IHG Hotels & Resorts are making a statement in the local market with the opening of Hotel Indigo alongisde the revival of the Crowne Plaza brand here in Malaysia.
The hotel exited Malaysia some years ago but are now back with Crowne Plaza Kuala Lumpur City Centre. Though predominantly known as a business hotel, Crowne Plaza KL hopes to reinvent itself as a location for work and play.
I booked two nights at the hotel for a special occassion and they were nice enough to offer us an upgrade for the room. Yep, it's nice to be a writer some days.
Crowne Plaza Premium King Room
Earlier when I booked the room, I indicated that we'd be celebrating my wife's birthday. Good hoteliers usually make it a point to enhance your stay with a brithday surprise in the form of snacks or decorations and Crowne Plaza came ready with both.
Hopefully, they repeat their hospitality with other guests celebrating special occassions too. If not, send them this article. The chocolate cake was amazing and the cake shaped like a bed was a delight for my kids. I've said it before and I'll say it again, the tiny details set a good hotel apart from a great hotel.
The details go into the rest of the room as well with its curved design around the bed and walls that gives the room an open feel along with the switches that have labels on them.
I'll say it one more time for the people in the back, PUT. LABELS. ON. YOUR. LIGHT. SWITCHES. It shows you're thinking about the experience of someone checking in for the first time at your hotel and that you want lift the burden of understanding your controls.
The crib provided was a wooden one that was bigger than average. You can also pull the railing up for extra security. That's a really good feature in a hotel and not everyone will provide such a good quality crib.
Each room also comes with a bathtub and since the Premium King Room comes with a separate shower. Do note that the toilet is the... open kind and if you're sharing a room with someone you're unfamiliar with, you may close the blinds in the toilet.
There's no coffee maker here, which is sad, but special mention needs to made about the office chair they put in here. It's one of the best chairs we've sat on and is ergonomic to boot.
Not all the rooms have the same layout and the King room pictured on the right above has a working table that faces out towards the window. It's recommended for business travellers who want a desk that faces outwards, but you'll need to call ahead and make sure you have the right room.
Food at Merchants All Day Dining
Pictured above is the River Shrimp Curry Noodles (RM55) and the Claypot Mirchi & Mint Lamb Biryani for two (RM80) which were both exceptional.
It was a huge portion for the curry noodles so we recommend you share that with another person. Since the biryani was meant for sharing, the portion was also similarly large. The broth in the curry noodles was not too spicy but packed with flavour from the prawn and chicken stock. The prawn was crispy and fresh and you don't feel like you've overpaid for curry noodles.
The biryani had the strong smell of spices that you'd expect and together with the heat from the curry lamb, this was a hearty meal that warms you up. The lamb was tender and the dish was baked in bread for a bit of visual drama.
I asked why the emphasis on local dishes and the chef mentioned that they wanted to highlight local cuisine to travellers who want to try Malaysian food. Not only Malaysian food, but local food that's made to the highest quality.
They're playing to their strengths and luckily, they're really good at making local comfort food. I'll leave the value proposition up to you, but as a first impression of local flavours, I think foreigners will enjoy the local dishes at Merchants.
Breakfast Buffet at Merchants
I've had so many breakfast buffets over 10 years of being a writer and I can say that this one ranks among the top I've experienced. It doesn't have the variety of say Mandarin Oriental, but they've nailed the quality of offerings for breakfast.
Fresh honeycomb, actual bread loaves—not the mass produced stale looking bread, actual artisanal bread, artisanal pastries, kombucha, cheese, and surprise daily offerings greet you in the morning.
Usually things like pastries are the same each day but not here, as each day had different offerings. Bread is similarly an after thought but here, you actually have options of different artisan breads to sample.
One morning they were serving portugese egg tarts and the next day they made fruit cocktails. The barista also makes a mean teh tarik and kopi ais at your request.
The actual spread consisted of local and western dishes with the usual suspects being present, porridge, nasi lemak, roti canai, noodles, and pasta (beef lasagna being the case here). The Indian food station stood out here as the roti canai was made to order at the live station and there's a big selection of curries.
The noodle station also rotates its offerings: one morning curry noodle and the next prawn noodle.
This points to a kitchen that is ready and willing to try new things each day and that they're having fun with their menu. Even the pancakes and waffles aren't the usual variety with the former being a souffle pancake and the waffles are chocolate waffles.
We hope they're able to maintain this variety and continue to experiment with their offerings in the morning as well as expand the weekend dinner buffet to compete with other hotels.
Pool, gym, and other experiences
The rooftop pool is a little small but the natural greenery here with a vertical garden does make you feel relaxed. There's a separate jacuzzi off to the corner and a see-through deck that is not for the faint of heart.
Next to the pool is a gym that's also kind of small, but it's fully equipped. The view however is obstructed by a luxury residence and the other half is a view of kampung baru.
Finally, there's an up-and-coming business centre for people to rent as a co-working space but it's not open yet. There are tiny working pods and individual working stations around the lobby which I thought was quite cool.
There are individual seats that envelop you inside with a table and charging point attached to the chair itself, really cool.
Similarly, there are working pods with a TV screen for meetings as well. You can also plug in your computer via HDMI to do presentations in the pods. This is another example of how Crowne Plaza hopes to meld work and play.
Being a business hotel with a slightly smaller footprint, there's no Kid's Club here or facilities specifically made for children. The hotel is also not exactly near to public transportation, but adventurous travellers can easily walk to the nearby MRT.
It's also one short drive away from KLCC and we suspect travellers will hit KLCC first and use the trains from there to go around KL.
Final thoughts on Crowne Plaza KL
There are many, many hotels in KL that you can choose from these days for a staycation and Crowne Plaza has a lot of competition. That said, the hotel opened in December and during our stay, there was a healthy amount of people.
People who come for the brand name won't be disappointed as they live up to international standards in terms of room quality as well as the food.
Parents with little children might find the amenities lacking a little so try to plan outings around KL to fill the little ones' time. For everyone else, Crowne Plaza is a decent option if you're looking for a new hotel in the heart of KL for a staycation.
Book your stay at Crowne Plaza here.