stay in Mr. and Ms. Smith, and worse yet, I don't even drink alcohol and don't have space in my luggage to carry it with me to gift to a friend. So in the end, even the condolence gift Hotel Alila Bangsar provided me made my trip more inconvenient, knowing I would have to leave behind valuable alcohol that I could otherwise gift to a friend... thankfully, however, I only then discovered the toggling of colours from green to yellow on the thermostat, indicating heating and cooling respectively. But they definitely couldn't show that on the thermostat screen; they just had to get fancy and change colours only.

It seems like Hotel Alila Bangsar tried to do away with all the commonsense designs that we use today like normal power outlets, separate turning fossits, and labels, in the interest of "looking cool". I seriously question how this hotel can be so highly-rated. Even if you also used Hyatt ponits to secure an upgradable room, you'd do much better to stay in any other hotel than here and enjoy the benefits of walking straight up to your room, having normal fossits, and not freezing so much that you can't sleep. Do yourself a favour and stay away from here until they get their...

Yikes, is this what passes for a “5-star” hotel these days? This place is only 5 years old!

Moldy, musty rooms Stained upholstery Floors that are falling apart Barely any amenities Vacuum cleaner is just stored in the middle of the hallway when not in use

I checked in, and it was okay. They told me there’s a pool and a gym on floor 40. Room is on floor 38. Thanks.

Wow, you’d be forgiven for thinking this was a Days Inn and not an Alila. We checked in to our room, and we were met with the situation outlined above. The room was also very bare. Fridge empty, no stationery, there’s an ice bucket but no where to fill ice, not even a coffee machine in the room (there’s a communal one outside).

Whatever, we went for a swim anyway, since that’s pretty much the only amenity there is to enjoy at this “resort”, as Alila describes it.

We were met with other guests smoking right by the pool! I told the poolside staff about the issue, but they just shrugged their shoulders.

I noticed a restaurant on the 42nd(?) floor, and asked the front desk how to get up there. They said there used to be a restaurant there, but it’s been closed for some time and they don’t know when a new tenant will take the space.

The second day, we noticed our ceiling was leaking! I called the front desk, and they told us we needed to change our room. They said they would send someone up. No apology for the state of the room, especially because we had to re-pack and un-pack or things ourselves. Someone came up to our room, and practically tossed the new room keys at us, then gestured vaguely in the direction of the new room. Again, we need to look at this through the lens of Alila calling themselves a “5-star resort”.

The “chauffeur” service is basically “we will call you a 5MYR grab to one of 3 places only.

The last thing about this place is the absolutely bizarre layout. To get to the advertised “connected” train station, you must:

Take the elevator up from your room to the 41st floor Walk across the front desk to another elevator, which you take down to the 1st floor (only one elevator here) Turn and get on another elevator to the parking garage (also only one) Now you can cross the bridge to the train station

Look, it’s a fine place to rest your head, but not much more. It certainly has no business calling itself a 5-star “resort”. That should be called false-advertising. There are too many luxury brands in Kuala Lumpur to choose from for this place to keep doing business this way. I certainly won’t try an Alila anywhere...

I've stayed here 6-7 times with husband but this is by far the worst experience I've had.

We went out and kept room for make up. Came back 4 hours later at about 8pm and room was not cleaned. How is this even possible. The cleaners were at the same floor and they are so slow. Twice after room cleaned, the cleaner did not put towels. Had to call reception and ask. One towel given had black stains on it. Why was this given? Left the bathrobe on couch and cleaner didn't even bother hanging it. It was just left there like that. Didn't refresh face towels for 2 consecutive days. No paper cones to take snack for the entire 5 days I was there. Asked reception 3 times in a day said they will check. Nobody updated. Only when the fourth time I went back to check 2 days later then was told out of stock. Why didn't they tell at first instance so my time wasn't wasted. Always there are only 2 or 3 mugs at coffee station. Why can't put more knowing there were alot people during the weekend. Pool is icy cold! Perhaps the biggest turn off of this hotel. This is may be because of poor choice of tiles that keeps the water so cold. Watched how people dipped the feet in and walked away because it was just too cold. As a five star hotel, there is no sauna or steam room. Asked for late check out because I had a baby, was not granted. Given until 1pm. That's alot of time??? Despite the poor service the least you could've done is grant late check out, that would've kept our spirits high too. Day manager made it seem like we're asking arm and leg. It was only an addition 2 hours on a Sunday afternoon. Who checks in on Sunday. Your cleaners clean room so slowly until 8/9pm, so why late check out is not possible. Some more we have been a long time customers. Its a pity that my husband went to ask politely to day manager only to be rejected. If you had rejected me, you would've heard about the many poor service your hotel had given us during the stay. On the night at midnight when I came back hotel realised that towels were not kept by cleaners. Only one big towel and no face towels at all. Called the receptionist 3 times but no one picked up. Is this your service? On the 4th day when there were no towel in room I called the receptionist and told to send towel immediately as I need to leave. The towel came 20 mins later. This is immediately to you?

Super bad service from this hotel. Will not be visiting. Service has gone down so much.not child friendly and no empathy...