Spending The Night At Equatorial Bangi-Putrajaya
Equatorial Bangi-Putrajaya is about a half an hour's drive from Kuala Lumpur City Centre if you use the Kuala Lumpur - Seremban Expressway (and pay RM2.70 toll for the privilege).
As this is our first time to this hotel, Zaini told me not to put too high of an expectation on what the hotel can deliver because when I do so, I tend to be very critical. And unfortunately, critical I can be.
The first impression will always be at the reception desk. Reception staff were friendly (most of them, anyway. Especially Chan and Malina - both guys. I joked to Malina that he had the same name as mine if he added a certain alphabet to his name) Chan was nice enough to make a courtesy call to check whether our room was OK. This may be a standard procedure but not all hotel staff practice this.
Our room was located almost at the end of a really long corridor.
A really spacious and roomy deluxe room. At the last minute, we decided to downgrade our room from executive deluxe to a deluxe room and I must say the deluxe room was really nice.
All rooms have a balcony complete with a table and chair for room guests to enjoy the scenery. We had a nice view of the pool and golf course. Green and blue - good for the eyes. :-)
Bathroom was also nice and spacious but instead of having to shower in the tub, I wish they put a separate shower stall for guests to enjoy their shower.
The shower's water pressure is a bit on low side unless you are willing to shower under a scalding hot water. Maybe this is one Eco-Friendly exercise they initiated. I must admit, I like to shower for a really long time under a jet of water when I checked in a hotel which definitely won't do anything to help save Planet Earth. No jet massage shower here. No bathrobes either.
Towels were given at a minimum and as part of their eco-friendly program, you can choose not to change your beddings and towels daily here.
Housekeeping was pretty efficient. Our room was clean and tidy by the time we came back from our breakfast. Maintenance staff deserves a mention too. I made a complaint about the TV reception (or lack thereof) fully expecting that it will get followed up the next day since I made the call at almost 10.00pm but within 10 minutes, a maintenance guy came knocking at the door.
I didn't catch his name but he was really nice and friendly and explained what was wrong with the reception. Even though the TV reception wasn't fully rectified immediately, I was really happy with the service, even though the constant interruption was a bit of an annoyance after a while. The management should look into this.
Talking about TV, the TV channels selection was quite impressive here. Apart from the usual free cable TV and selected Astro channels - Movies, Disney, Discovery, NHK, they have Arirang (Korean), BVN (Dutch), DW-TV (German) and TV5 Monde (French). I spent 10 minutes watching a mind numbingly boring Dutch gameshow called Blokken which seems to be a gameshow that involves contestants playing tetris.
TV channels selections might be impressive enough for me, but I do feel Equatorial Bangi needs to upgrade the old TV sets in the guest rooms. I think it's a 21 inch TV which is soooo outdated! If you want to see a nice big flat screen TV, I guess you'd have to book their suites.
Next up - Meals At The Hotel and The Pool!
As this is our first time to this hotel, Zaini told me not to put too high of an expectation on what the hotel can deliver because when I do so, I tend to be very critical. And unfortunately, critical I can be.
The first impression will always be at the reception desk. Reception staff were friendly (most of them, anyway. Especially Chan and Malina - both guys. I joked to Malina that he had the same name as mine if he added a certain alphabet to his name) Chan was nice enough to make a courtesy call to check whether our room was OK. This may be a standard procedure but not all hotel staff practice this.
Our room was located almost at the end of a really long corridor.
A really spacious and roomy deluxe room. At the last minute, we decided to downgrade our room from executive deluxe to a deluxe room and I must say the deluxe room was really nice.
All rooms have a balcony complete with a table and chair for room guests to enjoy the scenery. We had a nice view of the pool and golf course. Green and blue - good for the eyes. :-)
Bathroom was also nice and spacious but instead of having to shower in the tub, I wish they put a separate shower stall for guests to enjoy their shower.
The shower's water pressure is a bit on low side unless you are willing to shower under a scalding hot water. Maybe this is one Eco-Friendly exercise they initiated. I must admit, I like to shower for a really long time under a jet of water when I checked in a hotel which definitely won't do anything to help save Planet Earth. No jet massage shower here. No bathrobes either.
Towels were given at a minimum and as part of their eco-friendly program, you can choose not to change your beddings and towels daily here.Housekeeping was pretty efficient. Our room was clean and tidy by the time we came back from our breakfast. Maintenance staff deserves a mention too. I made a complaint about the TV reception (or lack thereof) fully expecting that it will get followed up the next day since I made the call at almost 10.00pm but within 10 minutes, a maintenance guy came knocking at the door.
I didn't catch his name but he was really nice and friendly and explained what was wrong with the reception. Even though the TV reception wasn't fully rectified immediately, I was really happy with the service, even though the constant interruption was a bit of an annoyance after a while. The management should look into this.Talking about TV, the TV channels selection was quite impressive here. Apart from the usual free cable TV and selected Astro channels - Movies, Disney, Discovery, NHK, they have Arirang (Korean), BVN (Dutch), DW-TV (German) and TV5 Monde (French). I spent 10 minutes watching a mind numbingly boring Dutch gameshow called Blokken which seems to be a gameshow that involves contestants playing tetris.
TV channels selections might be impressive enough for me, but I do feel Equatorial Bangi needs to upgrade the old TV sets in the guest rooms. I think it's a 21 inch TV which is soooo outdated! If you want to see a nice big flat screen TV, I guess you'd have to book their suites.
Next up - Meals At The Hotel and The Pool!
I think balconies are the unique selling point of a hotel room. It's great that this Equatorial has balconies and for every room! And a lot of green outside too I believe? :)
ReplyDeletewow neat place =)
ReplyDelete@Jim,
ReplyDeleteplenty of green. Pity we didn't have the option of breakfast in bed, then can have a nice breakfast on the balcony. :)
@kenwooi,
it's nice...
Nice hotel room you have there. I always like hotel with balcony. Can sit there enjoying the view and catch some winds.
ReplyDeletei believe most hotels are doing their part to conserve, recycle, and reduce. they are protecting the planet as well as providing a great place for eco-friendly.:)
ReplyDelete@Superman,
ReplyDeleteYeah, and enjoy the night view too.
@Life Ramblings,
true, but I do wish they don't skimp on some items that one would want at a 5 star hotel - like getting a good shower that isn't too slow, a towel each for the guest (in our case, triple) and bathrobes. I like to swan around the hotel room in bathrobes! LOL
Guess I'm not eco-friendly enough.
It's lovely to be pampered in a hotel stay once in a while... but in 4 stars and above hotels. :)
ReplyDelete@ECL,
ReplyDeletetrue, always nice to be pampered. But if I need pampering, the hotels has to be 5 star and above! :D
Wow, that's a nice room and view. I like the corridor, it's by the standard.
ReplyDeleteI love hotels, not too specific with the stars and when I want the pampering the spa does it all for me. P
@Ayie,
ReplyDeleteI'd like to be pampered in a spa. :)
I don't mind as long as the hotel is clean. That's all that matters to me! And not haunted, of course! haha!
ReplyDelete@foong,
ReplyDeleteActually if I can sleep soundly in a hotel without any interruption, I'd consider it not haunted. LOL
One thing for sure, I'd be scared go jalan-jalan with you, with your track record of ghost seeing buddies! :D