Outward Vacay: Promenade Hotel Kota Kinabalu

I'll admit that I've once vowed never to come back to this hotel, due to a very bad experience with the front desk staff, several years ago. Suffice to say, I've avoided this hotel soon afterwards like a plague. So when my partner persuaded me to give it another chance after seeing that the price was reasonably cheap for our third and final hotel hopping adventure, I relented. And this time around, I got a much, much better experience than before.

We were there right before the New Years so it's a festive atmosphere all around the lobby area. The front desk this time around were friendlier and most importantly, more professional and attentive. It's either they'd retrained their staff over the years (which they really should) or I just got lucky this time around. So checking in was a positive experience and we're given a refurbished Junior Suite room at the right wing of the hotel. The view was spectacular, with a full view of both the sea and the new Oceanus Waterfront mall near the hotel. The room itself was very modern looking, with a comfortable sitting area (with its own TV) and an even better separate bedroom (although the bed was a bit short in terms of height). Now I have stayed at the hotel (in the same room before it was refurbished) before my little 'incident' so all I can say is that the hotel has done a great job at updating the previously very dated room. What I loved most about the room was the touch screen feature within the entire room, which was pretty impressive for a hotel in KK. The bathroom was huge in size and the showers were just perfect with its high water pressure. The room also had another separate section for the dressing table right next to the bedroom which I (mostly) used throughout our stay. While we were resting in our room, a staff came to personally deliver a complimentary fruit platter, which I think was a good touch by the hotel. The only thing that I think they should improved on was their parkings. If you're willing to pay a certain amount of money per hour, then there should be no problem for you to park your car right in front of the hotel's main entrance. But do not worry if you're not willing to do so (like us) since they also had basement parkings, but that also did not come free (as it should since you're staying there right?) as they'll ask you to pay RM2.00 per entry.

So all in all I'd say...

Type - Junior Suite
Room - 4/5 (the hotel's decision to refurbished its rooms definitely paid off)
Price - 3/5 (try looking through hotel booking sites for a cheaper rate)
Service - 4/5 (a much improved service especially from the front desk)
Decor - 4/5 (classic looking on the outside, modern on the inside)
Facilities - 4/5 (there's also a pool and banquet hall that seems to be popular for weddings)
Location - 4/5 (right in front of the new Oceanus Waterfront mall and right next to Wawasan Plaza)