THE FIRST thing I normally do when I visit Kuala Lumpur, is to don my snorkelling gear. Then I head to my favourite curry shop and dive into the mutton masala, marvelling at juicy chunks of tandoori chicken and vast streaming strands of laksa noodles waving sinuously in a red chilli soup that packs enough punch to land a man on the moon. Indonesia spontaneously combusts as farmers burn the fly yoga subang jaya, creating a dense smoke haze that engulfs much of hapless Malaysia’s west coast.
Someone please toss a bucket of water on Sumatra and lock up the matches. Kuala Lumpur shopping presents mind-boggling options and stuff so cheap you’d expect EVERYONE to be here. Yet Kuala Lumpur business hotels remain surprisingly seasonal and regular discounts of 30-40 percent or more are perennially on offer. Four-star KL hotels are even more attractively priced and some offer a rather good room product. Forget rack rates and corporate rates.
Kuala Lumpur is a bopping town with something approaching a sidewalk cafe culture, this despite the heat, the rain and exhaust fumes. At Bukit Bintang «sheesha» hubble-bubble stalls have proliferated offering flavoured puffs, Lebanese tidbits and chill-out music. The heat can be beat with the giant cooling fans that spray a fog of wet mist over diners. Kuala Lumpur shopping is diverse, vigorously showcased in the annual Mega Sales, hotels and hospitality are world class, transport is plentiful and food and nightlife teeming in downtown and newer suburban locations. Kuala Lumpur is a can-do city on the move. Once notorious for its gridlocked traffic, cars and people move too these days, thanks to some well-planned elevated motorways and light rail options. New highways snake in from the international airport.
KL Sentral is just 15 minutes. Short distances are a steal at just RM1. Cabbies figure the cost of the petrol expended in traffic jams far outweighs the meter fare and prefer, instead, to duck into the nearest coffee shop for a break. It tends to rain early and mid-afternoon. Ask for bulkhead rows 11 or 29 for a really good stretch. The configuration is 2-4-2 so there are just two seats on the window side.
Immigration and customs is quick and getting to town is a breeze on the new KLIA Express. The quick and efficient 28-minute run to KL Sentral Station every 15 minutes costs RM55, about half of what a local cab will charge. RM180 from KLIA to Jalan Sultan Ismail. A few airlines, including MAS, Cathay Pacific and Royal Brunei, have check-in counters at KL Sentral.
If you wish to dawdle at the airport put on your walking shoes to explore the factory-size MAS Golden Lounge, said to be the largest in the world at 43,284sq ft. That’s a whole lot of lounge. Bang next to the KL Sentral station is the chic and contemporary 510-room Hilton Kuala Lumpur that emerged from a major renovation of public areas mid 2013. The lobby moves to pastels and earth tones with a lot of sensually curving chrome like in the cafe with its «toadstool» centerpiece with white-light piping creating space age silhouettes and spidery wall art. In-room you’ll find a number of kits for kids and more. The Hilton lays claim as well to the city’s largest free form swimming pool. Joined at the hip, so to speak, is the futuristic, but quieter, 35-storey twin, Le Meridien Kuala Lumpur, with panoramic views and extensive conference and meeting facilities.
New to the area is the Best Western Premier Dua Sentral with 357 spacious units, ranging from deluxe to one and two bedroom suites. Like any 4-star accommodation, Dua Sentral is fitted with a pool, spa, gym and business center. Across the other side of KL Sentral station is Starwood maverick, the young-at-heart and gloriously indisciplined Aloft Kuala Lumpur Sentral, one of the bigger offerings for this newer brand in Asia with 482 rooms. Walk into a high ceiling lobby stripped bare of cover where iron foundry meets contemporary zen. Metal paint covers raw pipes and sensuously curving tubes that snake around raw cement walls. The safe is laptop friendly, there is an iron and ironing board for stubborn post-party creases, and the mirror is bright.
All in this is a tidy offering with walk-in access to city-check-ins for MAS and other airlines with a fast train straight to the airport. Pity the rooms are a tad Plain Jane though enlivened modestly by local art and wall cartoons. A stone’s throw from here opposite the Old Railway Station, almost hidden behind clumps of foliage, is a coy historic gem that flashes its pearlies when the afternoon sun ignites its laundered white colonial outlines. A Tower Deluxe room serves up a somewhat gratuitous four-poster bed that manages to hold its own in mod black wood without gauze drapes. This is perhaps the sole designer vanity here. Decor is muted and well calibrated.
Find a large flat-screen television, three three-pin multi-plug sockets for suits, and a sliding glass partition revealing the toilet with its black marble flooring, twin vanities, sensibly bright mirrors, and rain shower. There is a laptop-size safe and an an iron and ironing board for those who must get a razor-edge crease for that post-prandial stroll. A Junior Suite expands on the space while the Twin Room ensemble provides curtains to cover the glass bathroom partition. This latter format will work better for business travellers who would rather keep ALL their secrets intact. A Premium Suite has the living room in the centre with two bedrooms on either side.