Kuala Lumpur Luxury

The Mandarin Oriental, Kuala Lumpur is a fantastic hotel for so many reasons. I had to spend a week in KL recently for business and booked our company into the Mandarin Oriental.

I started my experience with a limousine pick up from the airport. This was a very nice Mercedes with uniformed driver who offered newspapers, magazines, bottled water, and hot towels for the journey of about 50 minutes.

When we reached the hotel, I was escorted out of the car and addressed by name and my bags were taken from me. I was then escorted straight up to my room and check in was done there and then – most efficient.

My room was an executive club room which happened to be a corner room on the 25th floor, so had two full length windows to two aspects, one overlooking the city, the other overlooking the KLCC park and hotel infinity pool.

I had a huge king size bed with side tables, work desk and chair with free high-speed Internet access. There was a seating area with two large armchairs and a table, fridge, mini bar and tea and coffee making facilities. There was also a walk-in wardrobe with safe and a huge marble bathroom with separate bath and shower. Part of the advantage of having a clubroom is that you also get five pieces of laundry or dry cleaning done everyday for free.

Being on a club floor, I has access to the club lounge, which is on the 24th floor and has fantastic views of the Petronas Towers right next door to the hotel. This is where the complimentary buffet breakfast is served and snacks and drinks served throughout the day. There are also private computer rooms, where you can access the Internet, print, fax, photocopy, etc.

The breakfast is very good and takes the form of a buffet with drink selections, cereals, fruit, hot food such as eggs cooked to order, bacon, sausage and some authentic Chinese food which I wasn’t brave enough to try first thing in the morning. As this is a Muslim country, they do not serve pork; so all meat is chicken, turkey, beef, etc.

I held a meeting in the hotel whilst here and used their business floor. We had a room for the meeting, then an adjoining room for an eight course Chinese meal. This was fantastic and we were waited on hand and foot, the food was superb and I cannot fault any aspect of the meeting from the initial arrangements to the actual event itself. This hotel is truly faultless.

There are many restaurants in the hotel (separate reviews), as well as a spa, infinity pool, fitness club, etc.

The hotel is pretty expensive by SE Asia standards (I paid approx $180 USD), but compared to similar hotel in Europe is very reasonable for the quality and service you receive. I cannot recommend this hotel enough.

This restaurant is located in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in central Kuala Lumpur. Three colleagues and I decided to eat here one evening, and it was an unforgettable experience for several reasons.

The service is very good, and we were seated quickly, even though we had not booked, which is advisable. I am not sure if the fact that we were all staying at the hotel made any difference or not.

We had a great table, which had a view of the cooking area, where you can see food being prepared and things set alight (on purpose). The menu is a mix of European and Asian, and I’m sure most people would find something they will like.

Something very strange happened with our meal in that two of the people ordered starters and two didn’t. However, when our first course was served, it was the main course for all, with no starters. We questioned this with the waiter, and he rather embarrassingly said that they had forgotten the two starters. The two who did not order starters decided to keep their main courses and continue, whereas those of us who had ordered a starter had to have our main course taken away and then had to wait for our starters. They did arrive and were well worth waiting for, although by this time our companions had finished their main course.

This then meant that once we had finished our starter and main courses were served (freshly cooked), our colleagues had to wait until we had finished before ordering dessert. I had lamb shank for my main meal, and it was superb; the meat just fell off the bone--wonderful. Two people had steaks, and they said it was the best steak they had ever eaten. The fourth person had a vegetarian meal and again said it was exceptional.

After we had finished our main course, we all ordered dessert, which the waiter said were “on the house” due to the mix up with the courses. I had a chocolate mousse-type dish, which was delicious. My colleague ordered one dessert but actually received another; however, once she saw it, she decided to keep it and really enjoyed it.

All in all, this restaurant has a lovely atmosphere and the service is good. We just seemed to have an unfortunate experience with the order of our courses and one wrong order, but all the food was faultless. They also made amends by not charging for our desserts and coffee. Despite the problems, I would recommend it.

This is located inside the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in central Kuala Lumpur and is a lovely, relaxed place to chill out or eat. I and a number of colleagues ate here several times during our stay.

There are full-length windows overlooking the KLCC park and fountains, which you can sit near and enjoy the view day and night. There is a mix of tables and chairs and casual sofas, and the waitresses wear traditional dress and look beautiful.

Some evenings we ate to the sounds of a pianist and string quartet. The Lounge on the Park has its own menu of “light” food, such as sandwiches, salads, etc., or you can choose the menu from the adjoining restaurant, Biba’s, which has more choice. We chose this menu, and on one occasion I had pasta bolognaise--when in Asia! The pasta was superb, very tasty with excellent texture, some of the best pasta I have eaten.

This is a lovely place to be, and I can recommend it wholeheartedly.

To the west of KL city centre is the Orchid Garden, which is a popular visitor attraction. We visited late one afternoon and had an hour here before they closed at 5pm.

Whilst we were there, there were very few people about. I think most people had more sense than to be there in the middle of a hot afternoon. Once you enter the gardens you can stroll around at your leisure. The flowers here are just amazing and so beautiful. There are many different colours, sizes and shapes. Some grown from the ground, others hang in baskets and some seem to sprout from almost nowhere.

The garden is very prettily done with lots of walking routes, most of which appeared to be accessible by wheelchair. The flowers are very well tended and most are labelled, so you know what they’re called.

The garden also has a shop where you can buy orchids in various different ways. We were from the UK and you cannot take plants back, but they had some specially done in glass pots with no soil, which can be exported quite easily. So if you see some plants you like, don’t think that you will not be able to take them home – they probably have a solution. They seem very clued in about what can be exported where and how.

My colleague bought two of the glass pots, and each had about 40 baby plants inside, which she will have to break open once home and re-pot. She paid very little for them--I think about $10 each--so it was very cheap for so many plants. The staff at the shop spoke good English and we were able to converse adequately. They also had written English instructions about the care of any plants you buy.

Be aware, though, that the garden is frequented by a number of cats. My colleague loves cats and so befriended a couple, but I am allergic to them so kept my distance but still managed to come away with several flea bites. The cats also tended to eat from the rubbish bins and occasionally leapt out of one, to our utter shock. So be warned!

Other than the cats, the orchid garden is a lovely place to spend some time. There are lots of benches dotted about, so you can just sit and watch the world go by surrounded by beauty.

The Petronas Towers are pretty magnificent. I have seen my fair share of tall buildings, but this building or rather these buildings are truly spectacular.

By day they are two gleaming metal and glass structures reaching up into the sky, but by night they come alive.

The shapes of the building are quite different from any other building I have come across, and the fact that there are two of them makes it all the more distinctive.

They are the world’s tallest twin structures and reach a height of 452 meters, with 88 stories. In the middle, on levels 41 and 42, is the skybridge that joins the two towers. You can walk across the double-decker skybridge to get views of the city. It is just a shame that this is as high as you can go as a visitor. You need a ticket in order to walk the bridge and they are free, however you have to queue to get one. Visitor hours are between 9am and 5pm Tuesday to Sunday. Tickets are issued from 8:30am.

I did not have time to queue for a ticket, and quite honestly, my hotel had a good view of the city, so I wasn’t bothered about going up it anyway. If you could go to the top of the towers, now that would be an experience! However, I think the best view is from the outside of the towers, looking up at them. At night, go into the KLCC park below the towers and just look up--the view is stunning.

The views from across the city towards the towers can be a little disappointing as it is quite smoggy in the city and the views across are often very cloudy. You are best getting up-close and personal with the towers to see them at their best.

Every city seems to have an aquarium these days, and Kuala Lumpur is no exception. Anyone reading my journals will know that I always seem to go to them if they are around, so I couldn’t let you down and not visit this one!

 

It was actually my colleague who persuaded me to go this aquarium with her. It is located in the convention centre beside the KLCC park, very near the Petronas Towers, so it’s easy to find.

 

It takes a slightly different angle to other aquariums in that it tries to plot the evolution of underwater life and takes you through the earliest forms of life such as sharks right up to the more recent arrivals.

 

It is quite well laid out and all the exhibits looked in good condition and well looked after. They have a moving walkway under a tunnel of water where you can get sharks, rays, etc., swimming above you. They also have lots of spiders on show, so if, like me, you don’t like them, give this section a miss.