Took advantage of the Grand Preview special (free 3rd night) to book an Executive Club room.
The experience from first getting out of the cab through to getting into my friend's car on departure was, on the whole, fine, although with a few reservations.
First thing is that they really need to signpost their concierge desk. All the desks looked identical, but some of them are hotel reception, and one was the concierge desk (I think it was the far rightmost desk). In addition, they need a sign or a person telling new arrivals that the Executive Club reception is on the 18th floor. The entire lobby looked brand new, so perhaps they haven't gotten the signs made up yet.
The Executive Club itself is pretty poor. Although you can choose to take breakfast here, the selection is extremely limited compared to what is on offer in the general public downstairs brasserie. You do get to avoid the crowds though. The free snacks on offer throughout the day and the free drinks from 5:30 to 8:30 are a nice touch, but we found we weren't even in the hotel during those times. (When KL is such a bustling city with activity until late at night, who gets back to their hotel so early? Maybe to drop off shopping...). The library consists of a bookshelf of books, and there is exactly one computer hooked up to a printer on offer. It is a quiet and relaxing place to hang out and chill out, rather than being stuck in your room, and business travellers will appreciate the wireless internet connection. What can't be faulted is the staff, who are extremely helpful.
Our room was on the 19th (top) floor of the hotel, and seemed like any other hotel room to me. For a newly refurbished 5 star hotel, I did expect some more luxury in the furniture and fittings. They must have also missed the bathroom during the refurbishment. In addition, the walls were pretty thin (I could hear a lady in the next room scrunch up a plastic bag - God knows what they heard from our room!!!). On the plus side the king-size bed and soft pillows were super comfortable, they use a heavenly green tea L'Occitane collection for their bathroom supplies, and the free laundry service (3 pieces laundered or pressed per day, for EC rooms) works as advertised.
Also, despite being on the 19th floor, the view out the window wasn't anything special (our room faced away from KLCC).
Didn't get a chance to try out the fitness centre, pool, sauna, or jacuzzi facilities. They have a day spa in the hotel, which we also didn't try, particularly after the person that answered the phone couldn't tell me how much a manicure and pedicure was going to cost.
On the whole the refurbishment seemed to have concentrated on jazzing up the lobby and exteriors, and left the rooms themselves sadly lacking. The staff was a mixed bag, with those in the Executive Club extremely helpful, as was the concierge (once we found him), and the porters friendly and efficient. However the staff in the restaurant must have been new. My girlfriend used the salt shaker on our table and to her horror shook out a mixture of salt grains and what appeared to be black hair clippings onto her eggs. When we pointed this out to the waiter, he took the plate away mumbling that he'd take it to be looked at and would return with a new dish. Of course that never came. At no time during breakfast were we asked which room we were in or asked for payment, which was nice, but left us thinking that any old Joe from the street could pop in for a free meal. The downstairs reception staff were functional, but not exactly enthusiastic.
I think the Grand Preview deal is over now, and unless there's a particularly good offer, I'd be curious as to how the other 5 star establishment stack up against the Grand Millenium.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
