Monday, December 17, 2012

A Night at the ibis...in Style

Prologue
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Imagine that you have been on a long journey off the beaten track; weary you realize you've been wandering through the desert for ever.

Suddenly in the horizon, you see an Oasis. You are skeptical at first, but soon your sense of touch, smell and sound soon affirms your hopes. All around you; no longer sandy desert sand, but luscious greens and abundance....


This, is the 'Ibis Styles Kuala Lumpur @ Fraser Business Park'. And On the 6th December 2012, I had the pleasure of experiencing this fabulous hotel.

Profiling the Ibis
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The Ibis Family of hotels are part of the Accor group which has over a dozen hotel brands internationally; each positioned to serve a diverse market.

Source from: http://www.accor.com/en/brands/brand-portfolio.html
The Ibis Styles hotel is positioned as a 3.5 Star premium economy international hotel. They are spread throughout Europe, the Middle East and Asia and are rapidly expanding.

In Malaysia, Ibis Styles has opened 2 new hotels in Kuala Lumpur ( This one and 1 in Cheras) set to be launched in early 2013. They will be rapidly opening easily a dozen more throughout the region in the few years to come.

This hotel in particular has about 500 chic-styled rooms for the guests' enjoyment.

Location, Location, Location
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The location of the ibis is closer to Jalan MP 2 than the main road.
Location

This hotel is connected to the new 'One Metro Pudu Complex' @ Fraser Business Park. This is a new shopping & Lifestyle development near central Kuala Lumpur. In terms of Public Transport it is surprisingly easy to find the place as there is a 5 minute direct access way that leads from the 'Chan Sow Ling LRT station' to the hotel via the Shopping Complex.

Trius Tips: The 'Chan Sow Ling LRT Station' is an interchange along the Star LRT track that leads to many other business attractions within the Golden Triangle in KL. 

The immediate surroundings include the upcoming Shopping Complex, an urban college (Help College), local & premium restaurants and many entertainment centres. There is an abundance of convenient stores for your daily consumables and many internet cafes for communication. If this is not your thing? The VIVA: Home, entertainment & Lifestyle mall is just a 3 minute drive away.

Checking In
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Lobby Reception at the ibis Styles 
The reception has 3 ovular reception desks with the capacity of 6 staff to man them at any time.

Source: Ibis Styles - Group Check in Counter
What I find interesting is that they do have a entirely separate group check in counter at the back to ease the load off the primary desks.

Friendly Hotel Staff!


Being a Premium economy hotel, the staff are a capable yet friendly bunch. Check in process was quick and efficient & luggage transport service is available.

Facilities
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Building up to the guest room, let me first explain the facilities available in this hotel. (That is just how amazing the rooms are).

Source: Ibis Styles - Dining Area
The Hotel has an open concept kitchen restaurant, an atrium bar, 4 meeting rooms (although I counted 5 small ones and 1 large seminar style room), a kids corner, a business centre and a gym.

Seminar styled Meeting Room


Kid's Corner
The hotel stay includes breakfast & complimentary WIFI.

The Room
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Ladies and gentlemen, without further a due may I present..... The Room.

My vibrant room!
Insta-ed at @triblade84 =)
Ibis Styles has 500 of these rooms packed with vibrant colours, abundance of lighting  welcoming travellers with a sense of joy and relaxation. Not only are the decor & furniture stylish, they are also practical.

Even has your very own iDevice Alarm clock!
Everything thought of for the urban traveler.

Love the Table!
What I love about the room is the spacious and practical table of which I feel like I could do my thesis here. Its got a space where I could put and work on my laptop, and then theres a thicker portion of which I could put my pile of text books and such.

Lounge Sofa
The room also has a lounge sofa, a 32 inch TV mounted into the wall, a safety box, and a romantic couple shower.

Wall mounted TV & stylish bathroom 
And last but not least, The other thing that I love about the room is its bed. It has one of the most comfy beds I have ever slept in. I attempted to look for its brand and model to keep in mind for my new apartment..... but then I fell asleep. Y.Y

Fooddd
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Dining at the hotel.

Source: Ibis Styles - The Dining Area
The concept of the restaurant is to provide an initial taste of the local food in a local environment within the hotel premise. What do I mean by that?

The restaurant portrays scenes from Kuala Lumpur's World Famous Food Street. . . Jalan Alor.

Just like the Good ol' Kopitiams =)
The table settings & the open kitchen view gives a feel to what they would experience at Jalan Alor.
Which I personally think is a brilliant idea.

As for food, I decided to try out a few dishes which were pretty authentic!

Starting with Fruits & Tea

Tasting the best in the house!

Kampung Style Nasi Goreng (Fried Rice)

Their Speciality the Sup Ekor (Oxtail Soup)

Appetizer: Garlic Bread to dip in the soup.
Breakfast is served at both the restaurant & bar area to maximise the use of the space.

Checking Out
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All in all, I think the Ibis Styles has got their theme and setting right. Starting at RM200 per night, with what is provided, I think is a reasonable price for an accommodation of this stature.

Being at its soft launch stage there are still minor touching ups and a progressive opening of the upper floors, but having said that, I look forward to seeing it reach its potential when it officially launches in late January 2013.

Once again I would like to thank the management & staff of Ibis Styles and their PR representative for inviting & taking care of me during my review of the hotel (You know who you are ;) ).

I had the best sleep in ages and I would certainly look forward to staying again when I decide to take a day of retreat.

See you soon!! OPPA IBIS STYLES! 

This is Trius signing off and Have a Great Year ahead =)

Disclaimer: Some of the photos used in this entry were from Ibis Styles, and the Accor. All others were by me =)

Amazon!!