I'm glad my children are enjoying themselves with the 5-star facilities that we are getting from Zenith Kuantan compare to what we are getting at Suria Cherating. We have specifically strategized it this way so that we could get the best of 'both world' and the children experience it all - a weekend getaway, our style!!
Zenith would be the first 5-star rated hotel I’ve stay
during this millennium era. I did not know or rather did remember much of other
5-star hotel/resorts that I’ve ever stayed with my parents during my young
childhood days. So in comparison to other 3-4 star rated hotels/resorts that
I’ve stayed so far for the past 10 years, Zenith would definitely be on top of
the list especially for its ambience,
food & facilities but on the other hand, it is a definite a
suicide-attempt for my wallet! ;)
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| Zenith Hotel up close |
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| view from our room |
Zenith, is just a few months old and it stands tall in the
middle of Kuantan city centre, fronting the East Coast Mall with a convention
centre under its wings. If you were driving around Kuantan city centre, you
would definitely see the tall building from afar as it would be among a few 18
over storeys building in Kuantan. I would say, having a Convention Centre is
giving this hotel an added advantage as I don’t really quite into the idea of
staying away from the beaches while you are in Kuantan which is so famous for
its beaches and sea-side resorts, unless you have other specific itinerary to
do like a seminar or meetings or conventions which being held away from the
beaches. So, here I am at this hotel for the latter reason ;)
So, what can you expect from this Hotel? For a start, your
arrival is welcome with free-flow welcome drinks at the lobby instead of the
typical of just one short glass. The lobby is a huge triple volume space with
quite a simple contemporary modern approach to its design, and I have nothing
to complain about the ambience that being created by the design but I do prefer
a better segmented spaces in the lobby rather than
you-can-see-everything-through once you popped out from your car at the
porte-cochere. It would also be good to have a more secluded lounge area if you
were to hang out at the lobby rather than the existing openness. Also, I would
prefer not to be kept waiting to be serve for the check-in process at the
reception as I think the counter is big enough to accommodate more than 2
attending personnel at any one-time or did my expectation of 5 star treatment
is rather over-demanding? However, getting yourself to your designated floors
for your room is fast with 4 lift-cars to serve you and you don’t have to worry
for your safety as you could only get onto the designated levels with your
key-card being swiped at the panel. And if you have problems about it, there’s
a phone call away for the rescue at every lift-lobby of the hotel.
The deluxe room that I chose, is comfortably basic of
soothing beige-colour scheme, and the king-size bed is plush with 4+1 pillows
(I love the idea of having all those pillows for myself) with LCD TV, internet
connection and bed-side control panel for the air-condition (which I don't have
to get up from my bed in the middle of the night to adjust the temperature).The
room has a full-height glass wall facing the city-view and you could catch a
glimpse of the South China Sea far ahead of the view. Nice!! But, don’t look
down – if you happened to get a room facing the central podium, all you could
only see is the ROOF!! Ouch, quite upsetting though, so shut your blind, and
get freshen up, the room has quite a bath room and it’s clean (but the door has
no specific lock, so if you need to share your room with somebody, make sure
you share your room with somebody trustworthy..hehe)
There’s only one restaurant for the Hotel at the moment and
it’s located at the ground floor. The ambience is ‘appetising’ and I don’t have
any complain on the design. On top of that, I would say the quality of food
served was quite scrumptious for a hotel standard, which usually turn out quite
bland.
If you prefer to stay in-door, you may hop into the hotel’s
gym or its spa or you could bring your children to its playroom located within
the same level. The pool is rather small to the ratio of this hotel and the
spaces around it rather tight as well. And I think, by having an infinity pool
but were not allowed to be at the edge is rather impractical. However, if you
prefer to feel the city, you can always do so. A quick shopping or quick grab
for your cuppa at the Starbucks would be just a few steps outdoor by crossing
the road in front of the hotel to the East Coast Mall. Or if you have your own
transport, you can always drive around and I don’t think you’ll ever get lost
in Kuantan. ;)
