Thistle Negatives

Well, I have to be balanced. There are a lot more could be done to improve Thistle. And as a patron, I deserved to voice them up.

My chief gripe was the lack of free broadband services. In 2013, it should be a crime for hotels not giving away free bandwidth to their paying customers. It is a basic necessity. I could understand if this was a budget outlet. We paid good money for the stay and we deserved that. To make matters worse, the rooms were not blessed with the best telco receptions, be it Celcom or DiGi. It was better at the pool - which even there was not equipped with WiFi.

At least there should be free service at the lobby.

Second was the toilet in the room. The shower door was pretty loose, and every time my boys had a shower, the place turned into one big bathtub. The floors were all wet.

TV channels were limited. There were more Singaporean channels than ASTRO. One movie channel. Only ESPN, so no Manchester United. And no channels for the kids! Blimey!

Last but not least, were the lighting. It was really dark at both the living area and bedroom. Since we bought Lego during our trip to Legoland, my boys tried to assemble some of the toys when they got back into the room. Forget it. The grumpy boys had to wait until the next morning. More lights please ......

This would need fixing my friends ......

Goodbye Thistle

I was about to start packing for the return to Kuala Lumpur, but I couldn't resist penning this entry. We actually enjoyed our stay here at Thistle. The room was cosy, the food was good, and the best of all, the staffs were friendly.

Over the years, we always had some issue with hotel staffs treating us local Malaysians as second-class patrons. Maybe we didn't tip them enough. But it tended to be rather obvious.

To start with the staffs here are Malaysians in the majority. So, communications were not an issue. They were also prompt and keen to help, which is always good. Yes, they were not perfect, but not everybody could be perfect - although Marina Bay Sands was damn near that if only they serve Halal food. But I digressed.

They still lack the finer things. For example, not offering us the parking pass despite basking for the vehicle number and where we parked. And not offering seats on the Legoland shuttle despite us checking in with a couple of kids. They still have plenty of room for improvement.

Three things you should try should you checked in here were the pool, the Executive Lounge at Level 15 and Oasis, an Italian-Japanese fusion restaurant by the pool. The pool was great and well-maintained, with separate children area and ample seating. No lifeguards though and the beverage service was pretty slow. The Lounge was quiet and exclusive, service breakfast in the morning and afternoon tea. The scone was a hit. And lastly, Oasis, with the freshly baked pizza at a stone oven at the restaurant, and fresh sashimi. It was a winner. Add to that live music from an acoustic band. Perfect! Good thing that my children loved Italian food.

Definitely I would consider coming back here in the future. My boys definitely loved this place, so that was always a good start.

Exploring Thistle

As usual, I woke up the earliest being the first to go to bed. So, I set off to have breakfast and explore the hotel. It was still quite that early bin the morning, and I get to see the whole place as the rest were rushing for breakfast.

There were three venues for breakfast, the main cafe called Glass, a cafe by the main reception called Steps and at the Executive Lounge on Level 15. I decided to have it at Glass since it had the widest selection. But in the end, it was just a typical hotel breakfast. Nothing to shout about. As the place was relatively quite - being a Friday - service was prompt. Hopefully I could say the same for Saturday and Sunday.

I spent a good 30 minutes exploring the swimming pool area and reading about the facilities on offer. I also went into the gym, but didn't try anything as I didn't bring my trainers along. The pool looked great and I couldn't wait to try it later. It had a separate children area and ample deck.

Next it was time to get the boys ready. We planned an early start as we were Legoland-bound. It looked like it was going to be a sunny day ......

Close to Goodbye

It had been a nice five days in Atlanta. And finally it was time to head for home tomorrow. Yet to do my packing as I had just returned from dinner - some sushi. Great company again.

To be honest, I could do with another session of packing. Even though I have bought the essentials, I have yet to get the gifts for NY parents and sister. The session starts early again tomorrow morning. We planned to meet up at the lobby by 6.45. I would then have a gap of a couple of hours until noon. I'll probably check out then, and maybe have another trip to the mall.

My pick up for airport would at 2 pm. Flight out would be at 5, landing at Heathrow the next morning. I would then transit for about 3 and a half hour there before catching the A380 to KLIA. I should arrive home on Thursday morning. After a day's rest, I would then be on call on Friday. Hopefully in would recover in time.

OK. Time to get organised then. Good night!

More on the Atlanta trip here.

Jet Lag Setting In

I was fat asleep earlier as planned but was unfortunately woken up by a couple of phone calls from Malaysia.
So, for the past hour, I was wide awake. Looks like it is going to be a long day tomorrow .....

More on the Atlanta trip here.