Step Up to the Plate, Guys - The Pullman Putrajaya

We stayed for a night at the two bedroom apartment as we needed space to work with the rest of the team (staying in different rooms) to prep for our company planning session. Now this hotel is situated somewhere in Putrajaya and by that, I really mean "somewhere" because it's a challenge for us to find it. Putrajaya is already a maze with confusing signages (that's another story in itself) and it really wasn't easy to locate it even with our individual GPS systems (and waze, and finder, and God knows what other gadgets there are to help you get from A to B). 

To sum it up, while the function rooms were well maintained, the accommodation rooms were unfortunately sub-standard and signs of ageing showed due to lack of care, not because the hotel is "old." The overall decor and design of the rooms, to me, didn't have a long term appeal. Bathroom was mouldy at the edges, we found cups in the kitchenette not cleaned properly, countertop's not wiped clean, and the room smelled musky. Corridor was not well lit (but it worked because it hid the stains and scratches on the wooden walls!). By the way, one of our colleagues in a separate deluxe room refused to stay in because his room, apparently, was in a deplorable condition. This, coming from a guy who doesn't mind roughing out in the jungle when we went camping. It spoke volumes of housekeeping standards!

(part of the bathroom. the stains were camouflaged by the overall color of the decor)

 

(it doesn't really look like this. in fact, it was dimmer and this led to the end of the corridor where our room was. it seemed "eerie.")

Rooms apparently had free WiFi but we found out that the farther you are from the main Lobby area, the poorer the reception which pretty much screwed up our prep session. It was already midnight by then and business center was already closed. Thank God for our own broadbands. You see, this hotel is huge. It's made up of several big buildings (see pix below).


(on normal days, this is usually what it looks like - deserted. But there are guests around. You can't really see them because this place is huge)

So if you're housed at one end of the hotel, the lobby, though somewhat centralized, is still quite a way aways. Perhaps WiFi offered in each building would be a better idea. Tip : if you were to drive, then be sure to park nearer to the building you've been assigned to stay (eg Rafflesia, Jasmine, Bunga Tanjung or Lotus). This gargantuan of a development was built to leave an impression - ours was "eh, you remember which building and which elevator we took from the carpark, ah?" and "alamak, I left our file in the car, you can teman me to go take it or not? I takut laaa..."

Staff who were on the grounds (lobby, concierge, bell service, f&b) though, were very pleasant, helpful, and attentive. Congratulations and well done to the team. But housekeeping...hmmm.

Breakfast and lunch at the main coffee house was okay - nothing to shout about, but okay. You may want to try the Mee Mamak though - we ordered this a la carte and it was delicious!

Pullman, focus on giving the same care to all rooms, not just the ones the Ministers use. We "lowly" execs are the ones who make the recommendations, remember?