* Grand Millennium, Kuala Lumpur

The greatest asset of Grand Millennium I think, is its location. This hotel is located at Jalan Bukit Bintang, right in the heart of Kuala Lumpur's Golden Triangle district. Being the hub of the city's commercial and business activities, this is indeed a very happening place. The convenience of transportation, shopping and dining probably adds points to it when choosing a city hotel. 

Directly opposite it is the Fahrenheit shopping mall.There are dozens of taxis plying up and down the street and many more parked just outside the hotel.

 Adjacent to it on the left hand side is the Pavilion shopping mall and opposite that is the Starhill Gallery.

On the right hand side is a bank and a row of restaurants serving middle-eastern cuisines. Just diagonally opposite it is Piccolo Hotel, Lot 10 shopping mall and the Bintang Walk. A little further down are Sungei Wang Plaza, Bukit Bintang Plaza and Low Yat Plaza which are all shopping havens, not to mention more shops and restaurants along the way. The monorail station where you can board a train to interesting places like Chinatown etc is also in the vicinity.

There is a food court diagonally opposite the hotel where you can find cheap oriental food. 

Chinese, Taiwanese, Korean and even Thai food is available here and you can get a meal for less than RM15. 

We tried food from this stall and all I can say is 'no regrets'.

Well, so much about what is available outside, now I am going to show you what this hotel has to offer. To start with, the hotel lobby  is quite impressive. There is a magnificent chandelier that will not fail to catch anyone's attention as it is so huge.  

There is a very stylish looking stairs that lead to the first floor and small lounges with comfortable sofas here and there. 

There are a number of reception counters and more sitting places here. We originally booked an executive club room that comes with executive club privileges but the entire 17th and 18th floors (the executive club floors) were closed for renovation. This left the hotel with little choice but to upgrade us to stay in the executive suite.

  There is another beautiful chandelier at the reception area.

These cactus like lamps are also eye-catching as they are exceptionally big.

This is the lobby at night.

We stayed at Executive Suite No 802 on the 8th floor. 

This is the sitting room of the suite. There is a big TV, a comfortable sofa and chairs. There are also a few floor to ceiling glass windows so we could enjoy an unhindered view of the city.

This is the view of Pavilion Mall taken from our room.

There is a working table in the sitting room. Wired internet service is available but at an exorbitant rate of RM69/day. WIFI is available at the lobby area but the charge is also RM69/day. Fortunately parking is free.

There is a small washroom/toilet in the sitting room.

This is the bedroom. We are generally pleased with the design and furnishing of the suite. 

This is the closet. Provided are hangers, electric iron and ironing board, bathrobes and slippers.

There are many drawers for storage of things. There is a safety box, a hair dryer and a torchlight in case of a blackout.

There is a mini-bar, coffee and tea making facilities, complimentary mineral water and some tea and coffee sachets. Snacks and all things in the mini bar are chargeable.

There is a 2nd TV in the bedroom.

The washroom is big but looks gaudy. The same type of marble is used from floor to table top to all the 4 walls. I would give an "F" to the interior designing here.

These are the bath amenities and toiletries provided.

For a 5-star hotel, I wouldn't say everything is tip-top or sparkling clean. For instance, this rusty strainer on the bathtub should have been replaced. Housekeeping service is also not meticulously done  as dirt between tile grooves are quite obvious.

I'll move on to the facilities offered. The 3rd floor is the spa and recreation floor. There is a flower-shaped swimming pool for guests but as can be seen here the pool is not that clean.

The pool area is also not as beautifully landscaped compared to other hotels I've stayed.

I would however give thumbs-up to the gym as it is equipped with state of the arts workout machines. There is also a squash court but I skipped my visit there as I have no interest in squash at all.

There is a shop on the lobby floor.

There is also a Business Center with IT , printing and business services. As executive club room guests we are only entitled to 1 hour complimentary usage of the room. As an ordinary room guest, usage of this place is chargeable.

There are 4 F&B outlets and 1 bar in the hotel. This is Bistro 160, located on the lobby floor. Since the executive lounge is closed for renovation, Bistro 160 is used as the temporary executive lounge for executive club room guests. We can come here for free flow of beverages all day round.

This is the smoking section of Bistro 160.

Executive Club room guests are given a complimentary pre-dinner cocktail where you can have your choice of wine and beverages. It also comes with a simple meal.

 The meal is served in this 3-tier platter.

All these are items served for our cocktail meal.

This restaurant called The Mill is where we had our breakfast.

There is a good spread of breakfast cuisines and about 70% are above average.

This is the hotel bar. There is also  a Chinese restaurant and a Japanese restaurant.

These are the meeting/conference rooms.

There are nice lounges outside the meeting/conference rooms.


In terms of location, Grand Millennium may top the list but in terms of service this hotel loses out to hotels in the same area like Ritz Carlton or even The Royale Chulan. It definitely is not the best hotel to stay in.