We had two nights at the Ranee and thoroughly enjoyed our stay. The hotel is in an excellent location for walks by the river, the evening light show, local restaurants and shops. Our room at the hotel was very clean, a good size and quiet. We found the staff helpful and friendly. Breakfast was good.More
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I stayed in the Ranee earlier this year for some nights for work and was very disappointed by my experience versus the expectations set based on reviews I had read.
I found the place, although indeed centrally located - to be poorly maintained both in terms of decor and cleanliness.
Some staff members were extremely sullen and appeared generally unhappy to be working here.
The standard of rooms was okay but the same run down feeling carried through and it was quite noisy with the street traffic. The air conditioning also was making noises throughout the night.
I was prompted to write this review as a colleague of mine is traveling to Kuching for work and was intending to stay here - I explained my experience in the context of other reviews.
I have read through some reviews and notice that any time someone expresses any form of negative experience that the hotel manager tends to reject the points as some form invalid criticism rather than an opportunity for improvement !
Dear Travelator,
Thank you again for your review which is more or less the same as the one you wrote 2 reviews down but with a different account.
We are a very small hotel. We have a small team who all work happily together. They have no reason to be rude or unfriendly or unhelpful to our guests whom we value.
If at anytime, we find any proof that anyone of our team is unfriendly or if they do not provide the service that they are supposed to provide in their line of work to any of our guests, they will be severely dealt with immediately.
We have gotten many positive reviews and feedback on our team. We have seen the way our team works and the way they treat our guests. We are very proud to have this fantastic team who really go out of their way to make our guests feel comfortable when staying here.
If there is anything not satisfactory when our guests are in-house, and they bring the issue to our attention, we immediately try to rectify the issue. However, if the issues are only mentioned here on Trip Advisor after guests check out, then we can only offer our apologies.
We are a boutique hotel and our decor wholly embraces elements that are uniquely Sarawak’s. Our design aim was to give our local crafts a boost.
Once again, we apologise if you did not like the way the hotel is decorated and that you did not enjoy your stay with us.
Kind Regards,
Ann Chua
I am an avid traveller who has experienced many hotels. I have recently become a huge fan of boutique hotels after some amazing experiences in Europe. This hotel oozes of charm and hospitality and it captures the true essence of a boutique hotel. They have converted an old two-story shop lot into a peaceful oasis while keeping the original architecture and incorporating a modern touch to the rooms.
Firstly, I would like to start with the correspondence with Ann who is the manager. She was extremely prompt in responding all my questions and she attentively heard all my needs and gave me the most appropriate room. Ann informed me via email that my stay coincided with the annual Dragon Boat Race & Regatta at the waterfront area, just in case the noise of the room facing the waterfront might annoy me. I still opted for that room and being able to see the races from my room window and feeling the vibes of the city was truly a treat. Once I closed the room windows, the noise did not disturb by sleep.
From the outside, you are just facing a two-story shop lot, but when you enter the doors, the entire boutique hotel experience takes over. The lobby is very tastefully decorated with antiques and I was rather surprised to see how much space this shop lot had within.
The hotel consists of 24 rooms and I believe each room had its own design and character. I opted for a standard room facing the waterfront, which was very spacious and spotlessly clean. My room had the best view of the beautiful Sarawak State Legislative Assembly Building and the entire waterfront. At 8:30 and 10:30 everyday, you get to experience the musical fountain from the room window. I guess my pictures say it all.
The small size of the hotel allows for very high level of service with even the breakfast being very personalised. You get a different menu each day with 4 options of meals to choose from. The sarawak laksa I had on my first day was simply delicious and so were the rest of the dishes I ordered throughout my stay.
The property is located in the heart of the city with the entire shopping district just outside its doors. After a long day of shopping and sight seeing, you can relax and have a great cocktail at the bar, which is served by the lovely Chindra. When travelling, despite the excitement, its such a joy to return to a place that feels easy and comfortable, just like home…..I felt that here and simply never wanted to leave.
Thank you Ranee for making my stay so wonderful! I will definitely be back very soon.
Dear MKG773,
Thank you so much for the fabulous review! :-)
We are very happy to know that you had a wonderful stay with us. It was such a pleasure meeting you.
When we receive reservations with special requests, we always make it a point to reply. If we cannot cannot fulfill the requests, we will come up with alternative suggestions. Our priority is the satisfaction and comfort of our guests.
We are so glad that you managed to watch the Musical Fountain and the Dragon Boat Race , all in the comfort of your room. The picture of the fountain with the State Legislative Assembly Building in the background is gorgeous!
Our F&B Team thanks you for the compliments. Satisfied taste buds = very happy chefs! :-)) Cindra thanks you for the mention.
We cannot wait to welcome you back here! Till then, have a most beautiful November and Terima Kasih from all of us at The Ranee!
Kind Regards,
Ann
Stayed with my husband for 6 nights with my husband who also left a review.
Hotel manager responded denying all issues.
My husband’s review was unfortunately accurate.
Some of the staff at the counter was ignorant. I only remember one of them being nice. The rest would just stayed behind the counter and would not look at you when you pass by or they would just give you a blank stare even when you smiled at them. I would never forget that blank stare from the woman that sat at the concierge desk and the guy who smirked when we came in late and he had helped open the locked door- without any greetings or a good night.
The Ranee has fantastic location and being a small hotel, I think the staff should make an effort to greet or give a smile to their customers (not many compared to big hotels!) and go the extra mile in helping with the luggage even when they were not asked.
I am from Kuching myself and always believe that Malaysian are very friendly people but I am disappointed of this hotel that they are not giving the best experience to their international customers.
Customer experience is so important in the hotel industry and even more so in smaller hotels. Customers will always remember the first impression they get from the counters.
I sincerely hope the hotel management will do something to improve the overall customer experience.
Dear Lilytanhc,
Thank you for taking the time to write your review, which we read with sadness.
Please know that we checked our facts (we have cctv all over the hotel) before we replied to your husband's review (which is right below yours). As we have already explained in our reply to his review, we will not be repeating here what we had written.
The lady you mentioned is the Tour Operator of our In-House Tour Desk. She is one of the kindest, happiest and most helpful person who goes out of her way to assist our guests, even guests who do not buy tours from her. Her eye sight is not very good and we are very sure she wasn't giving you blank stares.
Thank you so much for staying here for 6 nights and 7 days, even though from the day you checked in till the day you checked out, our team gave both of you such "bad customer experience" as you have claimed.
From the bottom of our hearts, we wish both you and your husband peace and joy. :-)
Kind Regards,
Ann Chua
There’s a concept in the marketing of services called “moments of truth” - basically every interaction you have with a service provider is a moment of truth on how good or bad the service is - simple !
We had several bad moments of truth at the Ranee:
1. The hotel lobby is not clean - first impressions!
Reception counter was dusty, floor was dirty, glass coffee table full of hand prints - brass sign on tour desk is dirty...all,of this,obvious within first 60 seconds.
2. The hotel needs to be painted- as the interior walls are badly marked throughout.
3. We had the Elizabeth suite -awkward to get to combining a lift and three sets of stairs.
Room Decor is very run down and so so as far as cleanliness.
The outside patio is dirty and the bathroom set up is really unhygienic with the placement of shower and stones in drainage run off???
4. Woken every morning at 5am by morning prayers, followed by clock chimes at 6am and more bells at 7am. Local festival coincided whist we were there and very loud music played from 10am to 11pm. None of this can’t be helped - I mention for other guests just to be warned.
Air conditioning is very loud and needs a servicing - as clicking throughout the night.
5. Staff (with exception of bar staff) appear lazy and unfriendly in general.
They do not greet or acknowledge guests who come and go - you’re lucky to get a grunt!
I called to tell them I was checking out despite this no assistance offered with luggage given the stairs issue as above !
Two guys at reception even watched as my wife carried cases to car without any help!
Food is poor - went for breakfast once out of the 6 days even though had paid for B&B...
6. I broke a small water glass in the room and was charged 25 ringgit (€5) on check out!?! In 20 years traveling several times a month for business all over the world - I have never been charged for breaking a glass ?
7. They charged my card 500 ringgit deposit on check in - I still have not received this back to my card despite insisting that they refund me as it actually a debit on my account - hopefully I get this back without needing to call them!
Basically don’t stay here if you have any expectations of 4 stars - it’s at best 2 star unclean b&b which needs a complete rethink and new staff!
Dear Brian F,
It is with much bewilderment that we read your very long review. Thank you for taking the time to write it.
As it is written point by point, we will reply point by point too.
1) Our reception counter top is black with specks of grey. We are sorry if you mistook that for dust.
It has been raining everyday for the past couple of weeks. This is the monsoon season.
Our ground floor area is tiled and is mopped at least 3 times a day.
Please accept our apologies but as we do not want to spook our guests by mopping behind everyone of them as they walk into the hotel from the rain outside, certain times there will be footprints on the tiles.
2) We are in the midst of re-painting the hotel.
3) Elizabeth Suite is on the attic floor. From the 2nd floor, private wooden stairs lead to the suites - Elizabeth Suite & Valerie Suite. We are not sure which part of Elizabeth Suite you found run-down.
Again, this is the monsoon season and it has been raining everyday.
The balcony flooring is wood. Please do accept our apologies for the wetness at the balcony.
4) Malaysia is a multi racial country.
The 5am prayers that you heard are Islam dawn prayers from the mosque nearby.
The bells that you heard are church bells from the Anglican Church nearby.
Your stay coincided with the annual Dragon Boat Race & Regatta dates.
There are lots of activities going on along the Waterfront during these 2 events.
We are situated along the Waterfront.
Tourists and locals flock here during this time for these events.
Everyone has fun checking out the Crafts Bazaar and the Food Bazaar.
We are sorry that all these made you upset.
5) Our Team always greeted both you and your partner with a smile. Your partner always had a beautiful smile for everyone of us and greeted everyone back.
When you checked in, our team carried your luggage to your room.
On your check-out day, you called our Front Office team (from your room) to tell them to prepare your bills immediately as you are checking out, which they immediately did so.
Had you asked for assistance with your luggage, they would have immediately gone to assist you.
When you came out of the elevator, the Front Office Team saw your partner with the luggage and ran to assist her.
We are not sure which part made you upset, but again, please accept our apologies.
Your partner came down for breakfast most of the time. Please accept our apologies if you did not like our breakfast , which is freshly cooked upon order.
6) You broke a glass in the room and you were charged for it. We are sorry but this is standard practice in all hotels.
7) Security Deposit is required from all guests upon check-in. This is standard practice in most hotels.
It is not a charge and the amount does not come to us.
It is held by the bank and is credited back to the credit card within 7-10 days from the check-out date.
We are very sad that you did not enjoy your stay with us. :-(
However, we are quite happy to note that at least you found our team at the bar OK. :-)
Thank you very much for staying with us. Please send our regards to your beautiful partner.
We wish you much happiness.
Kind Regards,
Ann
We have stayed here for two days so far. Warm welcome with helpful, cheerful staff. The entrance hall is decorated with eclectic colonial memorabilia. It has a relaxed and calm feel.
Our room is tastefully decorated, good size, great super king bed, fantastic shower and bath with a balcony.
Good air con. Breakfast was uncomplicated but tasty.
The position of the Hotel is really great for china town , the riverside, coffee shops. You literally step out into the old town area.
Really nice place to stay.
Dear nigelp352,
Thank you so much for taking the time to write this wonderful review!
It is so nice to know you that you are enjoying your stay here. We hope both of you are having a fantastic time exploring Kuching so far!
Please do let us know if you plan to visit Kuching again. It would be a pleasure to welcome you back.
Terima Kasih from my Team and I! :-)
Kind Regards,
Ann
