Grand Seasons Hotel In KL Will Become A Covid-19 Welfare Centre

KL hotel becomes Covid-19 welfare centre

The negative effects of the pandemic have been great and far-reaching, as parts of Malaysia remain under different stages on the Movement Control Order (MCO). So any initiative to help out those affected by the pandemic, such as the setting up of food banks, have been welcomed by many people.

To add to that list, Grand Seasons, a famous hotel in Kuala Lumpur which closed down back in February 2019, will be converted into a welfare centre to house activities that help combat the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Rumah Prihatin@Grand Seasons for people affected by COVID-19

Grand Seasons Hotel Main Lobby
Image credit: Grand Seasons

The Grand Seasons Hotel situated in Kuala Lumpur closed officially in February 2019 due to financial and other difficulties. It is now being put to good use by The Federal Territories Ministry and Yayasan Wilayah Persekutuan (YWP) to help people.

On 8th July 2021, Bernama reported that the Minister of Federal Territories Tan Sri Annuar Musa has come up with an initiative to convert Grand Seasons Hotel into a welfare centre to better manage the Covid-19 crisis in Malaysia. The report states that a new initiative called Rumah Prihatin@Grand Seasons will be set up by the federal territories ministry to “help ease the burden of the people affected by the Covid-19 pandemic”.

The 20-year-old accommodation facility will start operating as a welfare hotel in stages beginning from 15th July 2021 and it will be the place where “voluntary activities related to the pandemic control services will be carried out”.

Details of Rumah Prihatin programme
Image credit: Yayasan Wilayah Persekutuan

The welfare hotel includes five main components, which will serve the following functions:

Prihatin Kitchen – To prepare 1,000 packs of free food for the needy
Prihatin Accommodations – 300 affordable rooms for mandatory self-quarantine
Prihatin Mental Health Services – Counselling services for those seeking emotional support
Prihatin Vaccination Services – Support for the disabled, bedridden, traders, hawkers and homeless persons
Jejak Prihatin Operation Centre – One-stop centre to resolve complaints and voluntary activities by PriVo, MPP and NGO

Grand Seasons Hotel Room
Image credit: Tan Sri Annuar Musa

The report by Bernama also mentioned that this new initiative will be taken care of by “a group of non-governmental organisations (NGO) led by the YWP for welfare purposes”.

For more information on this initiative, the public may contact Rumah Prihatin@Grand Seasons directly by emailing them at [email protected] or calling their hotline, 011-7110 7898. Alternatively, people can also check out Rumah Prihatin@Grand Seasons’ website.

Grand Seasons Hotel becomes a welfare centre for COVID-19

Although it’s sad that Grand Seasons Hotel had had to close permanently 2 years ago, even before the Covid-19 pandemic hit our shores, it’s encouraging to see that the government has come up with an initiative to use the premises for a good cause especially when people are struggling to make ends meet. We hope this collaborative effort will be successful in helping people are affected by COVID-19.