“Oh it's so noisy ..... and so cold.”
Airport transfer was comfortable and swift. Check-in, in the early morning was fine, and my bags were delivered to the room immediately. First impression of the room was OK, if a little tired in places, (some chipped wall paper and grey carpet edges which needed a deep clean). It seemed well air-conditioned for a hot day, (which it wasn't) so I turned the AC off as it was too cold and a little noisy. The ensuing silence was then rather disturbed by the building site next door, with much hammering going on and pumping of concrete which continues through the day, most days, often until after dark.
The hotel was generally clean and well presented with pleasant modern decor. The public areas were clean and well maintained but always cold. The hotel had six restaurants, an unusually big choice. All food was subject to a hefty 15% service charge.
For breakfast the Al-Diwan was very good, with a wide range of self-service choice and is well run.
The Chinese restaurant was also good, the food freshly cooked and hot and served on hot plates by efficient, helpful and friendly staff. The variety offered was fine, and the ambience adequate. The air-con was too cold and your food went cold in a very short time. The lighting was set too low to read but the staff will move a light for you if asked. Tables were sometimes greasy.
The Ribeye restaurant is all a matter of taste. The food seemed good, but served on cold plates with greasy fingerprints on the side of the plate. As a “themed restaurant” (groan), the decor was very kitsch ‘wild west’, with fake wooden beams, ‘stone’ walls, wagon wheels and tub chairs. Cowboy hats and the odd six-gun adorn the walls. The staff looked a little ridiculous, wearing lots of faded denim with cowboy hats, clomping around noisily on the wooden floor, wearing knee-high cowboy boots. But, they are anxious to please although service seemed a bit slow. With the theme decor and the icy temperature, the ambience was, as a result, unremittingly awful.
The Cafe L’ Aroma is OK, for coffee, with a limited range of snack dishes, but attracts the smokers, who have little respect for those who don’t want a lungful of used cigarette smoke.
The Lebanese restaurant was good, if far too cold again, even outside undercover the savage AC blasts away. There you join the shisha smokers, but it’s arguably a better smell than used cigarette smoke. The appalling level of nearby traffic noise which would put a Formula One event to shame does seriously detract from the atmosphere in the evening. Motorcycles use the nearby street as a race track. The food however is really first class, with excellent courteous service, but within 10 minutes it’s stone cold because of the AC.
I didn’t try the Japanese restaurant, but from reading the menu, it seemed to have a wide range of dishes in a pleasant ‘authentic’ atmosphere.
My bedroom was of good size, high ceiling, light and airy, with a comfortable bed and lots of pillows; it was very clean and well presented. The windows weren’t very clean, but with the building site nearby, dust was always likely to be a problem. The soundproofing was not very good, voices and TV sound can come in from nearby rooms. The sound of the AC will drown this out. The room had a TV with a large number of channels, some of which didn’t work properly because of poor signal, which was irritating in the middle of watching something. The TV was marked HD but the programmes were not.
Hanging space was good for clothes, with plenty of drawers. There was the usual exorbitantly priced mini-bar. A fresh fruit bowl was a pleasant touch although it wasn’t replenished as in other Kuwaiti hotels.
The bathroom was OK with a bath and combined shower, plenty of hot water and adequate toiletries and was clean. The shaver point didn’t fit my shaver or toothbrush for some reason. Somewhere to hang a wet towel would have been useful. The shower was very good.
Free wired internet was available, but was a bit slow. Room lighting was good. Room service was good, with prompt courteous service, and subject to the same hefty 15% service charge.
The Executive lounge on the 9th floor, was very good, but take a woolly as, its icy cold. A TV is usually turned on, with sound turned up, so it isn’t very peaceful. All restaurants have one or more TVs usually turned on, but the sound is mostly (and thankfully) turned off. Make sure your room card is programmed to let you in, mine wasn't despite paying for an exec room.
Definition of Noise: Any unwanted sound. My main reservation about this hotel was the high to very high level of unwanted sound everywhere. The management of this hotel seem to be convinced that silence is a bad thing. During the day, every public space including all the dining areas has the boring, irritating, wall-to-wall music that no-one listens to but some of us hear. After a while, I suppose some people grow so as not to notice it. The piped music can be really loud in the pool area, so it invades your bedroom if it overlooks the pool, along with the noise from the building site. The AC will drown this out, but if you don’t want the AC on, tough. Anyway it’s fighting noise with more noise.
What you cannot ignore are the frequent bouts of live ‘music’ in the evening. In reception, there was a reasonably competent piano player. Passing by the RibEye restaurant, there was a guitar player aping ‘country’ music at volume, so as to compete with the piano player a few metres away. By now the karaoke violinist, with his pre-recorded backing tracks will be sawing away at an Irish jig or two in the Chinese restaurant just off reception, adding to the cacophony with more competition for the piano player. The bedlam by now is terrible. Meanwhile, unbelievably, another guitar player arrives in the Lebanese restaurant, to offer more audio competition, complete with amplifier. He is also competing with the traffic noise.
It is now impossible to have any sort of conversation in any of the public rooms in the hotel unless you speak loudly. That increases the noise level even more. There are four live musicians within a few metres of each other playing away, with no attempt at isolating them from each other. Best go and sit outside in the car park, it’s probably quieter there.
You can’t even take refuge in the Executive Lounge, because of the TV which few actually watch, but can’t avoid hearing.
In summary, plus points about the hotel, were the staff, decor, number and variety of restaurants. Points against, the air-con was always uncomfortably cold in the public rooms, and there was never anywhere to go in the public spaces, that wasn’t filled with noise. What is wrong with silence in at least one public area to allow thought, reading and quiet conversation without having to become a recluse in one’s bedroom?
Room Tip: Bring something warm to wear, and don't expect a quiet evening in any of the restaurants.
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This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
