If we hadn't got a really good deal and hadn't stayed in an Executive King Suite with Executive Floor access, the Furama would only get two stars from us. This 3-star rating is a compromise between the 4-star we'd rate the service and food in the Executive Lounge and the rating we'd give the hotel generally (and, please note, we travel a lot, have been to KL several times...usually staying at the Doubletree by Hilton.
THE POSITIVES:
1. The location of the Furama is good and, if you get a room on the side of the hotel facing Berjaya Times Square, you can get great views of Petronas Towers and KLCC;
2. The staff are, generally, friendly, helpful and efficient. We were particularly impressed by the service given to us by a lovely young Nepalese woman (Puja) in the Executive Lounge;
3. The snacks and drinks provided in the Executive Lounge were very tasty, with a good variety of food, although the alcoholic beverages list is rather limited in comparison to other places offering Executive Club;
4. The breakfast options provided in the Executive Lounge were much better quality, if not as varied as varied than those in their main restaurant - Spices;
5. We were able to get a late check-out until 3pm at no extra cost.
THE NEGATIVES"
1. The whole hotel is generally tired and dated...even the rooms on the Executive level need a complete make-over. The views are good, if you're in the right room. Otherwise, rooms are average at best;
2. This is the first time we have ever stayed in an Executive Suite that only offers a shower recess instead of both bath and shower; there is a hair-dryer but no powerpoint in the bathroom where you can use it; there is a mini-bar, but it virtually has nothing in it and no price list for anything in it. You do get a Room Service menu displayed on the TVs when you arrive and a list of prices to replace item such as bath robes and soap dishes (there wasn't one in the first place in our room); the provision of toiletries was also a bit light on - only 1 bar of soap??
3. We had issues with the WiFi in our room from the get-go. After we contacted Reception, it improved slightly but it remained slow and still kept cutting out for the duration of our 2-day stay when in the room. It worked well only in the Executive Lounge and, ironically, in the hallway;
4. The quality of breakfast food in Spices was well below what we would expect from such an establishment. Even though we usually pay the extra for Executive Lounge access, we always try the main restaurant breakfasts at least once everywhere we stay because there is usually more variety at the same quality and it is interesting to "people watch." We went down to Spices on the 1st morning at about 9:15am after a late-night check-in to find most of the food looking tired, dried out and cold with still an hour & 15 minutes to go of service. There is an "Egg Station," but it only makes omellets, the juice is canned and the breads and pastries were stale. After trying some juice, one pakora (small, cold and as hard as a rock) and a sip of terrible coffee, we went straight upstairs to the Executive Lounge;
5. Our check-in just before midnight was smooth but very lacking in information from Reception. For example, we weren't told anything about the Executive Lounge - where it was, etc...and felt like complete w**kers after twice using the lift to go up to the 25th floor, then walk down the stairs...only to find out that we could have walked straight in from a doorway at the end of our hallway on the 24th floor!!!
6. We were just finishing our breakfast on the Executive Floor on our last day when we were approached by a man requesting we write a review for Tripadvisor while we were still actually there! We thought this highly rude and inappropriate. The same man also tried to talk us into taking the hotel transport to KLIA2 (150 ringgit), rather than taking a metred Budget Taxi (which cost us 53 ringgit).
Overall, we would consider staying at the Furama again if we got another good deal for the Executive Club and/or they do a major renovation, otherwise, it's back to the Doubletree for us.
P.S. We understand Malaysia is a Muslim country and 100% support the concept that all International standard hotels, in our country and others, should provide non-pork alternatives. Further to this, I, personally, rarely eat bacon so it wasn't an issue for me. However, my husband likes real bacon with his eggs...beef bacon and chicken bacon just don't cut it for him. The Furama obviously employs non-Muslims to serve alcohol (e.g; Puja in the Exec. Lounge). Why isn't it possible to employ a non-Muslim person who is responsible for handling, preparing,cooking, cleaning up after, etc pork-bacon?? Other Muslim hotels seem to be able to cater for non-Muslim preferences and it seems rather hypocritical to serve and, indeed, promote alcohol (e.g; ads in the lift), but not offer bacon to order.
