Staycation at Intercontinental KL

Before the pandemic, I would scoff at the idea of a staycation, especially at the concept of one. It's been over a year now, and between not being to cross state lines, let alone international borders... staycation it is?

I dunno how the guy who sells my dad the Gourmet Collection membership got his number in the first place, but we got a booklet of those (that we only recently managed to get the expiry dates extended to end of July) just languishing. So I took one of those vouchers and made a trial run of using it (cos I'm not the named supplementary card holder) by booking a one-night stay at the Intercontinental in downtown KL. Had to do it old school and phoned in a booking.

Parking: Maybe it was my dumb luck, but the parking gantry crapped out on me and it wouldn't dispense a ticket when I got there Saturday afternoon, also holding up traffic behind me. Had to have one of the parking staff pull out a ticket for me. Despite being reassured that all I needed to do was validate (again) at the parking office on the way out, I was left waiting for about 10 minutes because there was no one in said office to validate. Had to settle for yelling at the person on the other side of the "help" button on the exit gantry to get out of there. 

Checking in: There were several couples that were behind me in the parking lot (see above) who beat me to check-in at the lobby because of social distancing measures, so that took awhile. By the time it was my turn, I think they're afraid I might snap from the RBF I was giving out. I just handed over the hard copy confirmation email I got from them and also the voucher in question. It was one of the "special price" vouchers, which means I still had to pay for it; I wonder if they'll bat an eyelid when the time comes to redeem the complimentary stay ones... 

Room: Deluxe room with king bed on the 23rd floor (non smoking). It was plenty spacious for just lil ol' me. Slept fine until it got too cold for me. I just wished the in-room safe was big enough to stash a laptop flat without laying in on the side? 

If nothing else, I finally got to use the bath oils I haven't been able to use since there's no bathtub in my everyday life. Nope, I didn't get a bath bomb for the occasion.

Wi-Fi was not bad: it was speedy enough for me to stream my usual shows on the laptop. 

There's blinds for the bathroom windows if you're not an exhibitionist?

Finished most of the pod coffee before checking out.
Swiped the rest.

You bet I swiped these

Mostly wore one robe to the pool

Figured the shoe brush and horn wasn't for swiping?

Too many towels, but swiped everything else

Flashlight in the drawer

Pillow menu - ended up with too many pillows I never used in the end
cos I asked for a couple firmer pillows which weren't as firm as I expected

(back of card)

Other facilities: Due to the times we're in, you're only allowed 30 minutes at the pool. You know they keep the riffraff out because it's only accessible by keycard. Probably only got about 25 minutes total in my time there. At least I was the only person using it when I did. 

Also took advantage of the shuttle service to KLCC and Pavilion that only operates on weekends which was first come, first serve for in-house guests (they ask for room number). Caught the last one out for the day to go to KLCC, which is round the bend and down the road from the hotel and technically walkable (but why). It's been awhile since I was last in KLCC in the evening. Hopped on the GOKL bus for the long, circuitous ride back to the hotel several hours later when my feet were done for the day.  

Hotel shuttle to KLCC and Pavilion (FCFS)

Spent the rest of the night in the room sipping chamomile tea and kinda watching the Prince Philip funeral on CNN.

It was only at breakfast the next day that I realised there were more families with young kids than I thought. Because it's fasting month, Serena Brasserie was packed with non-Muslims. According to the info sheet I got at check in, breakfast was split into 2 sessions: 6 am and 8 am (?). I only made it downstairs before 9.30 a.m.. It was a typical breakfast service in that they have just about everything one could want for breakfast - nasi lemak, roti canai, Western, baked goods, dim sum... 

Hung around the room after breakfast, supposedly packing. Only made it out with minutes to go before noon LOL. Even the guy checking me out of the hotel kept asking if I had everything and all I could say was "I hope so?". 

Ate so much at breakfast it ended up more like brunch instead. 

Onion-free omelette, but it still had the onion flavour 

After having one of the pod coffees in the room before breakfast, I opted for hot chocolate
(they took hot drink orders as you enter)

Tried a slice of gluten free bread. It was ok lah I guess

All the mini salads I never partook

Got greedy and asked for poached eggs after the omelette.
Sadly, didn't finish the bread. 

Took one for later consumption in the room