Once again heading to Asia and more particularly Malaysia, a stay at Le Méridien Kuala Lumpur. The hotel offer is rich and of quality in Kuala Lumpur so the choice was not easy and I chose the Meridien for its excellent apparent value for money.

An easily accessible hotel…which is difficult to get out of.

Le Méridien Kuala Lumpur is very well located in the center of the Malaysian capital, right in front of the “Sentral” station. In my opinion, the best way to get there is to take the KLIA Ekpres train, which takes you from the airport to the station without stopping in about 20 minutes, for about 10 euros. Once at the station, you just have to cross the street or take the footbridge over it to get to the hotel.

Same mechanism for the return trip with for Malaysian Airlines and some other airlines the possibility to check your luggage at the station.

For my part, I used the hotel’s transfer service: my flight from Jakarta landed at midnight and since I had already flown 15 hours from London, I just wanted to take a shower and go to bed.

If the hotel is very easy to access from the airport, it is more difficult to get out of it…if not to return to the airport. Let me explain.

The whole area around Sentral is designed a bit like the outskirts of La Défense: a set of towers that share a slab on the floors, connected by footbridges…but the “ground” level is a no-mans land. If you leave the Méridien and decide to go on foot to visit a part of the city located 1km away, congratulations if you find how to get there. It is a zone of offices and hotels where the street level is exclusively dedicated to automobile traffic. So if you want to visit head to Sentral and then take the metro. You will only need to go to one station further to find “walkable” areas, 5 stations for KLCC and the Petronas Towers…

Ideal if you come for business, more frustrating for tourism. During my previous stay here I had stayed at the Mandarin Oriental right next to the towers and there you could leave easily the hotel and walk. A W just opened in this neighborhood and it might be an option I’ll consider for a future trip.

So a well placed hotel…with a downside depending on the purpose of your trip and the tone you want to give to your stay.

Arrival and Check-in

The hotel driver was waiting for me at the exit of the luggage area and in a few minutes I was installed in a beautiful Meredes class E of the property. After nearly 45 minutes of driving I arrive at the hotel (in the middle of the night…all the more reason to prefer the KLIA Ekspres at rush hour…).

Colorful lobby, changing colors… it’s almost like being in a W.

The staff carries out the check-in efficiently. The hotel is full (I checked on the app when I arrived) so no need to expect an upgrade. I’ll get a “club” room instead of my Deluxe and, most importantly, a room on the 35th and top floor.

A clean club room with no personality.

Le Méridien Kuala Lumpur has recently renovated its rooms, which is quite promising. In general, Le Méridien hotels manage to offer modern and creative interiors while remaining in good taste. No boring classicism but no exuberance either, the right balance.

The first thing that strikes you when you walk through the door is the size of the room. Correct, but nor more, for a superior room. We are on European size standards whereas this area of Asia is used to larger surfaces even on standard rooms.

The decoration is sober and of good taste.

The bathroom offers bathtub (with view) and shower. All in sobriety too

On the 35th floor you were expecting a nice view? By twisting the neck a bit maybe, otherwise it’s dead.

Here’s a quick tour in video.

The verdict: a room with no fault of taste, impeccable bedding, what more could you ask for? Well, I think that the hotel was a little too wise and conventional, contrary to the codes of the chain which often lead to hotels with a more marked personality. Change the sign and no one will notice.

Not serious (although it is more and more so) for a passing business clientele, more for a tourist clientele that will stay a little longer. And between leisure and business, the Méridien Kuala Lumpur did not make a choice, offering in my opinion bland “bleisure”.

Equipment: welcome to Hilton!

The hotel is next to a Hilton. For example, the spa and the gym are common to both hotels and are those of the Hilton. Surprising.

Coming from Le Méridien, you can access it through a passage under an artificial waterfall decorating the pool (we’ll come back to that)… With some very pleasant “effects”.

I did not test the spa.

The gym is large and very well equipped.

Bright with a beautiful high ceiling it is really pleasant.

On the other hand it looks a bit old-fashioned.

At peak times it can easily fill up: let’s not forget that it serves two hotels and that it makes inevitably a lot of people.

As for the swimming pool, it is clearly “leisure” oriented. Located on the 8th floor terrace, it offers a beautiful view of the botanical garden and the road infrastructure.

Its shape makes it more suitable for dipping than for swimming, and there are many families there, proving that the business clientele is not alone in the property.

At certain times it can be very full and, above all, noisy

Very beautiful and pleasant in the morning or in the evening too.

In fact this pool is also shared, in a very intelligent way with the Hilton. The same basin artificially cut by a bridge, only one way to go from one to the other by the tunnel under the waterfall. So the customers don’t mix but the infrastructure is shared.

This can be seen very well from above.

Superb club lounge.

The Le Méridien Kuala Lumpur has a very large club lounge for its platinum guests and those staying in superior rooms.

He is handsome and much larger than the average.

The view is nice.

The hot and cold, salty and sweet offer is consequent.

The beverage offer as well.

There is even a “kitchen” providing some local specialties upon request.

This lounge is one of those that I often say are detrimental to the hotel’s restaurants: a varied and generous offer that transforms an aperitif snack into a quasi-meal and dispenses with the need to eat afterwards.

The hotel also has several restaurants.

A steak house…but I didn’t want that.

A large buffet offering a wide variety of international cuisines but from the outside it looked like a canteen with so many people that it put me off.

A third restaurant in the lobby…But the sight of TV screens broadcasting sports with a crowd of customers drinking beer at the counter did not thrill me either.

In short, I did not dine at the hotel and the offer clearly lacks seduction.

Smooth check-out

Check-out will go admirably as I will be using the mobile check-out feature of the SPG app. I get out of my room, one click and it’s over. Let’s go to Sentral without wasting time at the reception.

Le Méridien Kuala Lumpur: routine without love at first sight

You can’t blame Le Méridien Kuala Lumpur for anything. I wasn’t thrilled with the restaurants but that’s a matter of taste. Moreover, the richness of the lounge offer did not make the dinner absolutely necessary.

The pool? Very good. Children and families a little too present? This is to be expected in this category of property.

The room? Nothing to complain about.

But the hotel is too “neutral”, it misses the bit of personality which makes say, at the end of the stay “if I come back to Kuala I want to return here”. It is a hotel where one goes by, where everything goes well, but which does not mark, of which one does not retain much.

To stay on comparable things, while providing an excellent service, it remains for me far from the Meridien Saigon which had really seduced me, the beautiful design of the Meridien Vienna or the Meridien Angkor which, even aging, keeps a certain charm.

A hotel that will not disappoint you…nor leave you with an unforgettable memory. But is this his goal?

At just over 100 euros a night it is still a very good deal.