Hotel Excelsior Ipoh — Hotel in Perak

I have stayed at this hotel several times over the years, mainly because of its excellent location right in the heart of Ipoh. It is within walking distance of many famous eateries, shops and local attractions, making it an easy choice when convenience is a priority. However, this most recent stay was unfortunately my most disappointing one to date.||Let me start with the check-in experience which was a major letdown. The process was incredibly slow and frustrating. Despite several staff members being present, none seemed to take initiative to assist the guests who were clearly queuing and waiting. Instead, they appeared to be walking around aimlessly without addressing the long line. The check-in system itself is very outdated and overly manual which contributes to the delay. It is 2025 and most hotels now have digital or semi-digital check-in processes that are far more efficient. I genuinely hope the management considers upgrading their system and provides proper training to the front desk staff to improve both speed and customer service awareness.||Another consistent issue I have faced over multiple stays is room assignment, specifically regarding bed preference. I always book a king-bedded room but not once have I actually received one. Every time I ask about it, the response is always the same as that king-bedded rooms are reserved for tour group members. This is not only unreasonable but also unfair to other paying guests. It gives the impression that unless you are part of a tour, your preferences will not be honored which I find both ironic and disappointing.||For this stay, I was given a superior room with two single beds instead. The room itself was of adequate size and came with the expected basic amenities. However, there were still several noticeable shortcomings. The air-conditioning unit was a major issue as it was far too warm and struggled to cool the room properly, even after several hours of being turned on. This made sleeping at night uncomfortable and certainly affected our overall rest and experience.||Additionally, the bathroom, while average in size was missing key items like hand towels and face towels which used to be provided during my previous stays. It is disappointing to see this kind of inconsistency as these are basic items that should come standard in any hotel room.||The TV quality was poor with blurry visuals and very limited channel options which shows a lack of upkeep. ||Then there is the parking situation which continues to be a challenge. The access route to the parking area involves a steep and narrow winding driveway that requires serious maneuvering skills. It’s especially tricky for larger vehicles or inexperienced drivers. Parking here is not just inconvenient but it is actually stressful.||Overall, while I have appreciated this hotel’s location in the past, this recent experience has made me seriously reconsider returning. The service levels have declined and the lack of responsiveness and outdated systems are no longer acceptable, especially when better alternatives are becoming available nearby. In fact, I noticed that a newly refurbished large-scale hotel is opening just a five-minute walk away which offers potential guests another option and quite possibly, a better experience.||Unless the management takes these issues seriously in upgrading their check-in system, respecting bed preferences, ensuring comfortable room conditions, maintaining amenities and training staff to be more customer-focused, otherwise they risk losing repeat...

My family and I stayed at this hotel during our trip Ipoh from 28.01.2025 - 30.01.2025, a 2-night stay. We initially intended to extend our trip until 31.01.2025. However, on our second day, the cleaning service was so deplorable that it tainted our second night. On the third day, we were forced to leave because of this. To start with, there were 2 cleaners that entered the room on the 2nd day. One of them was a fair-skinned, Northern Indian boy. This boy was the reason we had to leave. On our first night, my family and I prepared tea and left the cups on the counter. The two cleaners who came in the next day, very reluctantly washed only one of the three used cups. The person who washed the cup was not even this Northern Indian boy. My mother observed this boy shout at the other cleaner for washing this single cup. At the time that this transpired, she did not even realise that only one cup was washed. Around 2pm on our second day in Ipoh, my sister decided to make cups of tea for the three of us. When she removed the cups from the counter, soiled tea bags from two cups fell on to the mat and into my luggage bag, on my clean clothes. It was then that we realised, the Northern Indian cleaner had maliciously put the cups with the soiled tea bags (upside down, to give an appearance of having washed it) as they were, without having washed or replaced them. At this time, I made a call to Housekeeping to alert them of this incident. When the boy returned to help clean the mess that the CLEANERS MADE FOR REASONS UNKNOWN TO US, given that this is a hotel and clean cups SHOULD NOT BE A COMMODITY, HE AGGRESSIVELY BANGED THE DOOR IN AN ATTEMPT TO INTIMIDATE US FOR MAKING A COMPLAINT. Please note that my family and I were all female and this intimidation tactic scared us. Upon entering the room, he rudely and with a heightened tone asked "What happened?", again with words to intimidate. He eventually, very reluctantly vacuumed the spot. We requested that the spot with tea be mopped but he refused, saying that IT NEEDS TO BE DRY FIRST. This is just one of two incidents. The second, and more important note here is that the BATHROOM WAS NOT WASHED. The cleaners simply vacuumed the spot. In my entire life, I have never experienced a hotel this disgusting in terms of hygiene values. As we had already made payment for two nights, we had to stay the night, with the soiled unmopped carpet and the horrendous odour from the bathroom (BECAUSE THE SHOWER DRAIN WAS CLOGGED FROM NOT BEING WASHED). I am now also forced to send all my clothes to laundry because there are tea stains on my brand new washed clothes. On our third day, when we made a complaint to Mr Erwin, he did nothing. When we made our complaint, he was apologetic but later, his tone changed. He became hostile. I am starting to wonder if this hotel is run by thugs. Everyone here takes on a tone of aggression and acts hostile. Perhaps it is because we were a group of women. The air of misogyny was oppressive to...

I am writing to express my deep dissatisfaction and disappointment regarding my recent three-night stay at your hotel. Despite the outdated facilities—which I initially assumed were typical of the local standard—the service I received was far below acceptable, and the overall experience was frustrating and unacceptable.

On the evening of April 11th, after checking into our room, we later realized it was a family-style room connected to another room. That night, the guests in the adjoining room had their TV on at an extremely high volume, watching programs non-stop until 5 a.m., when they began watching a football match even louder. We were forced to call the front desk to ask for assistance. The staff said they would notify the guests, but the noise continued ten minutes later. I called again to request a room change, and while the staff agreed, when I asked whether they had actually reminded the guests next door, they said they had called but the guest hung up. I then asked if they went upstairs to knock on the door, and they ignored the question.

When I asked them to bring us the new room key, a staff member came, and my husband asked why they couldn’t have just knocked on the neighbor’s door directly. Again, the staff chose to ignore the question and left. It was only after my husband knocked on the neighbor’s door himself and asked the front desk staff to come up that they finally came to deal with the situation. The whole incident left us extremely angry and disappointed. What is the point of having a front desk if the staff are unwilling to take responsibility or ensure the safety and comfort of guests? If your staff are so afraid to handle disturbances, where is your security? If something serious were to happen, would everyone just hide?

In addition, throughout the three days we stayed, our key cards stopped working every single day after coming back from the parking lot. Each day, we had to return to the front desk to have them reactivated. Our room fees and deposit had already been fully paid—why were we constantly required to reset our access cards?

While we accepted the aged condition of the hotel as a possible reflection of the local environment, we cannot accept the poor service, lack of accountability, and inadequate support from your staff. We had hoped for a basic level of comfort and security during our stay, but sadly, our experience fell far short of expectations.

I hope the hotel will take this complaint seriously, provide a formal explanation, and improve both your service procedures and staff training to prevent future incidents for...